Former DC under Penn State HC James Franklin returns to Vanderbilt 

Before joining the Penn State Nittany Lions, James Franklin served as the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores. He spent three seasons with them before making the move in 2014. During his stint with the Commodores, Franklin had Bob Shoop on his team as the defensive coordinator.

Shoop then left the Vanderbilt Commodores to be a part of Franklins' coaching staff with the Nittany Lions in 2014. He spent two seasons with them before moving on to coach teams like Tennessee, Michigan, Miami and others. Last season, Shoop served as the safeties coach of the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Now, Shoop is returning for his second stint with the Commodores. On Friday, it was announced on X/Twitter that he had been hired as the team's new defensive analyst for the upcoming season under head coach Clark Lea. The Commodores finished their 2024 season with a 7-6 record and a Birmingham Bowl victory.

Shoop had a successful time with the Commodores during his three-season stint under James Franklin. All three of his units finished among the top 25 in total defense.

During the 2012 season, he helped the program restrict the opponents' scoring to 18.8 points per game, their lowest mark on defense since 1997. Just a year later, the Commodores had the 10th-best turnovers in the nation (30) and had their second consecutive nine-win campaign under Franklin and Shoop.

Last season, Bob Shoop played an important role in helping Marshall emerge as the Sun Belt Champions. The team finished with a 10-3 campaign under head coach Charles Huff. However, the program failed to reach an agreement on his contract extension, resulting in his departure. In December, Huff was named as the new head coach of Southern Miss.

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Stan Drayton reveals reason behind joining James Franklin's coaching staff

Franklin led the Nittany Lions to the semifinals of the 12-team playoffs last season where they lost to Notre Dame. He has utilized the offseason to revamp his coaching staff to be a strong contender for the natty. One of his most recent hires was Stan Drayton.

Drayton was fired as the head coach of Temple after back-to-back losing seasons. He joins the Nittany Lions as the new running back's coach. During an interview on Thursday, Drayton went into detail about his relationship with James Franklin and the factors influencing his decision to join Penn State.

"I've been knowing Jame Franklin for a long time. He's always handled himself with suc high integrity," Drayton said. "As an individual if you hold yourself to such a standard, it's going to culminate into the program that you're in charge of....With the school in this state, you hear Penn State. I worked in this state, all you hear is Penn State.

"It's a premiere opportunity with a premiere coaching staff for me to continue my career. So it was a no-brainer for me. It's a high-tier program that's holding integrity and it was all about raising the whole man here and I really appreciate that," he added.

James Franklin will look to improve on his statistics from last season. It will be interesting to see if he can lead the Nittany Lions in the 2025 campaign to their first natty since 1986.