Penn State commit Matt Sieg flips to West Virginia on National Signing Day

With Penn State still searching for its next head coach, the Nittany Lions missed out one of its key players in the 2026 class Wednesday when safety Matt Sieg announced that he’d be signing with West Virginia instead.

A native of McDonald, Pa., Sieg committed to Penn State over a year ago and emerged as one of the leaders of the class. A lifelong Nittany Lion fan, he made it clear following James Franklin’s firing that he had a genuine interest in sticking with Penn State if he had time to get to know the new head coach, while also seeing what happens with key assistants like Terry Smith and Anthony Poindexter.

The Nittany Lions even sent Director of Player Development Jordan Hill to meet with Sieg and his family at their home last Wednesday with the hope that a hire would be made and that he’d still give Penn State a chance.

Link: What should Penn State fans expect during National Signing Day?

“Obviously, [Jordan] loves that place. He’s a letterman,” said Jeff Sieg, Matt’s father. “But it was mainly just their way of showing Matt that they’re still here and care about Matt and our family. It was very nice. I didn’t know what to expect going in, but it was really nice. He drove three hours to talk to us and show how much they care and answer any questions that they could for Matt. He sat with us for probably 45 minutes and made it very comfortable for us.”

Throughout the past 50 days, he took official visits to a host of schools, including Indiana, Notre Dame, Pitt and Virginia Tech. Many expected Sieg to join Franklin in Blacksburg following his visit there two weeks ago. However, it ended up being the Mountaineers who won out.

A four-star prospect in the Industry Rankings, Sieg is ranked No. 184 nationally. He’s the 17th-ranked safety and sixth overall in Pennsylvania. The Fort Cherry prospect finished his high school career as the WPIAL’s all-time leader in both total offensive yards with 12,592 and total touchdowns with 139.