James Franklin has added another former Ohio State assistant to his staff.
According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, former Ohio State assistant and Temple head coach Stan Drayton will be Penn State's next running backs coach following the departure of Ja'Juan Seider to Notre Dame.
Sources: Stan Drayton has signed a multi-year deal to become the next running backs coach at Penn State. Hes the former head coach at Temple and is a veteran NFL and college running back coach. pic.twitter.com/cyIwxiueqk
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 14, 2025
In over 30 years as a football coach, Drayton has made several stops, including Alleghany (1993), Eastern Michigan (1994), Penn (1995), Villanova (1996-99), Bowling Green (2000), the Green Bay Packers (2001-03), Mississippi State (2004), Florida (2005-07), Tennessee (2008), Syracuse (2009), Ohio State (2011-14), the Chicago Bears (2015-16), Texas (2017-21) and Temple (2022-24).
Drayton's most notable experience came when he contributed to championship teams at Florida in 2006 and Ohio State in 2014. He mentored Ezekiel Elliott when he coached for the Buckeyes and later did the same for Bijan Robinson for the Longhorns. Both running backs became top-10 NFL draft picks.
From 2022-24, Drayton was the head coach at Temple. While his tenure started with a win over Lafayette, the Owls' victories were few and far between over the next three years. On Nov. 17, 2024, Temple fired Drayton with two games remaining in the regular season. His record with the Owls was 9-25, and he led the program to no postseason appearances.
Now at Penn State, Drayton will coach Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, two next-level running backs who combined for 392 carries, 2,207 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 20 touchdowns in 2024.
