Tag: Gabe Infante

Manny Diaz taking pair of Penn State football staffers to Duke, per report

It looks like Manny Diaz is going to pluck a couple of football staffers from Penn State as he gets settled in at Duke.

As is usually the case, a former Penn State coordinator is expected to be taking a couple of familiar faces with him to his new job. Manny Diaz, who was named the head coach at Duke after his second season as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, will reportedly be taking a couple of analysts with him from the Penn State staff to help fill out his staff in Durham.

According to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, Diaz is expected to bring defensive analysts Gabe Infante and Rick Lyster from Penn State to Duke. What their new roles on the Duke staff remain to be confirmed, although it will likely be a promotion in job title.

The departure of Lyster was to be expected given how long he and Diaz have worked together. Lysrer worked for Diaz when Diaz was the head coach at Miami, so having a little familiarity on the staff will be good for Diaz as he assembles his new coaching staff for the Blue Devils.

Losing a couple of defensive analysts may not be a terrible situation for Penn State. With new defensive coordinator Tom Allen in place, it may be preferable to have a couple of analysts that Allen is familiar with or has a connection with fill the spots on the staff in that capacity. Expect those roles to be filled relatively easily.

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Penn State adds another analyst to the football staff

Penn State adds special teams analyst to staff from Auburn

Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] had an analyst role to fill on his staff after seeing Ken Whisenhunt move on to a similar role with Alabama this week. It appears that the vacancy has been filled. Eric Sachse, a former Boise State kicker who most recently was serving as an analyst with Auburn, was confirmed to be the latest addition to the support staff for the football program.

Sachse will be the second special teams analyst for Penn State to help assist special teams coordinator Stacy Collins, who also has a previous stop at Boise State in his coaching career. Collins and Sachse did not overlap their time with the Boise State program, however. Penn State’s other special teams analyst is Eric Raisbeck.

Sachse spent one season at Boise State after four years at a Division 3 school, Trinity College. At Boise State, Sachse converted 14 of 17 field goal attempts and connected on 61 of his 62 extra point attempts for the Broncos in 2019.

Other analysts on Penn State’s support staff include [autotag]Deion Barnes[/autotag], [autotag]Dan Connor[/autotag], [autotag]Gabe Infante[/autotag], [autotag]Calvin Lowry[/autotag], [autotag]Frank Leonard[/autotag], [autotag]Rick Lyster[/autotag], [autotag]Danny O’Brien[/autotag], [autotag]Danny Rocco[/autotag], and [autotag]Charles Walker[/autotag].

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Dan Connor among three new analysts at Penn State

Dan Connor returns to Penn State as James Franklin adds three analysts to staff

One of Penn State’s all-time best players is back in Happy Valley. Former linebacker Dan Connor has joined the football staff to take on a role as an analyst for head coach James Franklin. Connor is just one of the new additions to the football staff, however. Penn State is also welcoming Gabe Infante and Rick Lyster as analysts.

Infante was hired b new Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz when Diaz was briefly the head coach at Temple. Infante, an accomplished high school coach in Philadelphia, remained with the Temple staff after Diaz quickly left to become the head coach at Miami, but Infante became available following another coaching change at Temple this offseason.

Lyster is also connected to Diaz. He worked as an analyst for Miami under Diaz prior to his arrival at Penn State. Diaz having some familiarity with two analysts that will be helping him with the defensive game planning is certainly nice to have available.

Adding a Penn State legend in Connor is certainly nice to see as well. Connor has been building up his coaching career since retiring from his six-year NFL career. Connor has been a defensive assistant for Division 2 West Chester and a high school head coach in Philadelphia, and a defensive coordinator for Widener. Now, he takes his next step back with the program where he became the school’s all-time leading tackler and a two-time All-American.

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