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'The opportunity excites me': New Penn State specialist commit Adam McCann-Gibbs talks commitment: Newsstand

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel07/03/25GregPickel
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New Penn State specialist commit Adam McCann-Gibbs (center) poses for a photo with his kicking coach, Tadhg Leader (to his right) and members of the Nittany Lions staff. (Photo courtesy of Adam McCann-Gibbs via Instagram)

Penn State news, notes, and updates for July 3 put a local media interview with new specialist commit Adam McCann-Gibbs in the spotlight. The Ireland native recently spoke with his hometown’s newspaper, the Newry Reporter, about his decision to commit to the Nittany Lions over the weekend. It came after a trip to the program’s specialists camp earlier this month. McCann-Gibbs trains with former European League of Football and Canadian Football League specialist Tadhg Lead of Leader Kicking. The company has previously helped an Irish specialist enroll at Troy, which is where new Penn State special teams analyst Allen Tucker joined the Nittany Lions from this offseason. That relationship, the PSU’s desire to land a specialist in this class, led to McCann-Gibbs’ trip to State College.

“It all came around very quickly,” McCann-Gibbs told the Newry Report. “Tadhg called and said ‘there might be an opportunity here for you to fly out and visit Penn State’. We flew out on the Saturday and then worked out for Penn State on Sunday, and thankfully I did really well, and got the offer on the spot. So that’s how it came around, it was really quick, but it was years of work put into one session, which thankfully turned out pretty well.”

More: What’s the Penn State special teams outlook for 2026 and beyond after landing Adam McCann-Gibbs?

Former New Orleans Saints kicker and Ireland native Charlie Smyth is one of the people who helped McCann-Gibbs transition from soccer player to football kicker. He also credits Paddy McAteer, who is the kicker Tucker took at Troy.

“Whenever people hear the name Penn State, they are blown away,” McCann-Gibbs told the Newry Report. “I’d say a good few people know Penn State, even if they don’t watch College Football.

“Over here, you’re not used to it, because your expectation as a young lad is, ‘hopefully I’ll play in front of 12,000 people at Pairc Esler’, and then when you’re exposed to playing in front of 105,000 people every week. It’ll be a challenging environment I think, but the opportunity excites me.”

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Quote of the day

“I think staying in Pennsylvania had a lot to do with it, too. Staying in PA kept him closer to home and allowed everybody to come to his games. That had a lot to do with it as well, but first and foremost, the relationships and culture of Penn State’s program are what sold Jackson.”

Malvern Prep head coach to BWI on what led DE Jackson Ford to pick PSU.

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