Rutgers hires another Penn State analyst for an assistant coach spot
Penn State is losing a second analyst to an assistant coach role at Rutgers this offseason. After Robb Smith left the Lions to be the Scarlet Knights’ co-defensive coordinator with play calling responsibilities in Piscataway, N.J., earlier this month, Rutgers announced Thursday night that Vic Hall would be its new safeties coach under Smith. He will join David Rowe, who was already on head coach Greg Schiano’s staff, as the cornerbacks coach. Hall joined the Lions staff a year ago.
“Vic and David are both great fits for our staff,” Schiano said in a news release. “I am confident their expertise will elevate our secondary both on and off the field.”
Rutgers had previously announced Smith and his co-defensive coordinator Zach Sparber. Smith came to Penn State in 2023.
“I am excited by the opportunity to work with Robb again,” Schiano said in a statement on Feb. 7. “He is one of the most intelligent football coaches I have ever been around. In Zach, we are hiring a rising star in the profession, who has proven to be a great communicator. Together, I am confident they will lead our defense to new heights. We are thrilled to welcome them both back to New Jersey.”
Penn State assistant coaching staff changes
The lines are blurred in this category because of the fact that analysts and support staffers can have on-field roles. But, for the purposes of this conversation, we are talking about the 10 assistant coaches under James Franklin. That does not include Danny O’Brien, who the program lists as its quarterbacks coach even though he is employed as an analyst.
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At any rate, eight of the 10 return, which means two moved on. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen left the Lions for Clemson. Penn State pried Jim Knowles away from the defending national champs, Ohio State, to replace him. And, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider moved on after seven seasons to take a job at Notre Dame. Former Temple head coach Stan Drayton is replacing him.
Other departures
Penn State has so far lost one member of its recruiting staff. Khalil Ahmad is now the associate general manager at Temple, per his Twitter bio. Franklin touched on his departure earlier this month.
“We lost Khalil [Ahmad] to Temple for an advancement in his career from a from a title perspective and a responsibility perspective,” Franklin said. “Khalil did a really good job for us as well, so we wish him well, but that creates a ton of work as well. The interview process, being as thorough as we possibly can with that, while also understanding in today’s college football, the timing of it is really important as well. There’s a lot of uneasiness and uncertainty from our current roster, as well as recruits. So we want to be sensitive to that as well, but not to the point where we don’t do a great job and we’re not thorough with our process.”
As of Feb. 18, Penn State still seeks Ahmad’s replacement.
New additions
As for new additions at Penn State, Shane Eachus and Brent Zdebski are both here after working previously with Knowles. The Lions also hired two new defensive line helpers. Letterman Greg Gattuso is back in town after 11 seasons as Albany’s head coach. And, former Penn State graduate assistant Andrew Jackson is back after a stint at West Virginia. Other additions are likely coming this offseason, as well.
