1/15/2024 football Edit

Penn State hires Vanderbilt's Justin Lustig as Special Teams Coordinator

Richie O'Leary • Happy Valley Insider

Publisher

Penn State Football's search for their next special teams coordinator has come to an end today as the now former Vanderbilt Tight Ends / Special Teams Coordinator Justin Lustig has been hired to become the Nittany Lions next special teams coordinator according to multiple reports.

Lustig is a Erie-Meadville Area, Pennsylvania native, who comes to State College after three seasons at Vanderbilt, where he was the assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Now Lustig attended Pennsylvania’s Cathedral Prep for high school and played at Bucknell in college, plus he was once the head coach of Edinboro University's football program. So his ties to the state run pretty deep, plus he's spent a large amount of his coaching career in the Northeast at every level of the game.

On top of his ties to the state, he's also well known as a pretty good special teams coach as he was a Broyles Award nominee in 2018 and has worked with 53 all-conference selections including the 2018 Lou Groza Award winner Andre Szmyt, 2023 Ray Guy Award finalist Matthew Hayball and also two-time All-SEC long snapper Wesley Schelling.

NOT A RIVALS SUBSCRIBER? JOIN TODAY AND GET 30 DAYS FREE!

Here’s his full bio via VUCommodores.com

Justin Lustig, a Broyles Award nominee as the nation’s top assistant coach, serves as associate head coach and special teams coordinator for the Commodores, while also coaching the tight ends. Lustig was promoted from assistant head coach following the 2021 season.

During his career, Lustig has mentored 53 all-conference selections, including the 2018 Lou Groza Award recipient, Andre Szmyt, 2023 Ray Guy Award finalist Matthew Hayball and two-time All-SEC long snapper Wesley Schelling. He has also coached in three bowl games, two FCS playoffs and three Division III playoff appearances.

Lustig has been instrumental in the development of special teams over his Vanderbilt tenure. The 2023 and 2022 seasons saw Vanderbilt rank 41st and 44th, respectively, in ESPN’s Special Teams Efficiency. This was after Lustig inherited a unit that ranked outside the top 100 in FBS the season before his arrival. As a team in 2023, Vanderbilt was one of 20 programs in the country to block multiple punts and finished 11th nationally in net punting.

The 2023 campaign saw a pair of All-SEC specialists in Hayball (first team) and Schelling (second team). Hayball completed a two-year Vanderbilt tenure which saw him become arguably the best punter in school history. The Aussie was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award and became Vandy’s first All-SEC punter since 1996. He posted the best career punting average in school history and owns two of the top-five single-season punting averages at Vanderbilt. With second-team All-SEC long snapper honors, Schelling became the first Vanderbilt player since 2016 to earn all-conference accolades in consecutive seasons. It was the first time in school history Vanderbilt had multiple specialists earn All-SEC honors in the same season. Additionally, freshmen Bryan Longwell and Kameran Johnson were named honorable mention All-SEC special teams players by College Football Network.

In 2022, Schelling became the first Vanderbilt player in six seasons to earn first-team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches. The long snapper was the fourth Commodore specialist to earn first-team all-conference honors, joining a trio of punters. Schelling executed all 108 long snaps on the season and did not draw a flag all year. He was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week after he recovered a fumbled punt in the endzone to key Vandy’s 31-24 victory over Florida. On the receiving end of many of Schelling’s snaps, Matthew Hayball emerged as one of the nation’s top punters. His 45.36 yards per punt ranked second in the SEC and 13th nationally.

At the tight end spot, Lustig mentored a pair of captains in Ben Bresnahan and Gavin Schoenwald. The duo combined for four touchdowns on 27 catches, totaling 292 yards. They each hauled in a score in the win over Florida, marking the first time Vanderbilt had two tight ends grab touchdown passes in the same game since 2018.

Lustig’s debut season in Nashville saw kicker Joseph Bulovas twice win SEC Special Teams Player of the Week after the graduate student kicked game-winning field goals against Colorado State and UConn. Bulovas finished the 2021 season 14-for-19 on field goals with a long of 50 yards while connecting on all 15 point-after attempts.

During his time at Syracuse, Lustig served as the special teams coordinator each season. He guided the Orange running backs in 2017 before shifting to outside receivers from 2018-20. For the 2019-20 seasons, Lustig added assistant head coach responsibilities.

With the Syracuse special teams units, Lustig helped the Orange lead the ACC in net punting in each of his first three years and finish in the top 10 nationally in 2019 (3rd; 43.03) and 2017 (10th; 41.3). During his years on staff, the Orange averaged 43.7 yards/punt.

Lustig’s 2017 punt team was No. 4 in the country in punt return defense (2.67 yards/return) and set the school season record for fewest opponent punt returns with nine. Additionally, Syracuse led the conference in kickoff coverage. In 2019, the Orange ranked fifth in the FBS in punt return defense (1.7 yards/return) and surrendered just 17 punt return yards, the fewest in program history. In all, Lustig’s punt coverage teams yielded just 369 yards over four seasons while the kickoff coverage teams averaged 21.6 yards/return during his tenure.

Lustig’s dominant special teams helped propel the Orange to a 10-3 record in 2018. His units contributed two touchdowns (punt return; blocked punt return) and the Orange finished sixth overall, and second among Power 5 programs, in ESPN’s special teams efficiency ratings.

Lustig coached eight All-ACC players at Syracuse, including six specialists. Szmyt captured the 2018 Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best placekicker. The third freshman to ever win the award and a unanimous All-American, Szmyt made an ACC-record 30 field goals and became the second kicker to lead the FBS in scoring (11.6 ppg).

In 2020, punter Nolan Cooney was a third-team selection while returner Nykeim Johnson carded second team accolades for Lustig. Cooney succeeded Sterling Hofrichter, the Syracuse career leader in punting yardage. In 2019 Hofrichter became Syracuse’s first finalist for the Ray Guy Award, given to the top collegiate punter, and earned All-America honors from seven outlets. Return man Sean Riley ended his Orange career as the program’s all-time leader in kickoff returns (115) and kickoff return yardage (2,433) and stood third with 4,358 all-purpose yards.

In his first year as Syracuse’s outside receivers coach, Lustig oversaw the development of Jamal Custis, a 2018 All-ACC second team honoree. In 2019, Trishton Jackson was voted to the All-ACC second team after he became the first Syracuse junior to record a 1,000-yard receiving season. The 2020 season was capped by Taj Harris being a third team all-league pick.

Before joining the Orange, Lustig was the head coach at Edinboro in 2016, when he was named the D2Football.com Coach of the Year. Lustig inherited an 0-11 team and led the Fighting Scots to a 9-2 record, the biggest turnaround in Division II football history. Along with his national coach of the year award, Lustig was voted the Don Hansen Football Gazette Super Region One Co-Coach of the Year and the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference West Coach of the Year.

He was the special teams coordinator and running backs coach from 2011-15 at Ball State, leading the Cardinals to appearances in the 2012 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl and the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl.

After starting his coaching career as an assistant at Christopher Newport from 2001-02, Lustig spent the 2003 season as the cornerbacks coach at Villanova. He returned to Christopher Newport for the 2004 and 2005 seasons, working as special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach. His four-year tenure with the Captains featured a USA South Atlantic Conference co-championship and three NCAA Division III playoff berths.

Lustig served as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Eastern Illinois from 2006-08, helping the program to two FCS playoff appearances while coaching three 1,000-yard rushers.

Following his stint at Eastern Illinois, Lustig worked for two seasons at Louisiana Lafayette as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach.

A 1996 graduate of Pennsylvania’s Cathedral Prep, Lustig played collegiately at Bucknell. He was a four-year starter at defensive back for the Bison and captained the team as a senior.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in English and history from Bucknell in 2000. He received his master’s degree in human resource management from George Washington in 2005.

Lustig and his wife, Beth Ann, have two sons, Samuel and Henry.