Penn State promotes ‘superstar’ assistant Deion Barnes as next defensive line coach

On the eve of spring camp, Penn State filled its latest coaching vacancy. Turns out, it’s the internal candidate most thought had the inside track at the job.

Deion Barnes was promoted to be Penn State’s defensive line coach. The program announced the decision on Monday night, a day before the Nittany Lions will take the field for their first of 15 spring practices.

Barnes, 30, spent the last three years on staff as a graduate assistant. After exhausting his time as a GA, the former Penn State defensive end was retained as an analyst in January. But when John Scott Jr. left for the NFL two weeks ago, many inside and outside the program clamored for Barnes to replace him.

James Franklin, after surveying his options, decided that was the way to go.

“We are excited to have Deion represent his alma mater as our defensive line coach,” Franklin said in a statement. “I have really been impressed watching him grow as a coach and leader these last three seasons. Deion’s passion for Penn State and the defensive line room has been a differentiator. It is clear to me that he wears his pride for the university through his work. The respect the players and staff have for Deion showed every day. I look forward to watching him continue to develop and inspire our defensive linemen. He was a great addition to our staff in 2020, and I look forward to watching him thrive in this new role.”

“I am thrilled and honored to be the defensive line coach for my alma mater,” Barnes said. “I am extremely grateful to Coach Franklin for giving me this opportunity to lead a room of tremendous young men who have worked so hard each and every day. I have a lot of pride and passion for Penn State University, and I am excited to go to work with this coaching staff, this team, my letterman brothers and the best fans in college football.”

Franklin’s move to promote Barnes keeps a rising star in the industry.

Barnes, 30, worked alongside Scott the last three years and helped develop NFL draft picks Odafe Oweh, Arnold Ebiketie and Shaka Toney. The Philadelphia native is also known for his recruiting prowess in the City of Brotherly Love. He has proven to be a key asset as a familiar face and success story as Penn State pushes to recruit Philly better than it has over the last few years.

Before Barnes was trying to pluck the best talent from Philly, he starred there himself. The Northeast High School alum signed with Penn State in 2011. He was a freshman All-American in 2012 and totaled 26.5 tackles for loss over three seasons in Happy Valley before brief stints in the NFL and Alliance of American Football.

Barnes takes over a situation he knows well. Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac and Dani Dennis-Sutton are returning off the edge. Inside, Hakeem Beamon, Dvon Ellies, Coziah Izzard and Zane Durant are back. The Nittany Lions have College Football Playoff aspirations in the fall, and Barnes will have to get the best out of that bunch.

Current and former players — as well as Franklin, evidently — believe Barnes will be able to utilize and develop Penn State’s talent up front.

At the NFL combine, former Penn State defensive tackle PJ Mustipher was asked about Barnes and his candidacy for the vacancy. The captain didn’t hesitate.

“I want Coach Franklin to hire him. I think he should,” Mustipher said in Indianapolis. “Deion and Coach Scott, that tandem was phenomenal. I spent a lot of time in the offseason with Deion working on a lot of different stuff, you know, my footwork, my hands, my eyes, technique, all that. He was really hard on me. We spent a lot of hours watching film. He spent a lot of time correcting me, cussing me out or telling me how bad I played in the game. All that has helped me get to where I’m at.”

Mustipher’s statement caught the eye of current and former Nittany Lions on social media. Robinson, Isaac, Durant and Zuriah Fisher liked a video of the statement, as did Toney, Ebiketie, Sean Clifford and Jesse Luketa.

“Couldn’t have said it better,” Ebikiete wrote in response to Mustipher.

“Deion Barnes is that guy, has been that guy and will be that guy for years to come,” former Penn State defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins added.

Penn State’s players aren’t alone in that sentiment, either. High school coaches around Philadelphia who saw Barnes grow as a player first then as a mentor at Northeast have raved about him.

“Deion was a phenomenal football player. But even as a player of his magnitude, he was always a great person, and he grew into a great man,” Neumann-Goretti coach Al Crosby said last month. “I’ve loved watching him transition from a player to a coach.”

“It’s rewarding to see,” added Phil Gormley, Northeast’s athletic director who coached Barnes and later hired him as an assistant. “Without question, he is a superstar.”

That’s what Franklin thinks of Barnes, too. He’s felt that way for a few years now.

Around the time Scott was hired in 2020, Franklin went to Northeast and greeted Gormley. He thought Franklin wanted to talk to Elijah Jeudy or Ken Talley, a pair of four-star pass rushers Barnes developed. But he was there to see Barnes.

“He had a conversation with Deion,” Gormley recalled. “And I can’t remember if it was that day or at some point shortly after, but Franklin told me, ‘I think this kid is going to be a superstar in the coaching world.’ If James says that, it’s saying something.”

Now, three years later, Barnes has a chance to continue to prove Franklin right.