What Terry Smith Said About Penn State Player, Coach Availability for Pinstripe Bowl

With less than two weeks until toe meets leather in the Pinstripe Bowl, Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith on Thursday provided updates on the Nittany Lions’ anticipated personnel.

Here’s what he said.

Players

While Penn State isn’t anywhere near the 27 players who’ve opted out for Clemson, four key starters have chosen not to play while focusing on the NFL draft.

Defensive tackle Zane Durant, safety Zakee Wheatley, left tackle Vega Ioane and running back Nick Singleton will be unavailable, Smith confirmed to reporters on Wednesday morning. When asked if he anticipated more opt-outs, he said the team is taking it “day-by-day.”

With Singleton unavailable and Kaytron Allen’s status unconfirmed in either direction, Smith said all five of Penn State’s other scholarship running backs are in the mix for playing time: Corey Smith, Cam Wallace, Quinton Martin Jr., Tikey Hayes and Jabree Coleman.

Coaches

Penn State has undergone massive staff turnover in recent weeks, with coaches leaving for other opportunities or not being retained by new head coach Matt Campbell, who’s bringing in several coordinators from Iowa State.

Despite not returning in 2026, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, offensive line coach Phil Trautwein and wide receivers coach Marques Hagans will coach the Nittany Lions against the Tigers, Smith said.

Kotelnicki and Hagans won’t be retained by the new regime, and Trautwein has already accepted a position in the same role at Florida, his alma mater.

One of the biggest changes is at defensive coordinator, with Jim Knowles leaving for the same role at Tennessee. In his place, safeties coach Anthony Poindexter will handle play-calling, Smith confirmed. Poindexter held the title of interim defensive coordinator for two previous bowl games, the 2021 Outback Bowl and 2023 Peach Bowl.

Tight ends coach Ty Howle and quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien followed James Franklin to Virginia Tech and will not coach in the Pinstripe Bowl, providing opportunities for assistants to step up.

According to Smith, Trace McSorley will serve as quarterbacks coach while Bill Queisert, an assistant offensive line coach, will step in as tight ends coach. Queisert, a former offensive lineman himself, has previous experience as an offensive analyst and offensive quality control coach at other schools, though he’s never worked directly with tight ends.