Penn State added a trio of new staff members as analysts on Monday, including the program's all-time leading tackler, Dan Connor. Joining Connor on the staff is former St. Joe’s Prep (Philadelphia, PA) head coach Gabe Infante and long-time college assistant Rick Lyster.
Dan Connor
The 36-year old, former two-time All-American linebacker Dan Connor joins the Nittany Lions’ staff after spending the last four seasons with Division III Widener as the Pride's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. The 2007 Chuck Bednarik Award winner finished his Penn State career with 419 career tackles from 2004 to 2007.
After his legendary college career, Connor was drafted in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He played in 62 games over six NFL seasons, recording 216 career tackles. Following his retirement from the NFL, Connor became University of West Chester's linebackers in coach 2014 before becoming the head coach at Archbishop John Caroll in Radnor, Pennsylvania and joining Widener in 2018.
Gabe Infante
Infante is an intriguing pickup for the Nittany Lions. Perhaps most notably, he served as the head coach at Philadelphia powerhouse St.Joe’s Prep before taking over at Temple as the Owls’ recruiting coordinator and running backs coach.
Infante should provide the Nittany Lions with a strong resource toward gaining a bigger foothold in Philadelphia when it comes to recruiting. During his high school coaching career, Infante was 91-23 with Prep and won four PIAA State Championships over nine seasons. He was also the 2018 Don Shula High School of the Year. Infante also spent time in New Jersey as a head coach, coaching at powerhouse Paramus Catholic as well as spending time as the defensive coordinator at fellow Garden State power, Bergen Catholic.
Rick Lyster
Lyster follows Manny Diaz from Miami to Happy Valley after spending time with the Hurricanes as a senior defensive quality control analyst. Lyster has also spent time with Army, Lafayette, Monmouth and Georgia Tech during his brief coaching career.
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