Matt Campbell continues to make major moves for Penn State football, and the latest one shows the direction he wants the program to take on the offensive side of the ball.
Only the head coach for about a month, Campbell has done a really good job building our staff. He was able to keep Terry Smith in Happy Valley, which has made everyone happy, but the other moves he’s made and is making are notable.
According to 247 Sports, Penn State made another nice move, hiring Savon Huggins from Boston College to be its next RB coach.
“Matt Campbell has been slowly putting his first Penn State staff together in the month since he was formally introduced as the new Nittany Lions coach. And now he’s made another significant addition to the staff.
“Penn State is hiring Savon Huggins away from Boston College as its next running backs coach, sources tell Lions247's Tyler Donohue, along with 247Sports / CBS Sports reporters Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz. Huggins joins offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Taylor Mouser, quarterbacks coach Jake Waters, wide receivers coach Noah Pauley and offensive line coach/run game coordinator Ryan Clanton as primary position coaches on the offensive side of the ball under Campbell,” Daniel Gallen wrote.
The hire of Savon Huggins adds another experienced member to Campbell’s offensive staff and shows that Penn State still wants to find plenty of success on the ground, just as it has done in recent years.
According to Gallen, Huggins has been around the football world for quite some time now, including a few impressive stops.
“Huggins began his coaching career as an assistant at Somerville (N.J.) in 2016 before returning to St. Peter's Prep as an offensive assistant in 2019. He also interned with the Miami Dolphins in 2019. Huggins got his first college job from Buffalo in 2020 as an assistant working with wide receivers.
“UMass hired Huggins as running backs coach in January 2021, but Boston College lured him away in August 2021 to be an assistant for Hafley and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. In February 2022, Huggins earned a promotion to the full-time running backs coach position,” he added.
Penn State’s running back room features plenty of talent, including recently signed Ohio State transfer James Peoples. Losing Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, Huggins will be tasked with figuring out a way to get the run game going.