Penn State Football assistant Phil Trautwein putting in work on recruiting trail

Penn State Football has made a strong commitment to recruiting along the offensive line this cycle, with offensive line coach Phil Trautwein at the forefront

Penn State Football had its fair share of struggles on the offensive line in 2021, but offensive line coach Phil Trautwein is doing all he can to correct the mistakes.

Trautwein has been one of the hottest recruiters on the trail over the past month, as he works to stockpile as much offensive line talent as possible. The Nittany Lions signed three offensive linemen back in December during the 2022 cycle early signing period, but the team needed more.

While the staff still looked to add to the 2022 class, they wasted no time targeting 2023 and 2024 recruits. On Jan. 28, 3-star 2023 OT Anthony Donkoh committed to the Nittany Lions. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds, the high school junior has the size to develop into a successful offensive tackle down the road. The next day, the ball got rolling in the 2024 cycle, as 6-foot-5 Cooper Cousins from Erie, PA became the first member of 2024 class. Considering Cousins is 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds as a sophomore, he definitely looks like a future tackle.

Trautwein wasn’t done in 2022 though, as on National Signing Day the following Wednesday, the Nittany Lions pulled off a shocker when they landed 3-star interior offensive lineman Vega Ioane over Washington. Ioane is from Washington and at one point was committed to the Huskies, but it took only one visit to Happy Valley for Trautwein and the staff to convince Ioane to take his talents to the other side of the country.

With the 2022 class in the books, the attention was turned back to the 2023 class. It only took Trautwein a few more days before making another splash, this time in the form of 4-star OT Jven Williams. Considered the best offensive line recruit in the state of Pennsylvania, Williams is a versatile lineman who could end up at tackle or guard down the road.

Penn State Football’s 2023 recruiting class now has four offensive line commits, with Donkoh, Williams, 3-star Joshua Miller and 5-star Alex Birchmeier.

These additions will certainly help future Penn State offensive lines, but what about the 2022 one?

Well, Trautwein received some reinforcements for that group with Cornell transfer Hunter Nourzad announcing on Monday that he will transfer to Penn State for the upcoming season. After starting 20 games at Cornell at tackle, Nourzad is expected to move to guard at Penn State. He was one of the most sought-after offensive linemen in the portal, and in the end, Trautwein and the Nittany Lions won out.

The talent is being acquired; the next step is to improve the product on the field. This is a critical off-season for Trautwein, and it’s far from over, but it is off to as good of a start as Penn State fans could have hoped for.