Penn State football aims to add to recruiting department via pair of new job postings

Penn State football aims to add to its recruiting department. A pair of postings on the university’s jobs page indicate as much. The recruiting staff, which is overseen by General Manager of Personnel and Recruiting Andy Frank and Director of Player Personnel Kenny Sanders, just helped the Lions sign 25 Class of 2024 signees on Wednesday.

“I want to thank the staff,” Lions coach James Franklin said last Wednesday. “In 2023, there’s a lot to be said for a drama-free Signing Day. Again, I think we take that for granted. I think it’s very telling about the staff and how thorough and detailed we are, [and] I think it’s very telling about our process. We don’t pressure guys to commit. I also think it’s very telling about the type of young men we recruit, the families that they come from, and the high school coaches and people they are surrounded with. So, that’s been great. And, I’m very, very appreciative of that. 
 
“I think if you look at our class, it’s pretty well-rounded. We were really able to fill needs at every position, as well as signing so we can continue to develop across the board.”

Breaking down the roles Penn State is looking to fill

The first role is a recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment positions. It appears to be the job formerly held by Khalil Ahamad. He left Penn State after just one season to return to Syracuse. He will be the Orange’s new executive director of personnel and recruiting, which is a promotion. Whoever fills his role will be responsible for, among other duties, “evaluating the top offensive/defensive/specialist prospects from the state of Pennsylvania, the northeast region, and across the entire country.” The person will also play a major role in recruit visits, tape evaluation, prospect communication, and more.

The second role is titled assistant recruiting coordinator for operations and visits. The job description says the chosen candidate will “assist in the coordination of the football program’s Offensive/Defensive recruiting strategies and operations, specifically with regards to the football program’s recruiting database, recruiting work flow, recruiting areas and prospect evaluations.” Other duties include but are not limited to:

• Initial academic transcript evaluations
• Communication with Penn State recruiting targets on defense
• “Assist with the management of the football program’s offensive/defensive scholarship grid, which tracks the current roster along with top targets.”
• Coordinating the coaching staff’s recruiting travel

Tracking the scholarship chart is key

Franklin, while speaking at a National Signing Day news conference on Wednesday, discussed the importance of tracking scholarships and eligibility accurately in a college football world that is increasingly seeing more early enrollees and also transfers. Penn State has 16 players set to enroll in January from the Class of 2024. It is a good thing. But, it also could create obstacles.

“I just see that becoming more and more of a trend, which also can be challenging,” Franklin said. “Because a lot of times at mid-semester, you don’t know exactly how many scholarships you are going to have available, whether it’s guys declaring early for the NFL or whether it’s the transfer portal. I don’t think a lot of people understand that part of the process. 

“It’s really a guesstimate. And that guesstimate has become harder and harder to make because, before the transfer portal, we really could go back on 10 years of data to say, okay, on average, we are going to have this much attrition, and that’s all been thrown out the window now. So it makes it more and more difficult to do that.”