REPORT: Ex-Penn State football staffer joining Big Ten program

A former Penn State football analyst is reportedly set to join the coaching staff of a rival Big Ten program. First reported by FootballScoop on Tuesday, ex-Nittany Lions staffer Eric Raisbeck is expected to be hired by Luke Fickell at Wisconsin in the same role. Raisbeck spent four seasons with James Franklin as a special teams analyst before departing Happy Valley in January for an FCS coordinator position.

Former Penn State football staffer Eric Raisbeck expected to join Luke Fickell at Wisconsin

Less than two months after leaving Penn State, Eric Raisbeck is expected to make his return to the Big Ten. John Brice of FootballScoop reported on Tuesday that second-year Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is set to add Raisbeck to the Badgers staff as a special teams analyst. Per our sister site, Badger Notes, Wisconsin has yet to make the move official.

Eric Raisbeck is a Wisconsin native who was a letterman at Wisconsin-La Crosse and previously coached at Wisconsin-Platteville. He left the Penn State football program on January 19 after four seasons to become the special teams coordinator at the University of California Davis, his first Division I coordinator opportunity. In 2023, the Nittany Lions finished No. 6 nationally in net punting and No. 22 in kick return yards allowed.

James Franklin didn’t wait long to replace Raisbeck, hiring Keith Bruno away from Temple to fill the role of special teams analyst on January 27. Bruno will work alongside new special teams coordinator Justin Lustig, who was hired on January 17.

Penn State football will face the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison on October 26.

James Franklin: Importance of spring practice “magnified” following multiple staff changes

It was undoubtedly a busy winter for James Franklin and the Penn State football program in the personnel department. In addition to Lustig, the Nittany Lions also hired Andy Kotelnick and Tom Allen to lead the offense and defense, respectively. This marks the first time in Franklin’s decade-long tenure that all three coordinators have been replaced in a single offseason.

There have been many moving parts in getting the players, coaches, and support staff on the same page following so much significant change. Now with spring practice underway, time is of the essence for the Nittany Lions. Franklin recently touched on the enhanced importance of these 15 spring practices and what the program hopes to achieve come April.

“I think it’s obviously really important. It’s always important, but I think when you add different pieces of the puzzle, it magnifies it,” Franklin said of spring ball on Tuesday. “I think the most important thing is we have to get through the 15 practices, and the coaches and the players feel like we have a really good understanding of how we want to play, who we want to play in terms of our depth, and then on top of that, what are our strengths and what are our weaknesses and be able to play to those strengths and be able to work on those weaknesses between now and the start of training camp.

“Really the issues are the same as they always are, but it’s just magnified. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. We need to feel like coming out of spring ball that our players have a bunch of confidence and understanding of how we want to play in really all three phases.”

Penn State football will host its annual Blue-White Game inside Beaver Stadium on April 13.

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