James Franklin to face off against ex-Penn State football assistant in Fiesta Bowl

The 2024 Fiesta Bowl will be the first time that Penn State football and Boise State square off on the gridiron. But although nearly an entire continent separates the two programs, the Broncos will bring a face that is quite familiar to the Nittany Lions when they arrive in Glendale for next week’s College Football Playoff Quarterfinal matchup.

James Franklin and the Nittany Lions will battle former special teams coordinator Stacy Collins less than a year after leaving Happy Valley. After a two-year stint with Penn State football, Collins returned to Boise State to serve in the same role under first-year head coach Spencer Danielson. Collins previously coached for the Broncos in 2021.

“He knows us well. We know him as well,” Franklin said of his former assistant on Monday. “He’s done a really good job. He was at Boise when we hired him and then returned back there, getting back to the West Coast.”

While there’s been a decent amount of churn on the Nittany Lions special teams this year, the Broncos are still using Collins to help provide an “inside view” of the Lasch Building.

© Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

“It’s been awesome,” Danielson said of having Collins back. “Just like anything, he’s been able to talk through some of the things they [Penn State] did there. He’s able to talk through some of the personnel. They hired a new special teams coordinator. They are doing some similar things, but they have a lot of new stuff they are doing. Not much of a help on that phase.

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“But Stacy Collins, the amount of prep that he goes into, to be able to game-plan on special teams. He does all of it from the field goal, field goal block, to all four units. Being able to have an idea of their personnel, knowing a little bit about who these players are, some of the things they did last year. They do have some similarities; they have evolved and grown.

“We are looking at it for face value and how can we play our best on special teams. We have grown at the end of the season. We need to do a really good job of winning the hidden yards in this game. It will be really hard. They have played well on special teams, extremely physical, very explosive. Being able to pick his brain every week we play someone on special teams is huge for me. And game management as well. But it does help that he was at Penn State and can have a little bit of an inside view.”

Penn State football ranks No. 23 nationally in net punting, a decline from 2023 under Collins, when the Nittany Lions ranked No. 6. Punt and kickoff returns improved from last fall, both now ranking in the top 20 this season.

“Coach Collins is excited for every matchup,” Danielson said. “You come into a special teams meeting, and it’s on. No matter what time of day, it’s you better be ready. I know he’s fired up for this game, not just because it’s Penn State. He knows this team, but as a whole team, we’re fired up to put the ball down on the 31st.”

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