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Penn State is expected to hire Stan Drayton to be its next running backs coach

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•about 18 hours•

GregPickel

Stan Drayton (Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images)
Stan Drayton (Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images)

Penn State is on the cusp of officially hiring its next running backs coach. On3’s Pete Nakos reports that the Lions are expected to hire Stan Drayton to replace Ja’Juan Seider. The news comes just days after reports broke indicating that the latter is leaving for Notre Dame. BWI’s Sean Fitz has reported since Sunday that Drayton was a key figure and top target in the search.

Drayton, a 53-year-old Cleveland, Ohio native, has plenty of ties to the Keystone State. He most recently was the head coach at Temple, where he was let go in 2024 after going 9-25. His extensive coaching career also includes stops at Penn and Villanova in the late 1990s, and he’s had two stints in the NFL and also spent numerous seasons at both Ohio State and Texas. He has coached running backs at almost every place he’s been at. But, he did coach the receivers for one season with the Buckeyes in 2011.

Drayton will be just the third running backs coach of the James Franklin era at Penn State. Charles Huff held the role from 2014-2017. And, Seider then held it, along with other titles, from 2018-2024. Drayton is the second new assistant coach hired this offseason. He joins defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who replaces Tom Allen.

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Penn State apparently finds a fit in Drayton

At his Tuesday news conference, which was the first of the 2025 season, Franklin discussed what he was looking for in Seider’s replacement.

“I think when you look at the qualities for a running backs coach, it’s the same for all these positions,” Franklin said. “We’ve got to go out and get the very best candidate we can. You kind of find that sweet spot of a guy that’s got enough experience, both in coaching and in recruiting at this level, and that we’re going to get the return on our investment quickly. Because, you know, we’re just not at a point as a program to come in and have to wait a year or two while we’re still developing somebody.

“So that’s, that’s the hard part of finding that sweet spot of they got enough experience that there’s they’re still trending, from a from a coaching and from a recruiting perspective, but not too much that maybe they’re on the downward trend of their career as well, and you’re trying to kind of balance all those things.”

Drayton, it appears, is on the right career trajectory. It’s unclear if the Owls owed him a buyout, which could offset what Penn State will pay him. Financial details were not reported.

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