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Penn State assistant coach Torrence Brown is on the move

Fitz headshot croppedby:Sean Fitz•05/08/25•

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Penn State assistant coach Torrence Brown. (Photo by Sean Fitz, BWI)

Former Penn State defensive end Torrence Brown has been a key figure in the Nittany Lions’ defensive line room over the last few years. Brown returned to Happy Valley as a graduate assistant under Deion Barnes ahead of the 2023 season, after spending a year in the same role under Charles Huff at Marshall. He spent two years as a graduate assistant with Penn State before transitioning to an analyst position once his eligibility in that role expired.

Now, he’s moving on. According to a report from FootballScoop, confirmed by Blue-White Illustrated, Brown has accepted the defensive line coach position at Western Illinois. The FCS program, known as the Leathernecks, is led by head coach Joe Davis. Davis previously served as Associate Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Quarterbacks Coach at Albany under Greg Gattuso. Penn State brought Gattuso on as a Senior Defensive Analyst working with the defensive line this past offseason. The Nittany Lions also added former West Virginia defensive line coach and former PSU defensive line GA Andrew Jackson prior to the spring.

Coincidentally, Western Illinois was the final coaching stop for Penn State tight ends coach Ty Howle before he joined the Nittany Lions as an analyst in 2020. Howle spent four years in Macomb, eventually rising to Assistant Head Coach and Co-Offensive Coordinator under then-head coach Charlie Fisher, a former Penn State assistant himself.

Brown’s Penn State ties go back to his playing days

Brown was a National Signing Day addition in James Franklin’s first recruiting class at Penn State and played for the Nittany Lions from 2015 to 2017. He was forced to medically retire before the 2018 season but sought a second chance at Southern Miss in 2019, where he recorded nine tackles (one for loss) across nine games. He began his coaching career in 2020 as a defensive assistant at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. From there, he spent a year as the defensive line coach at Eastern New Mexico University before joining Huff’s staff at Marshall.

“When I got hurt, I kind of got a chance to see it from the other side,” Brown told The Daily Collegian in 2022. “I became an undergraduate assistant at Penn State where I helped out with practice a little bit. I knew that was something I wanted to do. So, as of right now, it’s something I’m pursuing, and I’m all in.”

During his time back in Happy Valley, Brown primarily worked with the Nittany Lions’ defensive ends.

“Coach Torrence is always there for me,” redshirt freshman Mylachi Williams said this winter. “After practice, we get mad work in and keep attacking. He played the position and he knows what he did—and what I can do to be better than that.”

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