Penn State football set to make special teams coordinator hire
Penn State football is set to hire its replacement for outgoing special teams coordinator, Stacy Collins. In his place, the Nittany Lions will welcome Vanderbilt associate head coach, special teams coordinator, and tight ends coach Justin Lustig, Blue White Illustrated has confirmed.
247Sports reporter Matt Zenitz reported the news first.
The move provides a quick resolution to the program’s vacancy at special teams coordinator. And with it, the Nittany Lions have another strong resume handling the oft-prioritized element of the game.
A Broyles Award nominee at Syracuse in 2018, the annual recognition of the nation’s top assistant coach, Lustig has helped guide the Commodores since his arrival in Nashville in 2021. Following his debut season, he was promoted to assistant head coach.
Among his career highlights, dating back to 2001 with stops at Ball State and Syracuse before landing at Vanderbilt, Lustig has shepherded a Lou Groza Award-winner (2018, Andre Szmyt), and a Ray Guy Award finalist (2023, Matthew Hayball).
The Justin Lustig file
From his bio at Vanderbilt:
“Lustig has been instrumental in the development of special teams over his Vanderbilt tenure. The 2023 and 2022 seasons saw Vanderbilt rank 41st and 44th, respectively, in ESPN’s Special Teams Efficiency. This was after Lustig inherited a unit that ranked outside the top 100 in FBS the season before his arrival. As a team in 2023, Vanderbilt was one of 20 programs in the country to block multiple punts and finished 11th nationally in net punting.”
Lustig played defensive back at Bucknell from 1997-2000. From there, he began with a two-year stint at Christopher Newport, keeping with defensive backs, before a year at Villanova with the defensive backs. Returning to Christopher Newport for 2004 and 2005, Lustig’s responsibilities expanded to include special teams coordinator, which has stuck for the majority of his time since in college football.
Subsequent stops at Eastern Illinois (2006-08), Louisiana Lafayette (2009-10), Ball State (2011-2015), Syracuse (2017-20), and Vanderbilt (2021-23) also included titles as special teams coordinator. Lustig spent one year at Edinboro as head coach in 2016.
Lustig to join strong Penn State special teams
He joins a Penn State program that has produced outstanding results in special teams in recent seasons with Collins at the helm, including the 2023 season. Using ESPN’s SP+ metric, the Lions finished 67th in the country in that department during the 2022 season in special teams. But, in welcoming transfers Alex Felkins and Riley Thompson to the program in the offseason at kicker and punter, respectively, while putting in Daequan Hardy at punt return, scoring two touchdowns, the Lions finished 28th this year.
Pro Football Focus felt the same way. Graded as the eighth-best unit in the country in 2023, that number was up from 14th the previous year.
