Incoming defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has boasted about the advantage of Penn State having so many assistant coaches firmly entrenched in their roles on his side of the football. However, the Nittany Lions are still facing some offseason re-shuffling.
Last week, defensive analyst Rob Smith, who spent the past two seasons in Happy Valley, left to become the defensive coordinator and play-caller at Rutgers under Gregg Schiano. Since that move, head coach James Franklin and Knowles have replaced him two-fold, first bringing in Albany head coach Greg Gattuso to an analyst role, then on Sunday adding Andrew Jackson from West Virginia.
Penn State is expected to hire Andrew Jackson as a defensive line analyst, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 9, 2025
Was West Virginia’s defensive line coach the last four years. Helped WVU rank No. 1 in the Big 12 in sacks in 2023 and helped Dante Stills finish as WVU’s all-time… pic.twitter.com/VDeMLMpdU0
Jackson will fill the role of defensive line analyst for Franklin and Knowles after leading the Mountaineers defensive line for the last four seasons. Over that stretch, Penn State is 2-0 against the Mountaineers, a longtime rival. The two programs met in Week 1 of 2024, a 34-12 Nittany Lions victory that featured 222 rushing yards. Penn State dominated West Virginia in the trenches, but Franklin and Knowles clearly saw something from Jackson’s group that impressed.
Much like for Gattuso, a Penn State alum who was a defensive lineman on the 1982 national championship team, this is a homecoming of sorts for Jackson. After beginning his coaching career at Long Island University in 2013 and transitioning to Stony Brook the next year, Jackson took a graduate assistant job coaching the defensive line on Franklin’s staff in 2015-16. He helped coach future pros like Austin Johnson, Carl Nassib, and Anthony Zettlel.
Franklin’s staff has shed some talent this offseason and the loss of Smith to Rutgers on the defensive side is notable, but in hiring a current FCS head coach and Big 12 defensive line coach to analyst roles on defense, Penn State is demonstrating the pull of a national title contender. The Nittany Lion’s roster is loaded for 2025, so loaded that coaches are willing to take a demotion just to be a part of next season in Happy Valley.