Penn State goes international for latest commit, picks up pledge from Irish kicker Adam McCann-Gibbs

Penn State’s approach to recruiting specialists from the high school level has fluctuated in recent years with the rising prominence of the Transfer Portal. Still, the Nittany Lions have still kept an eye out for talented kickers and punters coming up from the prep ranks. 

Following its final camp of the summer on Sunday, the staff watched as Irish specialist Adam McCann-Gibbs boomed kick after kick for Penn State special teams coordinator Justin Lustig. The Nittany Lions came away very impressed. On Saturday, McCann-Gibbs announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions. 

New Penn State analyst Allen Tucker, who joined the program back in May, made the original contact with McCann-Gibbs. During his previous stop at Troy, Tucker coached Irish kicker Paddy McAteer, who worked with Irish kicking coach Tadhg Leader. Leader is also McCann-Gibbs’ kicking coach.

McCann-Gibbs attends Abbey Grammar School in Newry, Northern Ireland. He has a background in soccer and Gaelic Football and only started kicking an American football last April. He attended a Kohl’s Kicking Training Camp in January and is now rated as the No. 22 kicker and the No. 36 punter in the Kohl’s Class of 2026 rankings. 

“McCann-Gibbs is a very talented 17-year-old player from Ireland,” said the evaluation on KohlsKicking.com. “He scored 106.3 points in punting, 114.15 points on kickoffs, and 11/15 points at a windy Spring Ranking Event in March of 2025. McCann-Gibbs demonstrates D1 talent and has a lot of upside as a kicker who can also punt. McCann-Gibbs is very mature for his age and should be heavily recruited in the coming months!”

Penn State hasn’t signed a high school specialist since 2022

The Nittany Lions will lose punter Riley Thompson after the 2025 season, and earlier this month extended an offer to in-state specialist Harran Zureikat. Zureikat instead opted to commit to Georgia after earning an offer from the Bulldogs. Penn State hasn’t signed a scholarship high school specialist since inking Alex Bacchetta out of Georgia in the Class of 2022. 

Penn State has focused on supplementing Portal additions with high school walk-ons. Thompson previously punted at FAU, while starting kickers Ryan Barker and Gabe Nwosu are both former walk-ons. It’s a fine line to walk these days, said Lustig. 

“You’ve gotta be right in your decision making,” Lustig told BWI this spring. “If you’re only going to bring in a couple of specialists, those better be the guys. So you’ve really gotta do a really good job evaluating and then a really good job recruiting. You’ve gotta be really careful that you don’t miss. 

“I think those are big things. We do a great job of evaluating and putting guys in a position that will make the tough decisions when they come. But certainly, it’s a challenge.”