Deion Barnes, who had been on the Penn State football coaching staff since 2020, resigned earlier this week to become the defensive line coach at South Carolina. A Philadelphia native, Barnes is a former Penn State defensive end who played from 2012-14 and was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2012.

Penn State's long and winding road to finding its next football head coach ended when the team agreed to terms with Iowa State HC Matt Campbell.

Smith will lead the Nittany Lions against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. Then he'll join Matt Campbell's staff.

A Big Ten football analyst is highly supportive of new Penn State coach Matt Campbell. Despite doubts of a turnaround, Campbell appears like the coach to fix the mess.

Penn State has added former Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser to the Penn State coaching staff, where he will take the role previously filled by Andy Kotelnicki. Kotelnicki will continue calling the plays for the offense through the Pinstripe Bowl before officially parting ways with the Nittany Lions after two seasons in Happy Valley.

With Sterling Lucas taking the LSU job, a spot on the defensive staff opened last week. Shane Beamer acted quickly with the hiring of former Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes as the Gamecocks' next defensive ends/outside linebackers coach.

Penn State entered the search intending to take some big swings, while recognizing that the chances of landing certain coaches weren't high. Alabama's Kalen DeBoer, Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman and Texas A&M's Mike Elko all surfaced as potential candidates.

Keep track of who will be joining and leaving Penn State football for the 2026 season through the NCAA transfer portal.

Unsung hero of the year: Gabe Nwosu averaged 46.1 yards per punt and helped Penn State rank first in the Big Ten and 13th nationally in net punting. Nwosu would be ranked 13th in the NCAA statistics, but he didn’t meet the minimum number of punts to qualify.