Ja’Juan Seider’s former boss James Franklin was very complimentary of his former RB coach as he heads off for the same position at Notre Dame.

In the days after the Orange Bowl, Penn State’s players gathered on campus for a team meeting. At that point in January, they found out defensive coordinator Tom Allen was leaving for Clemson and that James Franklin would do his part to hire the best candidate he could.

According to several reports, Notre Dame is set to hire Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider to the same position. While the Irish have not officially announced the hire, Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin seemingly confirmed the news during his winter press conference Tuesday.

Franklin had talked to Knowles in December 2021 shortly after defensive coordinator Brent Pry, one of his longtime assistants, left Penn State to become head coach at Virginia Tech. Knowles wound up going to Ohio State and the Lions ended up hiring Manny Diaz, who enjoyed two very successful seasons before he became head coach at Duke.

STATE COLLEGE – Penn State’s James Franklin, now in his 12th season leading the program, suddenly finds himself in the market for a new running backs coach. Franklin, speaking Tuesday afternoon at a media availability at Pegula Ice Arena, confirmed Ja’Juan Seider “has moved on” to take the same job with Notre Dame.

In this ever-changing college football dynamics, the grind never stops. The post Marcus Freeman Forces James Franklin’s Hand as Penn State HC Breaks Silence on Ja’Juan Seider appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Knowles had options, and Penn State had to open up the checkbook to get the well-regarded coach to Happy Valley.

Franklin and Knowles previously had discussed a job at Penn State. An early morning call two days after Ohio State's national championship began the process.