Penn State football has a long history of building a championship-winning culture. The Letterman\u2019s Club continues to uphold the Penn State\u00a0tradition by promoting brotherhood and unity between the university, former football players, and\u00a0managers for their mutual benefit. <\/p>\n
New head coach Matt Campbell has made the lettermen a conscious part of his approach to building the program. He met with multiple members by decade, starting interviews from classes from the 50s to the 2020s. He retained or hired ten former Nittany Lions, led by Wally Richardson. Let\u2019s take a look at which lettermen made the staff. <\/p>\n
Wally Richardson, Quarterback (1992-1996)<\/p>\n
Wally Richardson stood at the helm of the offense for four years under Joe Paterno. Over the span of four years, Richardson threw for around 4,742 yards and 32 touchdowns. His two years as a starter saw the Nittany Lions win both the Outback and Fiesta Bowls. Richardson\u2019s success as a leader and a player was noticed by the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him in the 7th round in 1997. Richardson now acts as the Director of the Football Letterman Club, serving as a liaison between alumni and the current team. He creates connections across generations, coordinates alumni events, and strengthens the program\u2019s traditions.<\/p>\n
Terry Smith, Wide Receiver (1987-1911)<\/p>\n
The 2025 interim head coach had his fame in Happy Valley long before he put on the headset. In his record-breaking 1991 campaign, he totaled 8 touchdowns, 55 receptions, and 846 receiving yards. Terry Smith played key roles in\u00a0three consecutive bowl games, including wins in the\u00a01989 Holiday Bowl\u00a0and the\u00a01991 Fiesta Bowl under Coach Joe Paterno. Smith serves as the associate head coach and the cornerbacks coach. His development of Joey Porter Jr. and many other NFL cornerbacks makes Smith highly regarded for his role in developing NFL defensive backs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dan Connor, Linebacker (2004-2007)<\/p>\n
Dan Connor played middle linebacker under Joe Paterno. Under his guidance, he was a\u00a0two-time first-team All-American and\u00a0recipient of the 2007 Chuck Bednarik Award, the nation\u2019s top defensive player. He\u00a0graduated as Penn State\u2019s all-time leading tackler with 419 career stops, a program record. Connor led the team in tackles for multiple seasons and was considered one of the greatest linebackers to wear the traditional blue and white. Connor played in the NFL for six years with multiple different franchises until retiring with Carolina in 2013. Connor now serves as the linebackers coach.<\/p>\n
Jordan Hill, Defensive Tackle (2009-2012)<\/p>\n
Jordan Hill recorded over 170 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and almost 20 tackles for loss in his four years playing in Beaver Stadium. His junior year saw him leap in production, posting 59 tackles and 3.5 sacks as he earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. He followed that up with an amazing senior season, which earned him first-team All-Big Ten recognition as well as the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Hill was then drafted in the third round by the Seattle Seahawks, where he earned a Super Bowl ring as a rookie. Jordan Hill now oversees the player development as the director. As the director, Hill manages the growth of Penn State student-athletes through skill, professional, and mental development.<\/p>\n
Todd Kulka, Linebacker (1994-1995)<\/p>\n
After a successful 1995 season that ended with an Outback Bowl win, Todd Kulka transitioned to his post-playing career with Penn State as a\u00a0graduate assistant. He earned a\u00a0master\u2019s degree in education in 2000 and moved into a\u00a0full-time academic counselor role\u00a0that same year.\u00a0He now serves as the associate director of football academic support services and academic counselor. Under his leadership, Penn State has seen\u00a0numerous Academic All-American honors.\u00a0The strong graduation success rates for the players he oversees reflect Kulka\u2019s long-term impact on Penn State as a university of excellence on and off the field.<\/p>\n
Jordan Lucas, Cornerback & Safety (2012-2015)<\/p>\n
Jordan Lucas began his career playing\u00a0cornerback\u00a0before transitioning to\u00a0safety\u00a0in his senior year. His career with the Nittany Lions ended with\u00a0around 164 total tackles,\u00a011 tackles for loss,\u00a0four sacks,\u00a0three interceptions,\u00a025 pass breakups, and\u00a0three forced fumbles. He established himself as one of the premier defensive backs in the country. He received honorable mention All-Big Ten honors multiple years and was a leader in Penn State\u2019s secondary until a\u00a0season-ending injury in 2015. He made 50 appearances in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl in 2020 with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jordan Lucas is now an assistant cornerbacks coach.<\/p>\n
D\u2019Anton Lynn, Cornerback (2008 \u2013 2011)<\/p>\n
In four years, D\u2019Anton Lynn appeared in 47 games for the Nittany Lions, recording 159 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, and four interceptions. He was a three-time All-Big Ten honorable mention selection\u00a0for his playmaking in the secondary. After a short stint playing in the NFL, Lynn transitioned to coaching. He began as a seasonal intern with the New York Jets before moving on to serve as a defensive assistant in Buffalo, Houston, and Baltimore. He then served as defensive coordinator at both UCLA and USC before returning to his alma mater under coach Campbell.<\/p>\n
Trace McSorely, Quarterback (2015-2018)<\/p>\n
Trace McSorley led the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten championship under James Franklin. In his four years in Happy Valley, McSorley finished with\u00a09,899 passing yards,\u00a077 passing touchdowns, and\u00a030 rushing touchdowns.\u00a0He completed 720 of 1,215 passes for a\u00a059.3% completion rate\u00a0and rushed for 1,697 yards. McSorley holds numerous Penn State records, including career passing yards, passing touchdowns, total offense, rushing yards, and touchdowns by a quarterback. He is the all-time winningest quarterback in Penn State history (31 wins) and a 2017 Fiesta Bowl champion.\u00a0His six-year NFL career saw him throw for\u00a0500 career passing yards\u00a0and\u00a0one touchdown pass\u00a0in regular-season action. After spending years bouncing around the NFL, McSorley now finds himself as the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Nittany Lions.<\/p>\n
Deon\u2019tae Pannell, Offensive Lineman (2008-2011)<\/p>\n
Deon\u2019tae Pannell spent time in each position on the offensive line for the white and blue. He protected the offense that won the 2008 Big Ten Championship and also appeared in four straight bowl games. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Saints but was released before the season began. He then transitioned into coaching, starting at the high school level before interning with several NFL teams. He then coached in college as an analyst with UCLA and as a defensive lineman coach at Austin Peay State. He now serves as assistant defensive line coach at Penn State.<\/p>\n
Alan Zemaitis, Cornerback (2002-2005)<\/p>\n
Alan Zemaitis played four games in blue and white, recording\u00a0181 total tackles\u00a0and\u00a012 interceptions, ranking fifth all-time in career interceptions at Penn State. Named an\u00a0All-Big Ten selection three times, he also earned\u00a0Second-Team All-American honors in 2005. He was also a\u00a0semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award twice, given to the nation\u2019s top defensive back. Following his short NFL playing career, Zemaitis began coaching defensive backs and special teams at the collegiate level. Zemaitis now serves as the director of talent acquisition, where he leads the identification, evaluation, and recruitment of high school and or portal athletes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penn State football has a long history of building a championship-winning culture. The Letterman\u2019s Club continues to uphold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[108330,5588,53121,2786,108331,108332,63058,2792,108333,7,108334,108335,108336,108337,3720,88,1551,108338,2901,948,108339,2902,2906,74831,108340,108341,108342],"class_list":{"0":"post-758005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-alan-zemaitis","9":"tag-alumni","10":"tag-alumni-association","11":"tag-big-ten","12":"tag-dan-connor","13":"tag-dan-connor-penn-state","14":"tag-danton-lynn","15":"tag-defensive-coordinator","16":"tag-deontae-pannell","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-jordan-hill","19":"tag-jordan-lucas","20":"tag-letterman","21":"tag-lettermans","22":"tag-matt-campbell","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-offense","25":"tag-offensive-analyst","26":"tag-onward-state","27":"tag-penn-state","28":"tag-penn-state-alumni","29":"tag-penn-state-football","30":"tag-psu","31":"tag-terry-smith","32":"tag-todd-kulka","33":"tag-trace-mcsorely","34":"tag-wally-richardson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116085396977429153","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}