ALTOONA, Pa. -- Defensive line coach has long been one of the most prominent and productive spots on the Penn State staff, and the Nittany Lions lost a good one to the NFL on Monday.
John Scott Jr. is leaving Penn State to take a similar job with the Detroit Lions. The university confirmed the news Monday evening, with James Franklin issuing the following statement on social media:
#WeAre pic.twitter.com/r0qhVE5a6h
— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) February 28, 2023
"I would like to thank John for everything he has contributed to our program over the past three years," Franklin said. "John is a great coach and also a great man. I am grateful for his friendship and the impact he has had on our student-athletes. This was a great opportunity for him in the NFL and I wish him and his family nothing but the best."
Scott just finished his third season with the Lions. He not only has been an excellent talent developer on the field, he's also been a good recruiter, ranking 34th in the Big Ten and 204th in the country last year.
Scott spent the 2015 and '16 seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets, serving as defensive quality control the first year and as assistant defensive line coach the second. He then spent two seasons at Arkansas and one at South Carolina before coming to Penn State in 2020.
When Scott joined the Lions, he succeeded Sean Spencer, who also left for an NFL job with the New York Giants. So this is now two D-line coaches in a row who have used the Penn State job as a stepping stone to the NFL.
Scott also is the second member of the 2022 coaching staff to depart this season. Wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield was fired shortly after the season ended and replaced by Marques Hagans.
Who will be in line to succeed Scott at Penn State? It will be interesting to see if Franklin decides to stay in house -- perhaps promoting Deion Barnes -- or if he goes out and gets a more experienced coach to fill the lucrative vacancy.
And make no mistake, this is an outstanding job that will draw a lot of interest from coaches around the country. That's what you get when the last two guys who held the job have gone to the NFL.
Former Penn State player Elijah Robinson, now at Texas A&M, could be in play for this job. He was the No. 1 recruiter in the nation for the 2022 cycle, and would seemingly be a perfect fit for this position. That's if Penn State can convince him to leave his current job, which is a big if as he's also an assistant head coach at A&M.
But, as someone mentioned in the comments, Penn State has the golden nugget of the possible defensive coordinator job when Manny Diaz leaves in the next year or two, as expected. Whether it's Robinson or someone else, Franklin could offer the possibility of stepping into that position while trying to lure the best candidate for this job.
GIGER'S TAKE
This whole thing with so many people endorsing Barnes seems wild to me. I get why it's being done, but believe it's just a lot of people being short sighted and swayed by loyalty or name recognition.
You're trying to win a national championship. RIGHT NOW. You need the absolute best coaches you can get at every single position who can help RIGHT NOW. Ohio State has Larry freaking Johnson as D-line coach. A star, right now, and for many years. Is Deion Barnes going to outcoach him?
Are people really gonna fall in love with a younger in-house candidate just because all the players like him and he spends time with them?
Penn State needs an experienced veteran who has coached the position daily in practice and recruited at a high level. A guy who has been through the battles as a game day coach and knows what to expect at all times.
I get the sentiment. Barnes is a likable guy, and a Penn Stater. But what are we talking about here? Is he the best D-line coach available in the entire country? Absolutely not. This idea of falling back on sentimentality when you're trying to win at the absolute highest level is nonsense.
Yeah, I can absolutely see Franklin hiring Barnes. Just like Franklin hired Ricky Rahne because he didn't want to upset the apple cart. Rahne was in WAY over his head at PSU, and it hurt the program while he was learning on the job.
Barnes needs time to adapt to being an everyday assistant coach. Penn State doesn't have 2-3 years for him to get his feet wet learning on the job. The time to win a national title is over the next couple of years, and every single decision that's made during that time span has to be made to try and achieve that goal.
Or, you know, you can just go with the safe hire that everybody likes because he's been around the past few years.
If you want to win a national title, it's time to be cut throat and pull out all the stops. Right now. Go make a big salary commitment to a veteran guy with a proven track record who can come in and help implement everything he knows about the position that has been gained from coaching at other big stops.
