Penn State Football Hires Ex-Temple Head Coach as New RB Coach
After a much shorter coaching search than Penn State’s defensive coordinator hire last month, Penn State Football has hired former Temple head coach Stan Drayton as the Nittany Lions‘ new running backs coach, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
In the report, Thamel notes that Drayton has signed a one-year contract with the Nittany Lions.
Penn State’s running backs coach position opened up surprisingly last week, as the Nittany Lions long-time assistant Ja’Juan Seider left Happy Valley for the same position at Notre Dame.
Seider had occupied the running backs coach position for Penn State since 2018.
After wishing the former coach well at his press conference this week, head coach James Franklin called the timing of the opening “problematic” for Penn State, noting “it’s very detrimental to lose people in your organization this late in the process.”
Franklin, however, wasted no time interviewing candidates this week and hiring Drayton, who was fired after the 2024 season after three seasons as the head coach of the Temple Owls.
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What Stan Drayton Brings Penn State Football
Drayton has extensive experience as a running backs coach, spending 24 total years with the running backs coach title in both the NFL and college football. Before his head coaching stint at Temple, Drayton spent five seasons with the Texas Longhorns as the assistant head coach, running backs coach, and running game coordinator. He also worked with Urban Meyer during stints at Florida and Ohio State, including coaching on both the 2006 and 2014 national championship teams.
Drayton matches the outline laid out by James Franklin earlier this week for what he was looking for in a running backs coach.
Franklin noted that he wanted a running backs coach with experience that is able to step in and contribute “quickly” in year one. Franklin also expressed a desire for someone with recruiting experience in the northeast and the Big Ten, which Drayton filled with his stint at Temple and Ohio State, respectively.
Franklin also continuously talks about wanting a head coach of each phase of the game and each position group. With his head coaching experience, Drayton checks that box as well.
With both Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen returning to the Nittany Lions in 2025, Drayton will have a great room to work with upon his arrival in Happy Valley.
He will, however, have to immediately get to work keeping 2026 commit Messiah Minkens and 2027 commit Kemon Spell on board the Nittany Lions recruiting classes.
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