Penn State adds recruiting staffer ahead of monster White Out weekend for visitors

Penn State lost a member of its recruiting department during the bye week when Catherine Kennedy, who had previously served as the recruiting coordinator for operations and visits, announced her departure from the program. The timing was obviously less than ideal, with 200-plus prospects set to come into State College for the No. 3 Nittany Lions’ White Out game matchup with No. 6 Oregon. But, unsurprisingly, James Franklin and his staff had a plan to fill the vacancy before game day. And that has led to a new hire.

Gabby Mazzie is the program’s newest recruiting coordinator. She joins the Nittany Lions after spending a season and change at Army. There, she was the Black Knights’ Director of Recruiting Operations.

“Mazzie joined the Army football support staff in the spring of 2024,” her Army bio says. “In her role, she manages all aspects of the football program’s recruiting strategy, logistics, and operations.”

A Marist College grad, Mazzie started her career in football there before spending a season at Western Michigan.

The Penn State recruiting staff, which is led by general manager Andy Frank and director of player personnel Kenny Sanders, is hosting a record number of recruits for this contest. BWI’s Ryan Snyder detailed all that went into planning for it here.

Contender or Pretender: Where Penn State stands with a handful of four-star White Out visitors

“You really have to do both these White Out weekends, not just for the football program, but all of the programs,” Franklin said on The Penn State Coaches Show on Thursday night. “It’s a huge recruiting weekend for all of us. Obviously, most of the other sports aren’t trying to balance the game at the same time. We’ll have over 200 recruits at this game, and the majority of them being very, very high-end recruits. 23 different states will be represented.

“We got guys flying in from all over the country for the game. But we needed help. So I actually went to Pat Kraft and said, ‘Any help that we can get from the athletic department, just because we don’t have enough hands and man or woman power to make sure that everybody has a great experience.’ So it takes a lot of organization and a lot of moving parts. But obviously this is critical, not only for the game environment, but for our future.”

Visit Blue-White Illustrated’s Penn State football recruiting page to learn the latest on who’s visiting, which prospects could be on commit watch, and more.