Penn State Defensive Lineman Enters Transfer Portal
Davon Townley Jr., who chose not to transfer in 2023, has re-entered the portal.
Davon Townley Jr., a defensive lineman for the Penn State Nittany Lions, has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Townley is the third Penn State scholarship player to enter the portal since spring drills ended and eighth since the end of the 2023 season.
Townley, who just completed his redshirt sophomore season, previously entered the portal in January 2023 but returned to Penn State. He played in three regular-season games after playing in seven during the 2022 season. Townley (6-6, 267 pounds) played both end and tackle during his time at Penn State. The Nittany Lions returned significant depth at defensive tackle, notably with sixth-year seniors Dvon Ellies and Hakeem Beamon.
After the Blue-White game in mid-April, Penn State coach James Franklin said he would meet individually with each player on the roster.
"One of my favorite things to do, and one of the things that I dislike to do is, I have to meet with every single player on the team. There is a ton of value in it, but it is a grind," Franklin said after the spring scrimmage. "Whatever our number is on the roster right now, I’ll meet with every single one of those players, review the document from the strength staff, review a document from the academic staff, the training staff and their position coach so they understand holistically where they’re at. Then, I give them specific feedback as well. I also get feedback on the staff. What do they think about their position coach? What do they think about the coordinator? What do they think about the strength staff? That feedback is important.
"I kind of tally it all up. Who is your favorite staff member and why? There is a ton of information that we’re able to get that is part of my evaluation process, not just for the players but for the staff. That will be a grind, but we just have to be very intentional. As coaches, as players, as individual positions, as sides of the ball, and grind on this stuff. We've got to go through the tape from spring and make all the cut-ups so, when we get off the road from spring recruiting, we’ll go through the cut-ups from spring ball. We’ll start to come up with what our identity is going to be now on offense, defense and special teams based off of what we did well this spring."
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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.
