How Penn State football is continuing to build its reputation as a destination for running backs
Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider had plenty on his plate during games this football season. With four running backs on scholarship, he had to manage their snaps and touches, making sure to keep the team’s best interest in mind while keeping each player engaged.
The result? Journey Brown, Noah Cain, Devyn Ford and Ricky Slade finished with at least 50 touches, and Seider managed to keep each player producing at a high level throughout the season with all four averaging at least 4.8 yards per touch.
All four backs are set to return in 2020, and now Seider will have two more mouths to feed. Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee, two four-star running backs from Florida, will join the 2020 backfield as true freshmen with the talent to make an instant impact. Both backs officially inked their National Letters on intent with the Nittany Lions Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.
Holmes is a 5-foot-11, 179-pound back and is ranked as the No. 4 all-purpose back in the country, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. Lee is a 6-foot, 200-pound runner and the No. 20 running back in the country, according to the same rankings. Both are ranked in the top 50 in the state of Florida, one of the most talent-rich states in the country.
Penn State head coach James Franklin said he expects Holmes and Lee to come in and immediately compete for their spots on the depth chart.
“I think (the) running back (position) is a really good example ... that embrace competition,” Franklin said Wednesday at his National Signing Day press conference. “They’re not going somewhere looking for kind of an easy path. They want to come in and compete.”
That has become the expectation for Franklin and the Penn State coaching staff, in part because having that level of competition and drive is what they believe it’ll take to get the program playing at the highest level of college football.
“If you’re going to go to a school that you want to compete at the highest level for conference championships, for National Championships and all those types of things, you’re going to have to compete,” Franklin said. “The top programs are recruiting the best players in the country year after year after year, and if you expect to compete in the NFL, then you’d better learn to compete on a college campus.”
The Penn State staff’s desire for competition played a role in taking the two Florida running backs, but so did the players’ talent level. Penn State tight ends coach/offensive recruiting coordinator Tyler Bowen said Holmes and Lee were too good to pass up.
“Sometimes you get to a point where, you’re obviously recruiting for a need, but you’re also in a position to take a best available (player) and shift a number (from one position to another),” Bowen said. “We thought these two guys upgraded our roster (enough) to be able to do that.”
Bowen gave Seider much of the credit for the program’s ability to land two players as talented as Holmes and Lee.
Seider is a Florida legend and has helped Penn State make serious inroads in the state. He won the Doug Williams Award for National Offensive Player of the Year, the Jake Gaither Trophy, and earned All-America honors after throwing for 2,512 yards and 27 touchdowns in 1999 at Florida A&M, where he played his senior year of college.
“Ja’Juan is unbelievable,” Bowen said. “Not only as a recruiter, but developing the running backs once they get here. I think his track record throughout his career in, not only recruiting the running back position, but also developing them to play at a high level.”
While Seider’s relationship with Florida recruits is key, Penn State’s recent history at running back has helped as well. The program’s ability to promote its success with Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders, who are both experiencing high levels of success in the National Football League, has caught the attention of recruiting targets.
“I’m not going there just because of them but I know they came into the program and did great things,” Holmes told the Centre Daily Times after he committed to Penn State in August. “I know I can go in and do the same, or maybe even better, if I work hard and stay focused.”
Holmes and Lee will have to compete for their spots, but their versatility will help them see the field.
“I think it’s huge (to have versatility),” Bowen said. “You saw what we were able to do with Saquon a few years ago. (We) flexed him out (as a wide receiver), I think that’s huge from a skill-set standpoint. I think we’re starting to build a room that has that well-rounded skill-set.”
But with six high-caliber running backs, the position room is going to be crowded next year. It’ll be up to Franklin, Seider and whoever gets hired as offensive coordinator to determine which of the six players see the field and how often.
Regardless of how the pecking order shakes out, it’s safe to say the position will be a bright spot for the university for a long time. Franklin is even hoping Penn State will become a destination school for some of the best runners in the country.
“I think we’re building a reputation,” Franklin said, “kind of like we’re talked about as LBU. We keep going in this trajectory, there could be people in a couple of years talking about us as RBU.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 8:19 PM.
