An 'Incredibly Impressive' Group of Penn State Freshmen Draws Attention This Summer

Strength coach Chuck Losey says the Nittany Lions have a strong crew of edge rushers in the 2025 class.

Penn State coach James Franklin calls the action during the Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The strength of Penn State's roster this season will be its veteran depth, as the Nittany Lions return about 20 key contributors who are fourth- or fifth-year players. Still, a group of freshmen has given notice this summer, notably on the defensive line.

Strength coach Chuck Losey provided a summer training update recently in State College, where he highlighted a freshman position group that has shown up prepared to impress. Losey also a potential All-America lineman and how the new players from the portal have assimilated. Here's a look at what Losey discussed with reporters at the Lasch Football Building,

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The freshmen defensive ends are impressing

The Nittany Lions have All-America candidates in tackle Zane Durant and edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton, but they're going to require help. Penn State needs some developmental players to emerge on the defensive front. Losey pointed to the freshmen ends as a position group to watch.

Yvan Kemajou made strides during spring drills, earning an elevated role for the Blue-White Game. Losey also pointed to freshmen Chaz Coleman and Cortez Harris as ends who have improved this summer. The trio might not yet have the size and strength to contribute at the position (though Kemajou is 6-3, 250 pounds) but have demonstrated their buy-in to Losey's program.

"The whole group of new defensive ends is really impressive," Losey said. "... They're high-output guys and all of them have tremendous work ethics. They've done a great job."

Losey also singled out freshman offensive lineman Mylachi Goodman, a 6-6, 320-pound freshman from New Jersey. Goodman has a long way to go to contribute on a deep line this season but has begun to build his foundation.

"I'm really impressed with Mylachi Goodman, really happy with him," Losey said. "We knew he was a naturally talented kid. What I like about Mylachi is, he's gotten better every week he’s been on campus. This thing was new to him when he first got here, just the routine of everything, the day-to-day demands of everything. It is a hard balance for these guys, but I’ve seen growth in him. I’ve seen obvious physical development."

Offensive lineman Vega Ioane is primed for a big year

Ioane became a social media star last year as a guard who turned his motion plays into pancake blocks. But as former Penn State offensive lineman Landon Tengwall pointed out in this video, Ioane can road-grade from the standard guard formation as well.

Unbelievably dominate back to back plays for Penn State Guard Vega Ioane. His is put in motion at WR and then obliterates the DT. Next play he drives the DT 15 yards down field and buries him. All American season incoming pic.twitter.com/2Qlm1jQJvW

— LandonTengwall (@LandonTengwall) July 6, 2025

Ioane, a 6-4, 330-pound redshirt junior, was a second-team All-Big Ten pick last season. Losey has much higher goals for the guard this year.

"The plan is for Vega to be an All-American football player this year," Losey said. "Vega’s big thing has always been movement efficiency. He is a big, dense individual. He’s always around 330- 335 in body weight. So efficiency was big thing for him this offseason. We wanted to bring him down more in the 325 range. We feel that he moves better at that weight.

"He’s always going to be big, he’s always going to be strong and be able push people off the ball. That [movement efficiency] was probably priority No. 1 with him. And then on top of that, he's cultivating being a leader on this football team. He’s always been a leader from the standpoint of being a great example guy, but part of his challenge during the offseason and during the summer months has been to insert himself vocally and take charge and separate himself as one of the leaders of that group."

How Losey plans to "bulletproof" the transfers

Losey has used the term "bulletproof" often over the past few years when referrring to injury prevention. The strength coach builds that into each player's individual program. Veteran players have had their bulletproofing program for several years, but what about the transfers?

Players like the three new receivers (Devonte Ross, Kyron Hudson and Trebor Pena) and linebacker Amare Campbell have to get into the weight training program quickly. Losey said he devised individual plans for each with a specific timeline. He also is relying on them being veterans of other weight programs who understand the requirements.

"Even though the may have gotten here later, we’ve done our research on the guys," Losey said. "We know when they come in, as soon as they do sign with us, we’re in contact with them, getting them ready. … As long as they’ve got the right mindset and the right work ethic, the timeline that’s given over the summer is plenty of time to get them ready, especially for the transfers."

Check out Losey's full summer media session courtesy of Blue-White Illustrated.