Major Penn State Football Flip Target, Big Ten Rival, Back on Campus

Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes has been on fire recently on the recruiting trail, paying major dividends for James Franklin’s trust in a first time position coach heading into his second season with the Nittany Lions.

In his second recruiting class under the title of defensive line coach, Barnes has assembled an extremely impressive class of two four-star defensive ends from around the country and a three-star defensive tackle out of Florida since the start of June.

In just two and a half weeks at the beginning of the month, Barnes brought in defensive ends Jayden Woods, Max Granville, and Cortez Harris and defensive tackle Randy Adirika on board Penn State’s 2025 recruiting class (with Granville eventually reclassifying into the 2024 class).

In building the 2024 and 2025 class this month, Barnes branched out from Penn State’s typical recruiting territory of the DMV and Pennsylvania to land three of the four prospects out of Kansas (Woods), Texas (Granville), and Florida (Adirika).

Barnes also received great news for the Nittany Lions this week as Max Granville, a four-star edge rusher from Texas announced his reclassification into the 2024 class, a major win for Penn State this season and beyond.

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Penn State Football Has Massive Target on Campus

Even with Penn State struggling with in-state recruiting in the 2025 cycle, Barnes has been able to go around the country to pick up talent on the defensive line.

However, with a recent push, Barnes has the Nittany Lions back involved in the recruitment of a major in-state defensive line target currently committed to a Big Ten rival.

Number three overall Pennsylvania prospect, Zahir Mathis out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, committed to the rival Ohio State Buckeyes on January 10 this year.

However, two recent visits to Penn State has the Nittany Lions on flip watch for the talented edge rusher from Imhotep Institute.

After a June official visit to State College, Happy Valley Insider’s Richie O’Leary and Rival’s Adam Friedman broke down whether there was any smoke to the flip watch rumors for Mathis.

Friedman thought “flip watch” was too strong of a characterization at the time, with O’Leary reported that “word coming out of [Mathis’] visit was that the Nittany Lions have gained some serious ground in his recruitment and he’s heavily considering the idea of flipping.”

Now, in late July for Penn State’s annual Lasch Bash, Mathis is back on campus this weekend, as reported by Rival’s Dylan Callaghan Croley, further suggesting that there is at least some momentum for Penn State in this recruitment.

With Granville’s reclassification to the 2024 class, Penn State has an extra spot on the defensive line board for 2025 and could push even harder to flip Mathis from the Buckeyes.

Penn State is likely to once again lose its two starting defensive ends after the 2024 season (Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter) if all goes according to plan for the Nittany Lions this fall.

With these high-profile expected departures, Barnes and the Nittany Lions will look to use every resource available to replace these talented players by bringing in top defensive end targets in the 2025 class.

If Barnes is able to flip Mathis from the rival Buckeyes, it would be one of his most impressive jobs on the recruiting trail for the Nittany Lions early in his career as a defensive line coach.

MORE: James Franklin Sheds Light on Abdul Carter’s Role for 2024 Season

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