Penn State football has spent the last few months trying to figure out its recruiting board after making significant changes. A lot of that has come with Iowa State players, but there are more we need to look at.
When James Franklin was fired, the obvious downside was losing recruits.
More importantly, five-star running back Kemon Spell was the player everyone wanted.
Spell, who had previously been committed to Penn State, decided to reopen his recruitment and decommit after Franklin was fired, looking to view his options while the program searched for new leadership.
The move felt inevitable and probably would’ve happened anyway.
However, coaching changes almost always change things, especially for recruits who are as highly regarded as Spell.
As we look ahead, a new development is rather interesting.
Kevin McGuire of USA Today recently pointed out that 247Sports logged a new prediction favoring the Nittany Lions, signaling that a reunion might be very much in play.
“247Sports national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn went on the record with his updated prediction for Kemon Spell on Saturday, and it is in favor of Penn State. At the time of this post, the only other predictions for Spell were in favor of Notre Dame (by two Notre Dame recruiting experts from 247Sports' Notre Dame affiliate back in October 2025, after Penn State fired James Franklin). That would seem to be an encouraging sign for Penn State in its pursuit of Spell,” he wrote.
The Notre Dame stuff was immediate, and some had already thought he’d decommit from PSU and go there before Franklin was fired.
When we factor in that Penn State needs a new star running back in the future and it has had one for a lot of the past decade, Spell would be the ideal recruit.
Bringing him back would also send a message that Penn State is Penn State, no matter what.
Nothing is done yet, of course, but the fact that a national analyst is now leaning back toward Penn State suggests that conversations behind the scenes could be happening.
For a program trying to regain momentum, this would be a huge move.