Penn State graduate assistant moving on to full-time role elsewhere, report says

Penn State is losing another staff member ahead of the 2024 season. Graduate assistant Bryce Jones, who worked with the secondary in State College since 2022, is leaving the Lions for a full-time role at the FCS level. Football Scoop reports that the Akron alum will be the new cornerbacks coach at Northern Iowa.

“In addition to his time on James Franklin’s Nittany Lions staff, Jones — who was in the NFL with the Houston Texans franchise following his collegiate career — also has coached at Johnson C. Smith University and in North Dakota at the University of Mary,” John Brice writes for Football Scoop.

The NCAA changed its graduate assistant rule in 2021. Before then, they were two-year roles. But, after that, the organization said a coach “may serve a third year if graduate-assistant coach completes 24-semester or 36-quarter hours during initial two-year period of appointment.” So, in all likelihood, Jones was eligible to stay with the Lions for another season. Instead, he will be the second member of the 2023 staff to take an FCS job in 2024. Former Penn State special teams analyst Eric Raisbeck left the school in January to become the special teams coordinator at UC Davis.

As of Thursday, Penn State is expected to return its other three 2023 graduate assistants in 2024. They are Torrence Brown, who works with the defensive line, Kevin Ceh, who works with the offensive line, and Danny O’Brien, who will be the de-facto quarterbacks coach on the staff despite his GA title. All three enter their second season as graduate assistants on Franklin’s staff.

Tracking Penn State 2024 staff changes to date

Penn State has now hired six new analysts this offseason. In addition to new special teams analyst Keith Bruno, and defensive analysts Zach Terrill and Jeff McInerney, it also brought former graduate assistant Mark Dupuis back in an offensive analyst role earlier this month. He spent the last four seasons as the wide receivers coach at Old Dominion. Additionally, the program has added Bill Queisert and Thomas Allen in the analyst department. They came to Penn State with new coordinators Andy Kotelnicki (offense) and Tom Allen (defense), respectively. Analysts who have moved on include Ola Adams (now the defensive backs coach at Indiana), Rick Lyster and Gabe Infante (who took on-field roles with Manny Diaz at Duke), Calvin Lowry, who is now the running backs coach at Middle Tennessee State, and Eric Raisbeck, who is now the UC Davis special teams coordinator.

The Lions also lost Khalil Ahmad from the recruiting department. He took a promotion at Syracuse. Assistant recruiting coordinator for operations and visits Shannon Wellman has moved on, as well. She is replaced by recent Penn State alum Karsyn Kehler. Lions letterman Jordan Lucas slots into Ahamd’s role.

As of Wednesday, besides Jones, the only on-field staff changes for Penn State are at the coordinator spots, with the aforementioned Kotlenicki and Allen replacing Mike Yurcich and Diaz, respectively. And, Stacy Collins is going back to Boise State. But, the Lions have hired Justin Lustig from Vanderbilt to replace him as the team’s special teams coordinator. Otherwise, the rest of Franklin’s 10-man assistant coaching staff is still intact as the offseason begins.

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