Penn State Football’s John Scott Jr having strong recruiting run

John Scott Jr. has proven instrumental to head coach James Franklin and Penn State Football recruiting this cycle 

When Sean Spencer left Penn State Football for the New York Giants after the 2019 season, there was concern about the future of Penn State’s defensive line.

Spencer had been the defensive line coach for all of head coach James Franklin’s tenure in Happy Valley. He was a great recruiter and high-energy coach that was a favorite amongst both players and fans.

Replacing him would not be easy.

Franklin would turn to South Carolina defensive ends coach John Scott Jr. to replace Spencer. Scott was a little known coach to most Penn State fans at the time, and there was some skepticism.

Scott’s first year at Penn State would not be an easy one. He dealt with not being able to spend much time with his players due to the pandemic and the unit struggled early in the season. Like the rest of the staff, Scott also had a hard time recruiting in the 2021 cycle.

Things started to turn around for Scott towards the end of 2020, as the team would win their final four games and the defensive line played much better.

Recruiting also got a boost when 4-star defensive end Davon Townley committed to Penn State at the end of the 2021 cycle. Townley joined 3-star defensive end Rodney McGraw in the class.

There was even more good news for Scott, as defensive end Odafe Oweh was taken in the first of the NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens, something Scott could point to when recruiting.

It certainly looks like that worked, as Scott has added four commits to his defensive end haul in the 2022 class in July.

At defensive tackle, Scott grabbed 4-star Zane Durant and high 3-star Kaleb Artis on the Fourth of July. The two are very different from a physical standpoint, with Durant being smaller, around 6-foot-1 and 260 pounds, while Artis is 6-foot-4 and closing in on 290 pounds. This is a quality haul for Scott, as tackle depth could be an issue a few years down the round.

The defensive end haul is where Scott can truly hang his hat.

The defensive end recruiting got back in September when 4-star Ken Talley joined the class. He has been a very vocal recruit and he has definitely given Scott some extra firepower when it comes to recruiting.

Scott certainly brought the firepower in July as Penn State landed 4-star Tyreese Fearbry back on the Fourth of July and then added top target Dani Dennis-Sutton on Thursday. This talented haul will cure some of the anxiety fans may have had about defensive end depth.

Scott’s defensive line will have to perform well this year for Penn State to return to relevance in the Big Ten title hunt, and a normal offseason should help him accomplish that. He can go into Fall camp knowing he did just about a perfect job in recruiting in 2022 and focus on improving his current squad.