Penn State Lands Another Former Ohio State Buckeyes Coach

Another former Ohio State Buckeyes coach has taken his talents to Penn State.
Oct 13, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Temple Owls head coach Stan Drayton reacts to a call during the second quarter against the UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
Oct 13, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Temple Owls head coach Stan Drayton reacts to a call during the second quarter against the UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

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Stan Drayton may not be a name talked about a lot within Ohio State Buckeyes circles anymore, but he was a big part of helping Ezekiel Elliott become the player that he was.

In recent years, he has been the head coach of the Temple Owls.

Now, Drayton is taking his talents back to the Big Ten. He is not heading to a place that is well liked by Ohio State fans.

According to a report from Pete Nakos of On3 Sports, Drayton has been hired by the Penn State Nittany Lions. His role with Penn State will be as their running backs coach.

It has been a long time since Drayton coached with the Buckeyes. He was the team's running backs coach back in 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons. That was the period of time that Elliott became a star.

After a short stint at Temple's head coach, he was fired this offseason. Returning to a role of running backs coach is a major demotion, but it could help him get his feet back under him for the future.

Of course, Ohio State fans know well that this is not the first former Buckeyes coach to land with the Nittany Lions this offseason. Penn State hired Jim Knowles away from his role as Ohio State's defensive coordinator and gave him the same role within their program.

Basically, the Nittany Lions are starting to have a Buckeyes feel to them on the sideline.

Hopefully, Ohio State can come through with a win over Penn State on November 1 during the 2025 college football season. Beating Knowles, in particular, would feel very good. Drayton would simply be along for that losing ride.

All of that being said, congratulations go out to Drayton his new position. It's good to see him finding successful jobs, as long as he ends up losing to the Buckeyes when they play him.

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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.