Franklin announces Penn State football coaching staff

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Penn State head football coach James Franklin today announced the members of his first coaching staff, bringing together a unit with extensive collegiate experience, familiarity and strong recruiting ties to the Mid-Atlantic, South and Northeast regions of the United States.

Franklin’s staff includes seven members of his former staff at Vanderbilt that were instrumental in the Commodores achieving unprecedented success the past two years, a coach who worked with Franklin at Maryland and Vanderbilt and one of the Penn State’s greatest all-time receivers, who was a highly-successful high school coach in western Pennsylvania.

The 2014 Penn State football coaching staff:
- James Franklin, head coach;
- Bob Shoop, defensive coordinator/safeties coach;
- John Donovan, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach;
- Charles Huff, special teams coordinator/running backs coach;
- Brent Pry, assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach;
- Josh Gattis, offensive recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach;
- Herb Hand, run game coordinator/offensive line coach;
- Ricky Rahne, passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach;
- Terry Smith, defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks coach;
- Sean Spencer, defensive line coach.

Seven of the assistant coaches were members of Franklin’s staff at Vanderbilt the past two years, helping the Commodores to historic heights, including nine wins each in 2012 and 2013, two bowl victories and consecutive Top 25 finishes for the first time in program history. Huff was an offensive quality control coach in 2011 during Franklin’s first season at VU and served with Franklin at Maryland in 2009. Smith is returning to his alma mater,

Every member of the coaching staff, including Franklin, an East Stroudsburg University alumnus, graduated from a college or university in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast.

Franklin also announced that Dwight Galt has been named Director of Performance Enhancement and will supervise the Nittany Lions’ strength and conditioning regimen. Barry Gant, Jr. and Chuck Losey, former members of the Vanderbilt staff, have been named assistant strength and conditioning coaches. Brian Bell and Galt’s son, Dwight Galt IV, will continue in their roles as assistant strength and conditioning coaches, having joined the Penn State staff in 2012.