Penn State To Hire Former Ohio State Assistant With NFL Ties
Head coach James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions are expected to fill the void at running backs coach with a former Ohio State and NFL assistant coach, according to a report on Friday. Ja’Juan Seider, who helped coach star tailbacks Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton last season, left for the same role at Notre Dame following Penn State’s College Football Playoff run. Franklin and Co. reportedly extended an offer to Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray, but the former Sooners running back and NFL star ultimately turned the opportunity down. The role will be filled by Stan Drayton, according to a report from Chicago Sports Network’s Matt Fortuna. Drayton coached at Big Ten rival Ohio State from 2011-14 and recently served as head coach at Temple over the last three seasons.
Drayton, 53, was fired by Temple in 2024 after posting a 9-25 record with the Owls. While his first head coaching stint was forgettable, the former Allegheny running back is a respected position coach.
Drayton also provides some experience in the state, as he coached tailbacks at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, one of his first stints in college football. The Cleveland, Ohio, native also served in the same role at Mississippi State, Florida, Tennessee and Syracuse after spending three seasons with the Green Bay Packers from 2001-03. After helping head coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2014, Drayton again departed to the NFL to coach running backs with the Chicago Bears from 2015-16. Drayton joined Texas in 2017 and served as assistant head coach, running backs coach and run-game coordinator under head coach Tom Herman before joining Temple in 2022.
At Penn State, Drayton has the pieces to make a major impact given the return of the program’s top-two rushers in Allen and Singleton. The pair was the only duo to each rush for 1,000 yards in 2024, as the Nittany Lions set a program record with 13 wins. Penn State will open the 2025 season at home against Nevada on Aug. 30.
The recruiting impact of Ohio State running back Sam Williams-Dixon returning: Buckeye Breakfast
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State got welcome news on Wednesday, as running back Sam Williams-Dixon announced he’s returning to Columbus.
He withdrew from the transfer portal, giving the Buckeyes another running back in the fold. Now, the long-term outlook at running back is a bit brighter.
Former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel was confirmed Wednesday as Ohio’s next lieutenant governor.
State senators and representatives affirmed Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Monday nomination of Tressel in separate floor votes Wednesday: 31-1 in the Senate, 68-27 in the House.
Tressel, 72, succeeds Republican Jon Husted, who was appointed last month to the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Vice President JD Vance.
Tressel retired in 2023 as president of Youngstown State University, a position he had held since 2014. He previously spent nearly a decade as head coach of Ohio State University’s football team, leading the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2002 and six Big Ten championships.
He was pressured to resign in May 2011 after a memorabilia-for-cash scandal rocked the team.
After Tressel left Ohio State, he served as executive vice president for student success at the University of Akron before returning to Youngstown State as president.
DeWine has said that Tressel will remain involved in education and workforce development as lieutenant governor.
