ASSISTANT COACH & STAFF BIOS • The cornerbacks made several key plays to help the Nittany Lions to the 2016 Big Ten Championships. Grant Haley scooped up the blocked field goal attempt and returned it 60 yards for the gamewinning touchdown in the upset win over No. 2 Ohio State. Haley also combined with safety Marcus Allen on the game-sealing tackle on fourth-and-1 on Wisconsin’s final drive of the Big Ten Championship game. • Under Smith’s guidance, sophomore John Reid earned All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades after leading the Nittany Lions with 10 passes defended. • The cornerback room was also successful in the classroom in 2016 as Haley earning CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades. Haley and Garrett Taylor also garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors. • Smith’s second season saw the secondary rank eighth in FBS in passing yards allowed (173.5). • Cornerbacks Trevor Williams and Grant Haley each earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades in 2015. • In his first year back at Penn State, he helped develop a secondary that boosted the Nittany Lions to second nationally in pass efficiency defense. • Smith was the wide receivers coach at Temple in 2013 and helped the Owls’ passing game reach new heights. • Temple set a school record for passing yards (2,996) and tied the school standard with 23 receiving touchdowns in 2013, with future New York Jet Robby Anderson gaining a school game record 249 yards. • A standout player at Gateway High School near Pittsburgh, Smith was a highly successful head coach at his alma mater from 200212, compiling a record of 101-30 and posting four WPIAL AAAA runner-up finishes. • He has mentored six NFL players, including former Nittany Lions Trevor Williams, Jordan Lucas, Justin King and Lydell Sargeant. • Smith coached in three U.S. Army All-America and Semper Fidelis All-America games. • Smith also coached at Duquesne University (four years) and Hempfield (Pa.) High School after completing his playing career, which spanned the National Football League, Arena Football League and Canadian Football League.
➤ SEAN SPENCER
defense (278.7). • Spencer mentored Zettel to first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2014 after recording 17.0 tackles for loss, including 8.0 sacks, and a team-best tying three interceptions. • During his 2011-13 tenure at Vanderbilt, Spencer’s defensive lines helped Vanderbilt finish in the Top 25 in total defense all three years. • The Commodores recorded 28, 31 and 28 sacks under Spencer, with the D-Line posting 42.5 tackles for loss in 2013. • Spencer mentored defensive end Caleb Azubike, who set a Vanderbilt true freshman record with four sacks in 2012 and was named to the ESPN.com SEC All-Freshman team. • Spencer coached the Bowling Green defensive line in 2009-10, where he mentored Chris Jones to All-Mid-American Conference honors and helped the Falcons to the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl, despite not returning a single starter on the defensive line. • Jones emerged as a starter for the New England Patriots in 2013, recording six sacks, and played the second-highest number of snaps among NFL rookie defensive tackles. • Spencer has had two stints at Massachusetts, coaching the defensive line in 2007-08 and in 2001-03, also coordinating the special teams during his second stint with the Minutemen. • He also has coached at Hofstra (2006), Villanova (2005), Holy Cross (2004), where he worked with Ricky Rahne, Trinity College (1998-2000), Shippensburg (1996-97) and Wesleyan (1995).
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2017 PENN STATE FOOTBALL SPRING GUIDE
Chief of Staff
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➤ DWIGHT GALT Assistant Athletics Director, Performance Enhancement
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Run Game Coordinator/ Defensive Line • Sean Spencer is in his fourth season as the Nittany Lions’ defensive line coach. He added the title of run game coordinator in 2016. • The Wild Dogs reloaded after graduating three players to the NFL and did not miss a step in 2016, finishing seventh in FBS in tackles for loss (8.1) and 19th in sacks (2.86) to play a pivotal role in Penn State’s Big Ten Championship run. The Nittany Lions posted back-to-back 40-sack seasons (2015, 2016) for the first time since 2005-07. Junior defensive end Garrett Sickels (second team) and senior defensive end Evan Schwan (third team) collected All-Big Ten laurels after tying for the team lead with 6.0 sacks apiece. Sickels had 12.5 tackles for loss, while Schwan had 8.5 hits behind the line. Spencer’s influence was front and center in 2015 as the defensive line paced a defense that led FBS in sacks (3.54 spg) and was sixth in tackles for loss (8.2) and 14th in total defense (324.5). Under Spencer’s guidance former walk-on Carl Nassib burst onto the national scene, winning the Rotary Lombardi Award, Lott IMPACT Trophy, Hendricks Award and Woodson-Nagurski Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year while breaking the Penn State singleseason sacks record with 15.5 in 2015. Nassib also became Penn State’s 13th unanimous Consensus All-American. Defensive tackles Austin Johnson (second team) and Anthony Zettel (third team) garnered 2015 All-Big Ten honors. Spencer was selected a finalist for Football Scoop’s Defensive Line Coach of the Year in 2014, as he led a unit that helped Penn State finish No. 3 in FBS rushing defense (100.5) and second in total
➤ JEMAL GRIFFIN
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• In his fourth year with the Nittany Lions, Dwight Galt was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director, Performance Enhancement in March 2015. • He oversees the performance enhancement regimen for all of Penn State’s 31 varsity programs and works directly with the football program. With more than 32 years of strength and conditioning experience at the collegiate level. Galt worked with James Franklin at Maryland for eight years, before joining him at Vanderbilt from 2011-13. Galt has played a significant role in the Nittany Lions’ 2016 Big Ten Championship run, as well as a trio of nine-plus win seasons under Franklin (1 at Penn State; 2 at Vanderbilt). Galt and his performance enhancement staff design and administer dynamic and diverse strength and power training, speed enhancement, flexibility, conditioning, and agility training programs to maximize each athlete’s athleticism. To bridge the gap between preparation and competition, Galt and his staff also focus on sport specificity, nutrition, and injury prevention to aggressively prepare each athlete for competition. He has helped train more than 30 former student-athletes who are active in the National Football League. Galt-trained athletes have consistently impressed NFL scouts, including tight end Vernon Davis, defensive end Shawn Merriman and receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. Galt worked with a pair of Maryland’s ACC Championship football teams and also served as the conditioning coach for the Terps’ men’s basketball program. From 1993-2011, Galt was responsible for the strength and conditioning for the student-athletes in all 27 Maryland sports. Galt is a prestigious Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC), certified with the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches’ Association. One of his twin sons, Dwight Galt IV, is in his sixth year at Penn State as a Performance Enhancement coach with the football program. His other twin son, Tommy, is the offensive line coach at VMI after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant football coach with the Nittany Lions.
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• Jemal Griffin is in his fourth year as Chief of Staff for Penn State Football. • Griffin’s primary responsibilities include the day-to-day management of the football program and its administrative staff, oversight of the football budget and handling all football contracts. In addition, he serves as the team’s liaison to the athletic and university administration. Griffin served in a similar capacity with James Franklin at Vanderbilt for three years. He also worked with Franklin at Maryland, serving as the Director of Football Operations from 2008-10 where he was responsible for the daily management of the Maryland football program, including team travel, budget management, team housing, fundraising and special events. He served as Maryland’s assistant recruiting coordinator in 200607. During that time, the Terps landed nine prep All-Americans and 31 others ranked among the nation’s top 100 at their positions. Prior to joining the Terps, Griffin spent six years on the staff at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore. He started as a defensive backs coach in 2000 and was promoted in 2001 to assistant head coach/offensive coordinator. Griffin coached two prep AllAmericans, as well as numerous all-state players at Woodlawn. The school won two Baltimore County titles and two Maryland 4A North Region titles during his tenure. A native of Baltimore, Griffin earned his degree in management from Coppin State University, where he was a four-year starter on the baseball team and was named to the MEAC All-Tournament team as a senior. Griffin and his wife, Carla, are the parents of two sons, Brandon and Joshua, and a daughter, Billie Grace. Brandon is an inside linebacker on the Morgan State University football team.
➤ KEVIN THRELKEL Director of Football Administration
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• Kevin Threlkel is in his fourth year as Penn State’s Director of Football Administration. • In his capacity, Threlkel handles daily internal operations, team travel logistics, preseason camp and serves as the team’s liaison to the Nittany Lion Club, Penn State Alumni Association and the Penn State Football Letterman’s Club. Threlkel served as the Assistant Director of Football Operations under James Franklin at Vanderbilt for three years from 2011-13. Prior to Vanderbilt, Threlkel was at the University of Maryland for two seasons, serving as the football operations intern in 2009 and program management specialist in 2010. The ties between Threlkel and Franklin date to Kansas State in 2006 and 2007, when the Wildcat undergraduate worked as the team’s offensive and recruiting assistant. During 2008 and the spring of 2009, Threlkel served as a development assistant with the Ahearn Fund, Kansas State’s athletic development organization. A native of Hays, Kansas, Threlkel earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Kansas State University in December 2007 and obtained a master’s degree in counseling and student development from Kansas State University in May 2009.