Former Safety Calvin Lowry Back On Penn State Coaching Staff

In recent years, James Franklin has made a concerted effort to bring in lettermen to be a part of the coaching staff. Former players like Deion Barnes and Wendy Laurent have served as graduate assistants. Ty Howle served as an analyst before becoming the tight end coach. Danny Rocco and Dan Connor were hired as analysts last offseason. Alan Zemaitis has played a big role on the recruiting trail as a recruiting coordinator.

Now, in a move that was first reported by BWI, Penn State is bringing Calvin Lowry home.

Lowry comes back to State College after spending eight seasons at Tulsa where he served as the wide receivers coach and specials team coordinator under Phillip Montgomery. Montgomery was fired after a 5-7 2022 season, leading the way for a Happy Valley reunion with Lowry.

At Penn State, Lowry will hold the title of offensive analyst and analytics coordinator. While the true specifics of the job are unknown, the basics of the analysts are simple: lot of film review. Whether it’s self-scouting Penn State or getting a head start on future opponents, the analysts do a lot of the leg work when it comes to getting the Nittany Lions ready on a week-to-week basis.

One important thing that analyst can not do though: coach players on the field. Lowry can’t be out at practice giving direct instruction to KeAndre Lambert-Smith. For the time being, this is strictly an off the field role.

That being like, like we saw with Howle, it’s possible that this turns into a full-time gig down the line. Lowry is a pretty respected position coach, and I have little doubt that he could have landed a full-time gig somewhere else so I think it’s notable he decided to come back to Penn State as an analyst. Not saying anything is set in stone for next offseason; perhaps this is just the case of Lowry taking advantage of the unique opportunity of working at Penn State while he’s still (likely) getting paid by Tulsa. Maybe he uses the 2023 season as essentially a “gap year” and a networking opportunity with the Penn State staff. But should Penn State have an opening at wide receiver, special teams, or even running back come next year, I would think Lowry will be a major candidate.

Regardless, it’s awesome that Lowry and Zemaitis are back in Happy Valley together. Talk about two guys who were here for it all: from the dark years to the Orange Bowl as seniors. Having their perspective in the building only strengthens what is already a strong culture within Lasch.