Tag: Alex Tatsch

Penn State’s Class of 2025 is perfectly balanced, as all things should be

Penn State has signed its Class of 2025, and it’s a solid class.

Penn State may be preparing for the Big Ten championship game this week, but Wednesday was a cause to pause and celebrate the future of the program beyond this season. Wednesday marked the beginning of the early signing period in college football, and Penn State officially inked 26 members for its Class of 2026. With a recruiting class split evenly with 13 offensive players and 13 defensive players, James Franklin and his staff have managed to pull in a balanced class that will continue to sustain what the entire staff has been working to build for the next few seasons.

More than half of this recruiting class is scheduled to enroll early in January. Penn State announced 14 members of its Class of 2025 will be early enrollees, which will allow them to go through offseason workouts and conditioning and participate in spring football practices.

This recruiting class will be one of Franklin’s best overall classes at Penn State as well. A total of 23 of the 26 commits were ranked as a four-star or five-star player by On3, 247Sports, Rivals, or ESPN. The class also spread the Penn State footprint into 10 different states, including 19 from Pennsylvania or a neighboring state.

Among the top-rated recruits in the Class of 2025 are interior offensive lineman [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] from New Jersey, cornerback [autotag]Daryus Dixson[/autotag] from California, and linebacker [autotag]LaVar Arrington Jr.[/autotag] (yes, THAT LaVar Arrington).

Here is a full list of Penn State’s Class of 2025 that has been signed during the early signing period:

  • DL [autotag]Randy Adirika[/autotag] (Miami, Fla.)
  • OL [autotag]Owen Aliciene[/autotag] (Cheshire, Conn.)
  • LB [autotag]LaVar Arrington Jr.[/autotag] (Annapolis, Md.)
  • DL [autotag]Dayshaun Burnett[/autotag] (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
  • DL [autotag]Chaz Coleman[/autotag] (Warren, Ohio)
  • RB [autotag]Jabree Coleman[/autotag] (Darby Township, Pa.)
  • WR [autotag]Jeff Exinor Jr.[/autotag] (Baltimore, Md.)
  • OL [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] (Bloomfield, N.J.)
  • DL [autotag]Cortez Harris[/autotag] (Largo, Md.)
  • RB [autotag]Tikey Hayes[/autotag] (Aliquippa, Pa.)
  • TE [autotag]Matt Henderson[/autotag] (Powhatan, Va.)
  • WR [autotag]Koby Howard[/autotag] (Pensacola, Fla.)
  • DB [autotag]Joshua Johnson[/autotag] (Ironton, Ohio)
  • DB [autotag]Jahmir Joseph[/autotag] (Nyack, N.Y.)
  • DL [autotag]Yvan Kemajou[/autotag] (Burtonsville, Md.)
  • TE [autotag]Brian Kortovich[/autotag] (Willoughby, Ohio)
  • QB [autotag]Bekkem Kritza[/autotag] (Chandler, Ariz.)
  • OL [autotag]Brady O’Hara[/autotag] (Mars, Pa.)
  • WR [autotag]Matt Outten[/autotag] (Portsmouth, Va.)
  • WR [autotag]Lyrick Samuel[/autotag] (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  • LB [autotag]Cam Smith[/autotag] (Salem, N.J.)
  • LB [autotag]Alex Tatsch[/autotag] (Latrobe, Pa.)
  • DB [autotag]Braz Thomas[/autotag] (Glassboro, N.J.)
  • DB [autotag]Xxavier Thomas[/autotag] (Canonsburg, Pa.)
  • OL [autotag]Michael Troutman III[/autotag] (Trenton, N.J.)

The focus will now shift to the transfer portal as Penn State’s offseason roster changes could be continuing in the coming weeks amidst its Big Ten and College Football Playoff push.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.

Penn State getting official visit from elite four-star linebacker

Penn State is looking forward to hosting this key linebacker recruiting target.

Penn State continues their efforts in the 2025 recruiting class to add as many talented prospects as possible.

With the Big Ten expanding, there is more need for talent now than ever.

The Nittany Lions have done a great job at landing early commitments from many players in the class so far, but there is still plenty of time for them to add more to areas of need.

One position they continue to target is linebacker.

Despite having three commitments already from four-stars [autotag]DJ McClary[/autotag], [autotag]Alex Tatsch[/autotag] and [autotag]Dayshaun Burnett[/autotag], they are heavily recruiting another four-star from the state of Florida.

[autotag]Ty Jackson[/autotag] is rated as the No. 115 player in the country and 14th-best linebacker according to On3’s Industry Rankings, but On3’s new updated rankings have him much higher as the best linebacker in his class and the No. 16 player overall.

At 6’1″ and 205 pounds, he is a downhill player who gets into the backfield quickly with his speed.

Jackson has started to have offers from high-profile programs pour in recently with just under 30 offers, many from elite schools across the country.

According to Chad Simmons of On3, he’s locked in an official visit to Penn State for the weekend of May 31. He’s visiting three others across the SEC and ACC in an official capacity this summer and plans on seeing others in the spring. Simmons also said that Jackson is not rushing into a decision with the elite prospect telling him it will likely come after his senior season in high school (subscription required).

Penn State currently sits third in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 18.8% chance to land a commitment with Georgia leading the way at 25.1% and Tennessee second with a 21.9% chance.

Penn State’s 2025 football commitment tracker

We have an updated football commitment tracker for Penn State following Monday’s latest commitment.

Penn State got off to a fast start with assembling its Class of 2025 on the recruiting trail. James Franklin and his staff quickly put together a class ranking in the top 10 of the national recruiting rankings even before the Class of 2024 was wrapping up for good. An early focus on defense was noticeable with Penn State’s recruiting plans for the Class of 2025 and some key players from neighboring states were among the early highlights of the recruiting class.

We will be keeping tabs on the Penn State Class of 2025 all the way through the recruiting cycle up until the commitments sign with Penn State. Should there be any players backing off their commitment, we will track their status as well as their recruiting process plays out.

This tracker will be updated as necessary, with the most recent update being made on February 20, 2024.

2025 Four-star in-state linebacker Alex Tatsch commits to Penn State

Dominate the state! Four star in-state linebacker commits to Penn State

On Sunday evening, Penn State received its ninth commitment from the Class of 2025, which currently ranks as the sixth-best class in the nation according to 247Sports, when inside linebacker [autotag]Alex Tatsch[/autotag] pledged his commitment to [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and the Nittany Lions.

Tatsch, a Latrobe, PA native, is a four-star and top-10 Pennsylvania recruit. His quickness and elite ball skills make him a prototypical middle linebacker who can cover.

Tatsch had this to say to Rivals.com on his commitment and new Penn State defensive coordinator [autotag]Tom Allen[/autotag]:

“I feel like the best fit for me,” Tatsch said. “Everything about it – the fit, high level football, teammates, the campus, all the coaches there – I feel like it’s the best fit for me. I think we can do some special things there.”

“It was good talking to coach Allen,” he said. “I got to know him better and see his mind behind football and how he teaches the game. I enjoyed it and I think he does it the right way. He thinks I can do a little bit of everything. As far as the position, I’m definitely an inside guy for him. He thinks I could be on the field for the 4-3 or 4-2-5.”

Tatsch’s ranking has a great chance of increasing as the Class of 2025 gets more flushed out after National Signing Day takes place this Wednesday for the 2024 class.

Tatsch joins New Jersey native [autotag]DJ McClary[/autotag] as the two linebackers in the Class of 2025. Both are considered inside linebackers and should be a noteworthy duo during their time at State College.

Follow Charlie Strella on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram.

Crystal ball predictions roll in for Penn State and in-state linebacker

Penn State is the easy favorite to land a commitment from this in-state linebacker in ’25.

Penn State had a busty weekend hosting a number of high school juniors on the radar for the Class of 2025. In addition to handing out a few offers to some recruiting targets, Penn State also seemed to pick up some momentum for an in-state linebacker according to a couple of recruiting experts.

Alex Tatsch, from Latrobe, PA, has a couple of crystal ball predictions filed on his recruiting profile on 247Sports, including one this weekend by a Penn State recruiting insider. Both predictions currently on record favor Penn State for Tatsch’s commitment. Brian Dohn, the national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, cast his prediction of Penn State back in mid-November, which was a solid start for Penn State’s trajectory given Dohn’s reputation with his predictions. But a new prediction from Tyler Calvaruso of Lions247 this weekend strengthened the outlook in favor of the Nittany Lions for the in-state linebacker.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine seems to agree that Penn State is the runaway favorite. The current outlook from On3’s computer calculation gives Penn State a 97.5% chance of securing the commitment of Latsch. West Virginia and Pittsburgh split the remaining percentages.

Tatsch does not have a player rating from 247Sports at this time but On3 rates him as a three-star recruit. Rivals is even more optimistic with a four-star rating. On3’s industry ranking has Tatsch as the no. 9 recruit overall in Pennsylvania (On3 ranks Tatsch at no. 11 overall in the state and Rivals has him ranked no. 5 overall in Pennsylvania).

Tatsch is no stranger to Penn State, of course. Prior to this weekend, Tatsch has visited Penn State at least twice, and he received an offer from Penn State in late October 2023.

Penn State’s Class of 2025 currently consists of seven commits and ranks no. 8 in the nation early on in the recruiting cycle according to the updated 247Sports team rankings. On3 ranks Penn State at no. 12 in their updated Class of 2025 team rankings.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.