Penn State makes things official with new special teams, linebackers coach
Penn State head coach James Franklin stuck around in Happy Valley, and there are a few new faces joining him for the 2022 season.
On Tuesday, the Nittany Lions made it official with Stacy Collins, who will serve as the special teams coordinator and will coach both outside linebackers and nickels.
Collins served as the special teams coordinator at Boise State this year, where his group blocked three punts and four kicks overall. The former number ranked No. 7 nationally, while the latter statistic was ninth in the country. Further, Boise State average 15.77 yards per punt return, which was fifth nationally.
“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to work under the leadership of Coach Franklin and join the Penn State family,” Collins said, per a release from the school. “I look forward to developing and growing our special teams units which has had a history of success during coach’s tenure. I’m also excited to work with Coach Diaz and the defensive staff to continue to build on the strong defensive tradition of Penn State. My family and I can’t wait to start this new chapter in Happy Valley.”
Penn State hired Manny Diaz, the former Miami head coach, to serve as their defensive coordinator in mid-December.
Franklin also issued a statement welcoming the defensive and special teams guru to Penn State.
“We are excited to welcome Stacy Collins to Happy Valley,” Franklin said. “As a veteran coach, Stacy brings a wide variety of experiences to our staff having served as a head coach, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator during his career. He will bring significant value to our program and has a great depth of special teams knowledge and has found great success as a coordinator. His coaching style on special teams will allow us to continue our strong tradition as a special teams unit. I am thrilled to have Stacy, his wife Mandi, and their four daughters join our Penn State Football family.”
Collins, 46, is an Oregon native, and as such has spent most of his time in that region. He played linebacker at Western Oregon and has had coaching stints at his alma mater, Western Washington, Idaho State, Southern Oregon, Central Washington, Portland State and Utah State. He was the head coach at South Dakota School of Mines from 2012-2015.
Collins is replacing Joe Lorig, who headed to Oregon to coach their special teams unit under new head coach Dan Lanning.