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Three-star safety Darrell Carey decommits from Penn State

Mug-Shot 4x4by: Ryan Snyder17 hours agoRyanSnyderOn3
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Safety Darrell Carey. (Credit: Ryan Snyder | Blue White Illustrated)

Penn State lost another recruit in its Class of 2026 Monday evening in DeMatha safety Darrell Carey.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Carey committed to the Nittany Lions back in April following an unofficial visit to watch spring practice. He totaled just under 20 offers before making that decision, including top programs like Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas A&M.

“If he waited through the spring, he would’ve had 30 offers,” said DeMatha head coach Bill McGregor shortly after Carey committed. “A ton of schools have been reaching out to us about him. He was going to bring a ton of schools in to see him these next couple of weeks. We had SEC, Big Ten and ACC coaches all calling to come get a look at him.”

So far, Carey hasn’t taken any other visits, but he did inform Blue White Illustrated last week that he plans to visit Maryland soon. He was one of a few players we recently highlighted as key prospects that the new staff needs to prioritize.

“DeMatha prospect Darrell Carey is still the lowest-ranked nonspecialist in the class, but that shouldn’t be the case,” BWI’s Ryan Snyder wrote last week. “Penn State’s current staff is very high on his potential, especially after he camped with them this summer, showing them how much he’s grown athletically.”

Carey is ranked No. 662 nationally in the Industry Rankings. He’s the 55th-ranked safety nationally and No. 17 overall in Maryland for the class. Carey was primarily recruited by Penn State safeties coach Anthony Poindexter.

“Darrell is a really good young man who works extremely hard,” McGregor said. “He wants to be good and works at it. He’s very coachable as well. He doesn’t just do what you ask him to do, but he’s great at applying what we’re teaching him. He’s very similar to KJ Winston. They’re both long and athletic, can run well and aren’t afraid to hit ya. On top of that, they’re both super intelligent. I think he has the potential to have a great career at Penn State.”

Carey is now the eighth former commit to back away from Penn State following the decision to hire a new head coach. So far, three of those former 2026 commits have switched their commitments elsewhere: defensive lineman Alex Haskell (Syracuse), wide receiver Jahsiear Rogers (Oklahoma) and cornerback Jaziel Hart (North Carolina).