Penn State is expected to hire Purdue co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter to fill the open position on James Franklin's defensive staff, sources confirmed to FootballScoop on Sunday night. Yahoo's Pete Thamel first reported the news.
The report did not specify which position Poindexter would coach, but the process of elimination says it would have to be safeties.
Coordinator Brent Pry handles inside linebackers; Joe Lorig coaches outside 'backers in addition to special teams; associate head coach and defensive recruiting coordinator Terry Smith coaches corners; and John Scott, Jr., handles the defensive line.
Poindexter also coaches safeties presently at Purdue, where he has helped run Jeff Brohm's defense for the past four years. The Virginia graduate spent 11 years at his alma maters, rising from a graduate assist and eventually becoming special teams coordinator and safeties coach from 2010-12 with a pit stop as running backs coach from 2004-08. Poindexter was the ACC's defensive player of the year as a Virginia safety in 1998. He won a Super Bowl as a safety for the Baltimore Ravens.
In between Virginia and Purdue, Poindexter, a 2020 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Connecticut. His 2015 unit finished second in the American Athletic Conference in 2015.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
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