Penn State Release

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- On Friday, Penn State University head coach James Franklin announced the addition of former Allegheny College great Stan Drayton '93 as the Nittany Lions' running backs coach for the upcoming 2025 season.

Drayton, who has over three decades of coaching experience and 25 years of experience coaching running backs, joins a Penn State program that reached the Big Ten Football Championship Game and advanced to the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff in 2024. The Nittany Lions, who went 13-3, finished fifth in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll to conclude the season.

"Stan Drayton brings decades of experience coaching running backs at the highest levels to our program," said Franklin. "He is an important addition to our staff. His experience as a head coach and working alongside elite backs in his career will be invaluable to our running backs room. I am so excited to welcome Stan and his family, including his wife, Monique, and daughters, Amari and Anaya, to Happy Valley."

"I am excited and honored to be joining this elite organization led by Coach Franklin," said Drayton. "I have so much respect for the culture and program he has built here. Penn State has a rich running back tradition and a very talented running back room now. I am thrilled for this opportunity and am looking forward to getting to work."

A 1993 Allegheny graduate and a 2005 Hall of Fame inductee, Drayton's resume includes stops at the University of Texas (2017-21), Ohio State University (2011-14), and the University of Florida (2005-07, 2010). He also served as an assistant coach in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers (2001-03) and Chicago Bears (2015-16). A member of Allegheny's 1990 Division III National Championship team, Drayton was the running backs coach at Florida when the Gators won the 2006 BCS National Championship, and held the same role at Ohio State during the program's 2014 national championship season.

Over the years, Drayton has mentored several prominent names at the collegiate level and in the NFL. During his tenure with the Longhorns, he guided the development of Bijian Robinson, who was named to the All-Big 12 First Team in 2021 and went on to become the eighth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. During Ohio State's national championship run in 2014, he tutored Ezekiel Elliott, who, as a sophomore, finished third in the nation and second in single-season school history with 1,878 rushing yards. Elliott was named the College Football Playoff National Championship MVP and Offensive MVP of the Sugar Bowl. The year prior, he helped Carlos Hyde finish eighth in the nation in rushing as the Big Ten's Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year. Earlier in his career at Villanova University, Drayton coached two-time All-American Brian Westbrook, a College Football Hall of Famer who carved out a successful career in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.

As a Gator, Drayton was a dual-sport student-athlete. On the gridiron, he graduated with career records for career rushing yards (3,272) and touchdowns (54). As a junior in 1991, the Cleveland native set new single-season records with 1,375 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns, resulting in three First-Team All-American awards from the Associated Press, Football News, and College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He followed that up with 1,255 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns as a senior in 1992, garnering additional All-America accolades.

As a member of the men's track and field team, Drayton won numerous North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships. He was a four-time NCAC Track MVP, winning the award two times at the conference's indoor championship meet (1992-93) and twice at the outdoor championships (1991, 1993). As a junior in 1992, he placed sixth in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships to earn All-American status. Drayton's 200-meter time of 21.41 seconds is one of several program records he still holds to this day.