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Longtime Penn State Football coach Sean Spencer leaving for NFL

By Cameron Michael

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions argues with a line judge during the second quarter against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions argues with a line judge during the second quarter against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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The Penn State football coaching staff took a big hit as longtime James Franklin assistant Sean Spencer has left for the New York Giants.

Penn State football will be without defensive line coach Sean Spencer on the sidelines for the first time since 2014 when he left Vanderbilt for Happy Valley. Spencer will be joining the staff of the New York Giants under new head coach Joe Judge.

Spencer spent the past six seasons as Penn State’s defensive line coach, filling the same role with Vanderbilt under coach Franklin from 2011 to 2013. Spencer has coached four defensive linemen to the NFL as draft picks and another who landed a job with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent. Projected first-round pick Yetur Gross-Matos will also lay claim to Spencer’s ability to coach up his players and help them achieve their ultimate goal of the NFL as Gross-Matos is almost surely a first-round pick as of the latest mock drafts.

Under Spencer, the Nittany Lions were one of the best pass-rushing teams in the entire country a season ago. Gross-Matos registered 9.5 sacks while fellow defensive ends Shaka Toney and Jayson Oweh each recorded at least a handful of quarterback sacks. Even Robert Windsor (also likely a draft pick to add to his credit) recorded 3.5 sacks from the interior as each player seemed to continually wreak havoc in the opposing backfield.

Under Spencer’s tutelage, the Penn State football team became known not just for the 2019 season but over the latter half of the last decade as one of the more feared defensive fronts. That all seemed like it wouldn’t be changing anytime soon either as the team already has enrolled 4-star DT Cole Brevard, 3-star DE Bryce Mostella, 3-star DT Fatorma Mulbah while signing 4-star DT Coziah Izzard, 3-star DE Zuriah Fisher, 3-star DE Brandon Taylor and 3-star DE Amin Vanover for the 2020 class alone, according to 247Sports.

His departure now means that Franklin will have to replace his four assistant of the 2020 offseason after filling vacancies at offensive coordinator, receivers coach and offensive line coach.

Coach Spencer will certainly be missed and from all of us at Victory Bell Rings, we wish you the best Coach Chaos!

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