What Losing Running Backs Coach Ja’Juan Seider Means for Penn State Football
In a surprising lateral move, longtime Penn State Football running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider is reportedly leaving for the same position with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
First reported by ESPN Sunday, Seider is expected to accept the running back coach job at Notre Dame after seven seasons with James Franklin and Penn State.
Seider had been Penn State’s running back coach since 2018, adding the co-offensive coordinator title in 2022 and the assistant head coach title in 2023.
Here is what Penn State will deal with as Seider is moving on to Notre Dame.
Elite Recruiter
![Penn State Football, Quinton Martin](https://nittanycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/USATSI_23016209-e1739119541233-1200x800.jpg)
Ja’Juan Seider was held in high regard in the recruiting world, earning a “Recruiter of the Year” honorable mention from Rivals in 2024 on Friday.
Seider was also named a top-10 recruiter in the country by On3 Sports in 2022 and 247Sports in 2019. Seider was responsible for bringing current star playmakers Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to Happy Valley. Throughout his tenure, Seider also brought starters Keyvonne Lee, Noah Cain, Journey Brown, among many others to Happy Valley.
In the 2026 and 2027 classes, Seider already has elite recruits Messiah Mickens and Kemon Spell committed to Penn State.
The next running backs coach hire will need to immediately get on the phone with both Mickens and Spell to keep both elite recruits on board and keep Seider from pulling them off to Notre Dame.
Florida Connection
Before Ja’Juan Seider became Penn State’s running backs coach in 2018, Penn State did not have much of a recruiting footprint in the state of Florida.
However, Seider quickly changed that, as he was highly respected for his recruiting efforts in the state. Since Seider’s hiring, Penn State has taken at least two players from the state in six out of seven of Penn State’s last recruiting classes.
Florida recruiting has been a key focus of the Franklin era with Seider on the staff and Franklin will need to consider Florida ties with the Nittany Lions next running backs coach hire if the Nittany Lions want that pipeline to continue.
Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen
![Penn State Football, Kaytron Allen](https://nittanycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/USATSI_24356593-scaled-e1728009438881-1200x800.jpg)
As mentioned earlier, Seider is responsible for bringing both of Penn State’s starting running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to Happy Valley.
For the past three seasons, both Singleton and Allen have played major parts in Penn State’s offense while sharing the workload virtually equally. Now with both backs committed to returning to Penn State for a fourth and final season, Singleton and Allen both will have the opportunity to set Penn State’s all-time rushing record in 2025 while trying to help Penn State push for a national championship run.
Singleton and Allen’s commitment to return softens the blow for Penn State with Seider leaving, as both have plenty of experience in Penn State’s offense. Penn State can rely on Singleton and Allen’s experience in 2025 while breaking in a new running backs coach before the next hire has to play too much of a role in deciding new starters in 2026.
Ja’Juan Seider’s move to Notre Dame is a major loss for the program in many aspects, especially recruiting. With Penn State heading into an extremely pivotal season with the rest of the Nittany Lions program fully “LTFI” on making a run at the 2025 national championship next year, James Franklin will face a lot of pressure to make the right hire and quickly as spring ball approaches.
![Nick Singleton, Penn State Football](https://nittanycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/USATSI_25156702-1200x800.jpg)
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