No team is returning more talent in the backfield for 2025 than the Penn State Nittany Lions. James Franklin managed to retain both Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen for their senior seasons after each back rushed for 1,000 yards last season, but longtime running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider decided to leave Happy Valley for South Bend.
Notre Dame is the only program with a comparable group in the backfield, returning Jeremiyah Love after a staggering sophomore season in which he rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns on just 163 carries (6.9 yards per attempt), and Jadarian Price, a physical compliment who added 746 yards on the ground.
However, with the Fighting Irish filling their running backs coach vacancy and opening the role on Penn State’s staff in the process, Franklin confidently claimed in his first press conference since Nittany Lion’s Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal loss to the Irish that the job is “arguably the most attractive running back job in the country.”
Behind Singleton and Allen, Penn State boasts a talented young group of backs including rising redshirt freshmen Quinton Martin Jr. and Corey Smith. Smith turned his 22 attempts last season into 152 yards with a 78-yarder in his debut against Washington.
Even with so much veteran talent on the roster, Franklin was reportedly unable to convince former NFL star and current Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray to leave his post in Norman. Murray is one of the most highly-paid running backs coaches in the country, and after Penn State handed defensive coordinator Jim Knowles a contract worth $3.1 million a year, the program may be limited in its spending to replace Seider.
The roster makes Penn State’s opening attractive, but apparently it’ll take more than that to entice the very best running backs coaches in the country to jump at it this offseason.