By Bruce Feldman, Audrey Snyder and Pete Sampson
Notre Dame has swooped in and hired Penn State assistant coach Ja’Juan Seider, a source briefed on the situation said.
Seider, who served as Penn State’s running backs coach, assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator, has been a mainstay on head coach James Franklin’s staff since joining the Nittany Lions in 2018. Seider continued to add titles and responsibilities and worked as the Nittany Lions’ co-offensive coordinator since the start of the 2022 season and as assistant head coach since the beginning of the 2023 season. Even as Penn State changed offensive coordinators, Seider remained a trusted and reliable part of Franklin’s staff.
When Notre Dame lost Deland McCullough to the Las Vegas Raiders, it opened a big hole on the Irish’s staff that coach Marcus Freeman went big to fill. Multiple sources told The Athletic that Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford was a top target early, potentially bringing back the veteran assistant to Notre Dame, where he coached from 2009 to 2013. When that deal didn’t materialize, it made sense to look at running backs coaches with connections to Freeman or his coaching staff. Instead, Freeman went outside the box.
In landing Seider, Notre Dame adds the equivalent of McCullough or Alford, a running backs coach at the top of his game. And the position group McCullough leaves behind ranks among the best in the sport with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, with only Penn State’s room seemingly superior. Seider will be set up for success immediately, with Notre Dame returning most of its offensive line to build on last year’s dynamic run game.
Where Notre Dame needs Seider to improve the program most might be in recruiting after the Irish ranked outside of the top 10 nationally last cycle and struggled at running back. The Irish took early commitments from Justin Thurman and Daniel Anderson, only to part ways with both players as they signed with Kansas and Northwestern. The Irish ended up signing Nolan James Jr., flipping him from Boston College.
GO DEEPER
From Muck City to Happy Valley, Ja’Juan Seider will never forget his roots
How this impacts Penn State
This wasn’t a move I saw coming. During Seider’s time at Penn State, he helped recruit and develop one of the best running back rooms in the nation. The roster featured plenty of talent that he helped recruit. Seider was instrumental in Penn State signing Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen in the same class, who both eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing last season. With both slated to return next season it adds even more intrigue to why Seider would leave now.
Seider spoke openly earlier at Penn State about wanting to be an offensive coordinator and then a head coach. His background as a high school coach in Florida led him to a graduate assistantship with West Virginia in 2008 and then to Marshall. The former collegiate quarterback later returned to West Virginia and was hired at Penn State after working as Florida’s running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.
Seider is known for his success as a recruiter, and it showed repeatedly with Miles Sanders, Journey Brown, Singleton and Allen that he’s also one of the best at identifying and developing running backs.
Seider said during the 2023 season that if he ended up staying at Penn State for the rest of his career he would be OK with it. He said, “It would have to make a lot of sense for me to leave this place.”
With Singleton and Allen back for their fourth season where they’re expected to lead perhaps the best backfield in the nation, this is undoubtedly a significant blow. Seider, within minutes of Penn State’s loss in the Orange Bowl to Notre Dame last month, spoke about how the Lions are close to getting over the hump.
For as much as this offseason has been about Penn State bringing back a strong nucleus with those back and Drew Allar and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton — plus hiring Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles — there’s no doubt this move stings. Franklin now has yet another staff hire to make. — Audrey Snyder, Penn State beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
