Does Penn State Football have a decommitment problem?

Penn State football suffered its sixth decommitment in the 2023 recruiting class earlier this week. 

Tomarrion Parker became the sixth member of Penn State football’s 2023 class to decommit from the Nittany Lions on Tuesday.

While one of the sixth is Mathias Barnwell, who is back in the class, the decommits have been tough to swallow for the Nittany Lions.

They include 4-star QB Marcus Stokes, 3-star WR Yazeed Haynes, 3-star OL Josh Miller, 4-star DE Neeo Avery and Parker.

The fact that all five of these recruits play première positions in college football is what hurts the most.

Replacing a quarterback like Stokes this late in a cycle is not easy, but Penn State is trying. Miller is an interior lineman, so his departure doesn’t hurt as much with Alex Birchmeier and Jven Willliams still committed.

Haynes is a tough one because Penn State was counting on him after losing Rodney Gallagher and Cam Seldon. Wide receiver recruiting is back to sqaure one.

Parker and Avery are also big ones because of how important defensive ends are in the college game. The Nittany Lions still have 4-star Jameial Lyons committed but losing both of these guys is a big blow. The replacement options are slim right now.

So, is the decommitment problem at Penn State worse than the norm?

Compared to other Big Ten schools, Penn State football is having a harder time holding onto some recruits. Penn State’s five (Barnwell’s re-commitment makes his a wash) decommitments lead the way in the conference. Michigan and Rutgers are tied for second with three.

Last year, only four recruits decommitted from Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class during the entire cycle. The highest number of decommitments in a Penn State recruiting class is seven, which was done twice in 2016 and 2020.

So, this class- at least so far- is nothing too extreme in terms of decommitments.

The fact these decommitments are happening now also does benefit the Nittany Lions. The staff has time to evaluate new targets and properly replace the players lost. This would be far more devastating if it happened in December.

With that said, the cycle isn’t over, and Penn State still has a lot of recruits they need to hang onto. Recruiting the South is not an easy thing to do but holding onto commits from the South is even harder than landing their original commitment.

Penn State currently has one commit from Alabama and three from Florida. All four are key members of Penn State’s defensive back haul and are all blue-chip recruits. These commits cannot slip away.

Penn State’s number of decommitments is probably higher than fans would like, but in the age of NIL, it’s probably going to happen more often.

Overall, Penn State still has a quality recruiting class and honestly the recruits that they have missed on have hurt more than the decommits.

A good season on the field will also help keep recruits in the fold, as we know Penn State struggled the past two seasons, going a combined 11-11.

Right now, Penn State does not have a serious problem with decommits. The number is the highest in the conference, but we need to remember that Penn State recruits out of its region more than most Big Ten schools, so decommitments are more likely.

Florida already has five decommitments and even the national champs, the Georgia Bull Dogs, already have four. It’s just the nature of recruiting.

The bigger problem will be if Penn State cannot adequately replace the commits it lost.