Tag: Terry Smith

Penn State has great first visit with elite 2026 cornerback

Penn State put in some early recruiting work on a Class of 2026 cornerback from North Carolina.

It’s never too early for programs across the country to start going after younger classes on the recruiting trail, and Penn State was able to host some targets during this past weekend.

The class of 2025 is going to get all the attention for the time being, especially since so many important recruits were on campus, but starting to develop relationships with 2026 players and beyond is a great starting point.

That’s what the Nittany Lions were able to do with one of the top cornerbacks in the class of 2026.

[autotag]Samari Matthews[/autotag] is a 6’0″, 180-pounder from North Carolina. 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him ranked as the 34th overall player in his class and the No. 3 corner.

He took his first trip to Happy Valley over the weekend and told Tyler Calvaruso of 247Sports that he and his family enjoyed the experience on campus, with the program, and watching practice (subscription required).

Matthews was able to speak with all the coaching staff in person, but really was able to connect with [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and cornerbacks coach [autotag]Terry Smith[/autotag] who have been recruiting him since January 2023.

With him being able to watch practice to see how everything operates, he came away with a better understanding of the relationships that the coaching staff has with the players.

The recruitment process for the talented cornerback is extremely early, but it sounds like the Nittany Lions got off to a great start with Matthews.

He’s picked up offers from multiple teams across the Power Four conferences and is already planning on visiting more campuses and programs for the remainder of spring and summer.

Matthews is definitely someone to monitor as it looks like he’s one of the high-priority players in the class of 2026.

Penn State gets another addition with Florida transfer cornerback

Penn State adds defensive back from SEC school out of transfer portal.

Penn State has things absolutely rolling in the transfer portal during the early cycle.

Wide receiver was the biggest need they had to address and they were able to land [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag]. Then two players from Wisconsin decided to come to Happy Valley with offensive tackle [autotag]Nolan Rucci[/autotag] and linebacker [autotag]Jordan Mayer[/autotag] transferring to Penn State.

The good news continued to come when former five-star cornerback and Georgia Bulldog, [autotag]A.J. Harris[/autotag], committed to the Nittany Lions.

Now, [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has landed another defensive piece by getting Florida cornerback transfer [autotag]Jalen Kimber[/autotag] to flip his commitment from Louisville to Penn State on Thursday.

The 6’0″ 185-pound corner initially enrolled at Georgia coming out of high school as a four-star rated prospect and the No. 105 player in the 2020 class.

He then transferred to Florida in 2022 and spent two seasons there, playing in 25 games and recording 36 tackles with one interception.

Kimber will spend his final year of eligibility with Penn State and could become an immediate starter with only one upperclassman in the cornerback room.

Initially, it looked like he was headed to Louisville after he committed to them early on in his process without ever visiting their campus.

Kimber still decided to see Penn State and that’s where his thought process started to change after meeting with the coaching staff and developing a relationship with cornerbacks coach [autotag]Terry Smith[/autotag].

The next steps will move quickly for the Nittany Lions.

Greg Pickel of BlueWhiteIlustrated reports, “Kimber is likely to enroll for the spring semester and start classes next week. That, of course, will allow him to participate in spring practice.”

Getting him involved in spring practices will be an important step to ensuring he can be a starter on this team heading into next season as he’ll get a full offseason of work with new defensive coordinator [autotag]Tom Allen[/autotag].

It’s been a great transfer season so far for Penn State and it doesn’t seem like they are done adding yet.

Dominate the state? Penn State favored to land in-state 2024 CB

Penn State is the favorite to land a key in-state target at a position of need in 2024

Dominate the state.

That’s been the ideology from [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] when it comes to recruiting. Keep as many of the local players in Pennsylvania as possible.

It’s an important ideology to have. It’s very difficult to create a flourishing pipeline if in-state players are going to other programs across the country.

2024 3-star cornerback [autotag]Kenny Woseley[/autotag] recently narrowed his list down to four schools. On3 has Woselely rated as the tenth-best player in Pennsylvania and 49th best cornerback in the country. The Philadelphia prospect’s list includes Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan and Rutgers.

Cornerbacks in college football have never been more needed than they are now. With the transition to more passing attacks around the country, every program needs to have players that can defend the pass.

Associate head coach and cornerbacks coach, [autotag]Terry Smith[/autotag], has done a great job of developing talent that comes into the program. Since arriving at Penn State in 2014, four cornerbacks have been drafted by the NFL.

With [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] exiting and being a likely first-round draft pick, more prospects will see Penn State as a destination. Returning cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag] is expected to also be a highly coveted draft pick whenever he decides to play at the next level.

On3’s recruiting predictor machine currently gives Penn State a 95.7% chance of landing Woseley.

This would be an important signing for the 2024 class which currently sits at three commitments.

There has been some concern from fans at the lack of commitments and overall talent in the 2024 class. At the moment, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan State are ranked above Penn State in the 247Sports team rankings.

After being ranked sixth overall in 2022, the recruiting level dipped in 2023 after finishing ranked 13th.

Landing in-state prospect Woseley would go a long way toward starting to build a solid class and ensuring the pipeline of talent continues to flow.

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A look back at James Franklin’s first staff at Penn State, where are they now?

Where is every member of James Franklin’s first Penn State staff today?

[autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has become known as a pipeline of sorts for sending members of his coaching staff to open jobs all over the country. Whether it be coordinators to head coaching roles or position coaches to coordinators. No matter the role, James Franklin has shown he not only raises his players, but also his staff.

For example, the return of offensive coordinator [autotag]Mike Yurcich[/autotag] this year will be the first time since 2018-2019 that the Nittany Lions have had the same offensive coordinator for two seasons. Again, that isn’t a bad thing. Like players, you want coaches to grow and move on because it creates relationships everywhere.

Looking back to 2014 when James Franklin made the move from Vanderbilt, his first staff has some big names now that have worked on their own to build a legacy. Check out where they are and have gone since that first season nearly eight years ago under James Franklin.

Jahan Dotson moving his way up list of Penn State’s all-time leading receivers

Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson is projected to finish in the top 10 among Penn State’s all-time leading receivers.

Penn State wide receiver has commented on how he wants to be a legend like Saqon Barkley before he leaves the Nittany Lions. One step toward becoming a legend would be to move his way up the list of Penn State’s all-time leading receivers with one final and full season in 2021.

Dotson will begin the 2021 season already in the top 20 in the Penn State record books for most career receiving yards. Dotson is 17th on the all-time list at Penn State, just behind his former teammate KJ Hamler. Dotson would have to turn in a record-setting single-season performance for Penn State to climb to the top of the list, as he is 1,451 receiving yards away from the Penn State career record of 3,026 yards held by Bobby Engram. Allen Robinson holds the single-season receiving record with 1,432 yards in 2013.

With Dotson setting his own personal goal to leave Penn State with legendary status, here is a look at the top 20 players in Penn State history with the most career receiving yards.