For the first time in his nine-year stint as the head coach of Penn State, James Franklin is set to enter the upcoming season with just one remaining assistant coach from his first-assembled staff in 2014.

The lone relic, cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, became Franklin’s longest-tenured companion after Brent Pry elected to leave his longtime role of defensive coordinator in favor of taking the head coaching gig at Virginia Tech.

Overall, 15 associate coaches have left Happy Valley since the start of Franklin’s tenure, with most earning an elevated title with new programs. Ahead of the 2022 campaign, a total of four previous position coaches under Franklin will grace the sidelines as head coaches. Several others, including Josh Gattis and Tim Banks, are prepped to lead other high-profile programs as established coordinators after beginning in lesser roles at Penn State.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at Franklin’s coaching tree formed throughout his time at Penn State since succeeding Bill O’Brien nearly a decade ago. Each coach highlighted below left their former position with the Nittany Lions in favor of a promotion with another team. Previously terminated staff members are not included as a reflection of the coaching tree.

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After heading the Nittany Lions’ defense for the majority of James Franklin’s tenure with Penn State, Pry is headed south to Blacksburg in an attempt to revitalize Virginia Tech’s recent lag of dormancy. The Altoona native spent three seasons as a graduate assistant with the Hokies from 1995 to 1997 following an initial two-year stop at East Stroudsburg, where grew closer to Franklin, who quarterbacked the Warriors for both campaigns.

Prior to Michigan State’s hiring of Mel Tucker ahead of the 2020 campaign, Pry’s name was rumored to be a potential replacement for Mark Dantonio in East Lansing. Ultimately, the assistant reiterated that he was waiting for the “right opportunity” to move up in the coaching ranks during his introductory press conference with Virginia Tech in December.

Last season, Pry commanded one of Penn State’s most dominant defensive units in the post-sanction era. The Nittany Lions finished the regular season with the third-best red zone defense nationally, behind only Georgia and Clemson. Additionally, Pry led seven Nittany Lions to All-Big Ten post-season honors, including first-team selections for Jaquan Brisker and Arnold Ebiketie.

Following Penn State’s run of consistent success, featuring a 22-5 record across 2016 and 2017 under his offensive philosophy, very few assistant coaches were a hotter commodity than Joe Moorhead nearly five years removed from his stint as offensive coordinator in Happy Valley.

Moorhead’s nearly flawless orchestration of the Nittany Lions’ offense, headlined by Trace McSorley, Saquon Barkley, Chris Godwin, Mike Gesicki, and several other household names, earned him a head coaching job with Mississippi State after spending just two years with Penn State. Under his direction, McSorley led the Big Ten in passing yards for two-straight seasons, while Barkley cemented his legacy by earning a first-team All-American nod as a junior.

Before the transfer portal caught its current level of traction, Moorhead was able to nab away former Penn State gunslinger Tommy Stevens to join him at Mississippi State in his second year at the stronghold. Stevens battled the injury bug in 2019, allowing him to see action in only nine contests throughout the season, resulting in a 6-7 finish for the Bulldogs. The lack of immediate success, combined with a misaligned vision with the program’s administration, led to the firing of Moorhead just two campaigns into his reign in Starkville.

Since then, Moorhead took on a brief, two-year stint with Oregon, where he signaled an offense that led the Ducks to a pair of PAC-12 Championship appearances in 2020 and 2021. After Oregon’s latest 10-win campaign, the Pittsburgh native decided to head back east by landing the head coaching job at Akron. So far, the Zips have garnered a plethora of transfers under Moorhead’s guidance, including former Penn State wide receiver Daniel Geroge.

As a four-year assistant under James Franklin, Huff served as the running backs and special teams coach where he helped jumpstart the trajectory for the Nittany Lions’ recent traction on the recruiting trail at the position. From 2014 to 2017, Huff served as the primary recruiter for Saquon Barkley, Miles Sanders, and Journey Brown, who all started for a least one season in Franklin’s backfield.

In 2018, Huff decided to part ways with Franklin in favor of Moorhead at Mississippi State, where he was elevated to associate head coach status for the campaign. During his short-lived stint with the Bulldogs, Huff’s stable of running backs remarkably failed to lose a fumble in 253 total rushing attempts. In a common theme, Huff harped on the principle of ball security with the Nittany Lions, too, which led to Saquon Barkley not putting the ball on the ground since September of his sophomore season.

Huff received yet another promotion heading into 2019 by earning a call from Nick Saban, which promoted the up-and-coming assistant to the associate head coach and running backs coach at Alabama. Over his two seasons in Tuscaloosa, Huff played an integral role in the development of Najee Harris, who rushed for 2,690 yards with the former Nittany Lions' staffer as his position coach.

After securing a national championship ring with the Crimson Tide in 2020, Huff bolted to Marshall, where he serves as the program’s head coach. Last season, the Thundering Herd went 7-6, capped off by an appearance in the New Orleans Bowl.

Similarly to Huff’s rise through the coaching ranks, Rahne started his career as a long-time position coach under Franklin dating back to his stint at Kansas State. After starting as a graduate assistant under Bill Synder and the Wildcats in 2006, Rahne oversaw the running backs and tight ends to conclude his five-year run in the Big 12.

From there, Rahne followed Franklin to Vanderbilt, serving as the squad’s quarterback coach for three seasons before hitting the ground running in Happy Valley. In five seasons with the Nittany Lions, Rahne was able to coach the quarterbacks and tight ends, and ultimately work as Moorhead’s heir apparent at offensive coordinator.

Rahne’s offensive units lacked the visible speed and explosiveness seen behind Moorhead’s control, but the former Cornell quarterback was able to help lead Penn State to a 20-6 record as the program’s play-caller.

Now, Rahne is set to enter his third year, but the second season, as Old Dominion’s head coach. The Monarchs’ 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, but Rahne helped the program rebound by leading the troops to a second-place East divisional finish in Conference USA a season ago. Old Dominion will begin its first year in the Sun Belt this fall under the direction of Rahne.

When Franklin decided to elevate Rahne to offensive coordinator in response to Moorhead’s departure in 2018, Gattis decided to take his duties to Alabama after arguably being slighted at Penn State. With the Crimson Tide, Gattis assumed co-offensive coordinator duties with Mike Locksley, who currently serves as Maryland’s head coach.

In Gattis’ lone season paired with Saban, Alabama embarked on a 14-0 record but failed to cap off the perfect campaign courtesy of a 44-16 drubbing at the hands of Clemson, who hoisted its second national title under Dabo Swinney.

Alabama’s talented coaching staff largely disbanded after the season, which led to Gattis securing the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coaching roles at Michigan. In 2019 and 2020, Gattis’ units struggled mightily, finishing sixth and seventh in total offense across the Big Ten in both seasons. The woes contributed to the Wolverines’ 11-8 combined record over the two-year span, with many calling for Gattis’ head at the conclusion of 2020.

Conversely, fortunes quickly took a turn for Gattis and the Wolverines in 2021, as Michigan scored 31 or more points in seven of its first eight matchups en route to a 7-1 record. Jim Harbaugh’s squad capped off the promising start with a 4-0 season-ending stretch, highlighted by a victory over Ohio State and the program’s first Big Ten title since 1999, before being thrashed in the College Football Playoff against Georgia.

This offseason, Gattis is tasked with overseeing a quarterback controversy in Ann Arbor between returning starter Cade McNamara and former five-star product JJ McCarthy.

In accordance with his Big Ten roots, Banks found himself as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Nittany Lions following a four-year spurt as Illinois’ sole defensive signal-caller. At Penn State, Banks mentored program staples in Marcus Allen, Troy Apke, and Nick Scott, which led to all three being selected in the 2018 and 2019 NFL Drafts.

Banks endured his most inconsistent year with the Nittany Lions in 2020, resulting in a lackluster 4-5 record, largely due to a defense that ranked sixth in the Big Ten during the span. During the offseason leading into 2021, Banks decided to cash in on a pay raise from Tennessee, which elevated his status to the program’s lone defensive coordinator for Josh Heupel.

With the Volunteers, Banks has been crucial in the development of safety Trevon Flowers, who concluded the latest season with the team’s second-most solo tackles (48). Entering 2022, Tennessee is set to improve on its latest 7-6 run by returning nearly its entire backend on Banks’ side of the ball from a year ago.

Bowen arrived at Penn State in 2018 after one season commanding Maryland’s offensive line as Big Ten East rivals. With the Nittany Lions, Bowen served as the tight ends coach and the offensive recruiting coordinator, where he helped oversee the progression of Pat Freiermuth while landing blue-chip products in Brenton Strange and Theo Johnson on the recruiting trail.

In 2019, Bowen was picked as the interim offensive coordinator for the Cotton Bowl in Rahne’s absence since taking the Old Dominion job. Bowen passed the interim label with flying colors, as the Nittany Lions hung 53 points on Memphis, featuring a 202-yard outing on the ground by Journey Brown.

The creator of the “Aces” remained Penn State’s tight end coach for 2020, only to be lured away by Urban Meyer a season later to coach in the same role for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. As a result of Meyer’s debacle in the sunshine state, Bowen was recently hired as Brent Pry’s offensive coordinator for Virginia Tech.

The founder of the Nittany Lions’ “Wild Dog” mentality across the front four came with Franklin to Happy Valley in 2014 as the program’s defensive line coach. During his six-year stay with Penn State, Spencer helped the defense finish with the most sacks nationally (46) in 2016, while mentoring several revered draft picks spanning from Carl Nassib to Yetur Gross-Matos.

In 2020, “Coach Chaos” decided to leave his legacy of sturdy defensive fronts at Penn State in favor of heading the defensive line for the New York Giants in the NFL. In two campaigns with the Giants, Spencer helped overhaul the squad’s defense by finishing ninth in points and 12th in yards allowed in 2020.

Following the firing of Joe Judge during the offseason in New York, Spencer decided to return to the college football landscape with Billy Napier and the Florida Gators. In Gainsville, Spencer will have defensive playcalling duties for the first time in his 27-year coaching career.

In 2016, Shoop infamously left Happy Valley in favor of Tennessee’s “championship-ready” personnel it had assembled nearly six years ago in Knoxville. After making those remarks at his introductory press conference, Shoop was fired as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator less than two seasons later, while Penn State hoisted the Big Ten Championship crown in 2016.

Since then, Shoop coached under Moorhead as Mississippi State’s main defensive mind in 2018 and 2019, but following Moorhead’s exodus, Shoop was also relieved of his duties. The Pennsylvania native then coached Michigan’s safeties in 2020 and served as a defensive assistant for Miami in 2021, but will once again lead a defense in full for South Florida entering this fall.

Following stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Miami Dolphins, Galiano was initially hired by Franklin as a defensive consultant for the Nittany Lions in 2017. A year later, the Philadelphia bred coach stepped into the special teams coordinator role for Penn State in place of Charles Huff, who left for Mississippi State at the time.

Galiano only stayed in the role for a lone year, after deciding to return back to his NFL roots with the New Orleans Saints. In 2019, Galiano was hired as a special teams assistant under Sean Payton. With the recent in-house hiring of Dennis Allen to take Payton’s place, Galiano is set to enter his fourth-consecutive year in the bayou.

Parker took over the Nittany Lions’ wide receiver core after Franklin relieved David Corley of his duties entering the offseason of 2019. Aside from enduring a two-year playing career as a reserve wide receiver at Kentucky in the mid-2000s, Parker brought valuable coaching experience, including a former interim head coach tag for Purdue, into Franklin’s staff amidst a year of mass turnover.

In 2019, Parker helped guide KJ Hamler to a 56-catch campaign for 904 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, which led the slot-based burner to become a second-round draft choice for the Denver Broncos. Additionally, Parker oversaw the growth of Jahan Dotson, who would go on to lead the conference in receiving in 2020.

After just one season in Happy Valley, Parker headed to Morgantown for offensive coordinator and wide receiver coaching duties in hopes of reinvigorating West Virginia under Neal Brown. Ultimately, Notre Dame would lure Parker away from Brown in favor of Marcus Freeman’s revamped staff in place of Brian Kelly. This fall, Parker is set to coach the tight ends for the Fighting Irish.

The walkout of Galiano paved the way for Lorig to receive a promotion from Memphis by stepping into the Nittany Lions’ special teams coordinator position in 2019. In three seasons at the command, Lorig helped Jahan Dotson become Penn State’s all-time leader in punt return average, with 17.8 yards per take back. Aside from Dotson’s return prowess, the Nittany Lions struggled with kicking consistency under Lorig’s reign, as the kicker coalition went 40-for-56, for a 71% clip, during the span.

Lorig, an Edmonds, Washington native, decided to move back to the pacific northwest in December to be a part of Dan Lanning’s initial staff at Oregon. From 1994 to 1995, the new special teams coordinator of the Ducks played cornerback for Western Oregon.

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