Penn State loses big Class of 2026 commit to shocking school

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Penn State was expected to have a quiet start to the early signing period, but weeks of recruiting dread could have been turned around with one notable commitment on the first day of the early signing period. Instead, that key player is joining a number of former Penn State commits in heading elsewhere to play college football.

Four-star safety Matt Sieg, one of the top in-state recruits still on board for Penn State, announced his commitment to West Virginia on Wednesday morning.

With Sieg now off the board for Penn State, the Class of 2026 lineup currently holds just three commitments in this recruiting cycle. Whether any of those remaining three sign with Penn State in the early signing period is unknown at this point. With no head coach hire in place, it would make sense for the remaining commitments to hold off on following through on their respective commitments to the Nittany Lions in the Class of 2026.

Whoever takes over the Penn State program will clearly have a ton of work to do, most likely with the transfer portal, to plug some holes in this recruiting cycle. In addition, whoever becomes the next coach will probably have to do some work to keep as many players from transferring as possible, as coaching changes do tend to lead to transfer portal activity.

Sieg committed to Penn State in November 2024 and was one of the only remaining players to remain officially committed to the Nittany Lions during the in-season coaching change and transition. Despite Sieg never announcing he had decommitted from the program, it was clear James Franklin was hoping to make a push for one more flip from his Penn State recruiting efforts for Virginia Tech. But West Virginia made a late push under head coach Rich Rodriguez, and the possibility of playing on both sides of the football was enticing for Sieg in his final decision.

Sieg is the latest in a long list of former Penn State commits who have flipped to other schools in the past couple of months. Other previous commitments for Penn State now heading to Blacksburg to play for James Franklin include Messiah Mickens, Davion Brown, Troy Huhn, Tyson Harley, Roseby Lubintus, Marlen Bright, Pierce Petersohn, Benjamin Eziuka, and Mathieu Lamah.

Now, West Virginia is pouncing on the coaching change in Happy Valley.

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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State loses four-star commit Matt Sieg to surprising team

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