Penn State football completes new staff with RB coach | Reports
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It appears that Matt Campbell has completed his first Penn State football staff.
That last piece has finally come into focus: running backs coach Savon Huggins, a former Boston College assistant. The news was first reported on Thursday, Jan. 8, by 247Sports and CBS Sports.
Campbell began piecing together his first Nittany Lion staff as soon he was named head coach on Dec. 5. His on-field coaches include five of his former Iowa State assistants and two PSU holdovers − assistant head coach Terry Smith and special teams coordinator Justin Lustig.
Huggins, 32, will take over the spot vacated by longtime college and pro running backs coach Stan Drayton, who was at Penn State one season before leaving for South Carolina.
Huggins will be in charge of a revamped unit in 2026, one that lost senior stars Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton to the NFL and three others to the transfer portal.
His new running backs include Iowa State transfer Carson Hansen, Ohio State transfer James Peoples and young returners Quinton Martin and Tikey Hayes.
Here are three things to know about Penn State’s newest assistant coach:
Penn State football wanted Savon Huggins 15 years ago
Huggins was a legendary running back at St. Peter’s Prep in New Jersey at the end of the Joe Paterno era.
The Nittany Lions went after the top 10 national running back talent who rushed for nearly 1,900 yards − in just his senior season of 2011.
Alas, New Jersey’s top recruit stayed at home with Rutgers. He never blossomed on the field as expected, in part because of injuries that cost him his senior season. He ran for just 842 yards over three seasons at Rutgers and another 232 yards in a fifth season at Northern Iowa.
Savon Huggins a quick-riser in college football
Huggins broke into coaching in 2016 as a high school assistant in New Jersey. He eventually moved to his high-profile alma mater.
He landed his first college job in 2020 as a grad assistant at Buffalo. He was primed to coach running backs at UMass the next year before Boston College swooped in with a better offer.
He quickly worked his way into coaching running backs at BC and stayed until joining the Nittany Lions.
Savon Huggins worked under two Penn State coaches
Huggins spent his year in Buffalo helping coach wide receivers and working under offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who would do the same job at PSU in 2024-25.
Huggins also spent the past two seasons under Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien. O’Brien kept Huggins on his new staff in 2024 after the Eagles were second in the ACC in rushing the previous season.
Huggins also coached 1,000-yard rusher Pat Garwo in 2021.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football to hire RB coach Savon Huggins from BC | Reports
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