Penn State Names Brent Pry New Defensive Coordinator

Well, that did not take long at all. Less than 24 hours after Bob Shoop agreed to take over as Tennessee's new defensive coordinator, Penn State has found his replacement. After serving as co-defensive coordinator, and linebackers with James Franklin over the last five years, going back to Vanderbilt, Brent Pry is the new head of the Nittany Lions defense.

This will not be Pry's first stint running a defense, spending 2010 as Georgia Southern's coordinator before heading to Nashville to join Franklin's staff at Vanderbilt. Pry's year in Georgia certainly went well, as he was a finalist for the Eagles' head coaching opening last month. He also served as Louisiana-Lafayette's defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2006.

Here is what PSU's head coach had to say about his new defensive coordinator:

Brent has had a dramatic impact on our defense and our team for the last five years and he is very deserving of this opportunity to move into the defensive coordinator position. Brent's promotion will help make this a smooth transition and allow us to continue to build one of the top defenses in the country.

And Coach Pry in his own words

I am very honored and appreciative of the opportunity to be the defensive coordinator at Penn State. I am excited about the future of this program and this defense. There has been a lot of work put in these first two years by a very loyal group of players, coaches and staff. I'm looking forward to the successes that lie ahead for our football family.

In addition to Pry's promotion, PSU also announced that Terry Smith has been promoted to assistant head coach, a title formerly held by Pry, who will now hold the additional title of associate head coach. Defensive line coach Sean Spencer has also been named the defensive run game coordinator.