Penn State officially hires Stan Drayton to be its next running backs coach
Stan Drayton is now officially the next running backs coach at Penn State. The Nittany Lions announced the former Temple head coach as the replacement for Ja’Juan Seider on Friday, hours after news broke that he was set to join head coach James Franklin’s staff. Seider left the program earlier this week to take the same job at Notre Dame.
“Stan Drayton brings decades of experience coaching running backs at the highest levels to our program,” Franklin said in a news release. “He is an important addition to our staff. His experience as a head coach and working alongside elite backs in his career will be invaluable to our running backs room. I am so excited to welcome Stan and his family, including his wife, Monique, and daughters, Amari and Anaya, to Happy Valley.”
The Owls fired Drayton in late 2024. He made it almost three seasons in Philadelphia but was let go after going 9-24. Before that, he was known as one of the nation’s top running backs coaches. He’s spent time in the NFL and also at Ohio State, Florida, and Texas, among other collegiate stops. Some of the talent he has developed and/or recruited include Cam Newton (Florida), Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State) and Bijan Robinson (Texas). ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that Drayton signed one year deal with the Nittany Lions. Penn State did not disclose the terms of the agreement.
“I am excited and honored to be joining this elite organization led by Coach Franklin,” Drayton said in a statement. “I have so much respect for the culture and program he has built here. Penn State has a rich running back tradition and a very talented running back room now. I am thrilled for this opportunity and am looking forward to getting to work.”
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Penn State gets its guy quickly
Drayton is just the third running backs coach of the James Franklin era. Charles Huff was the first. Seider replaced him back in 2018 and held the role ever since. Penn State did not take long to find his replacement. The average search lasts seven to 10 days. This one took just six. Back on Tuesday, Franklin outlined what he was seeking in his new hire.
“We’ve got to go out and get the very best candidate we can,” he said. “And again, there’s a list that’s probably not as deep as people think of, of candidates that can come to Penn State. And in hiring, in my mind, it’s, it’s about how are you going to get the return on your investment. What I mean by that is, there’s some young guys that you can hire that are on an upward trajectory, are going to have really good careers. But you may not get the return on your investment until year two. And then there’s other guys that are much more seasoned, buyou want to make sure that they haven’t gotten to the point of their career where their career starting to decline and go in the opposite direction.
“So 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.”
