Mike Poorman

The road from Mason, Ohio to Las Vegas — with a stop at Penn State along the way — to become the first man to play in and then referee in the Super Bowl has not been an easy one for Terry Killens. No member of the Penn State family knows that more than former Penn…

Penn State’s three new coordinators hit The 100 Day milestone this Thursday. That’s days at Penn State. Combined. While the trio — OC Andy Kotelnicki, DC Tom Allen and ST coordinator Justin Lustig — bring decades of coaching experience to Lasch Building, they certainly don’t know Nittany Lion football like this quartet: Hakeem Beamon, Dvon…

Here it is two weeks into January and James Franklin is looking for a new assistant coach. Again. And, a coordinator at that. Again. This time, it’s a special teams coordinator now that Stacy Collins is headed back west, to Boise State, from whence he came in 2021. It’s been that kind of offseason for…

Perhaps more than anyone, the Nittany Lion dynamic duo of Fatman & Singleton will benefit from the trifecta of new additions on the offensive side of the ball — OC Andy Kotelnicki and recent transfer portal pickups wide receiver Julian Fleming and tackle Nolan Rucci. The three are much more than the Penn State running…

James Franklin gets paid to handle the moving parts — in good times and in bad. In fact, that is in essence the job of head coach in college football these days. And he gets paid quite well to do so.  And, in Franklin’s 10 years at Penn State — he was hired Jan. 11,…

Call them Allar and Andy. They are Penn State football’s newest dynamic duo, and they will go a long way in determining the Nittany Lions’ success in 2024.  Andy Kotelnicki was hired on Dec. 1 as Penn State’s new offensive coordinator, succeeding fired OC/QB coach Mike Yurcich after laudatory stints in Buffalo and Kansas. He’s…

I messed up on Thursday. At his introductory press conference Thursday afternoon in Beaver Stadium, I asked new Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen about then-Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s overtime dive to the left goal line pylon vs. Penn State back in 2020. I mistakenly called it a “touchdown.” (Of course, the referees that…

If the reports are right — Pete Thamel of ESPN had it first — Tom Allen will be the next defensive coordinator at Penn State. He’ll succeed Manny Diaz, who left after two very successful seasons, to become the head coach at Duke. Whether Allen can replace Diaz, who guided the 10-2, Peach Bowl-bound Nittany…

James Franklin is in a bit of a pickle. He currently has a puzzle to solve for 2024. Two, at least. Right now, at least publicly, the Penn State head coach is without a defensive coordinator for next season. And, it seems, a quarterback coach. That’s what happens when your D-coordinator leaves for the head…