Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1516624
1 2 M A R C H 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M J ustin Lustig describes himself as "a Pennsylvania guy." That's among the reasons why he accepted James Frank- lin's offer to take charge of Penn State's special teams following Stacy Collins' decision in January to return to Boise State after two seasons at PSU. Lustig is an Erie native and Bucknell graduate, but he has coached all over the country, from Eastern Illinois to Loui- siana Lafayette to Syracuse to Vander- bilt. After beginning his coaching career in 2001 as an assistant at Division III Christopher Newport University, Lustig made only two stops in his home state: one-year stints at Villanova (corner- backs, 2003) and Edinboro (head coach, 2016). Now comes his third. Speaking with reporters for the first time since his hir- ing on Jan. 17, Lustig noted in mid-Feb- ruary that he has long admired James Franklin. He said that the opportunity to join Franklin's staff after three sea- sons as special teams coordinator at Vanderbilt was too good to turn down. "The obvious reasons for me are per- sonal, from coming back home to be- ing close to family and friends to be- ing a part of this great university and this great, historic program and work- ing with Coach Franklin," Lustig said. "I think Coach has done a phenomenal job tracking younger coaches. When he followed me on Twitter 10 years ago, I thought that was a really cool thing at the time. "Our relationship goes way back, and I've always followed him from afar and rooted for Penn State inside. I'm excited to be here and work for him." In addition to his coaching responsi- bilities, Lustig will recruit northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio for the Nittany Lions. "My grandparents grew up [in Ohio], and I spent a lot of time with them there with the location of Erie and how close it is to Cleveland and Youngstown," he said. "New England will be another area Lustig arrived at Penn State in January after three seasons at Vanderbilt, where he coached the Commodores' special- ists and tight ends. PHOTO BY GREG PICKEL Justin Lustig Excited To Oversee PSU's Special Teams GREG PICKEL | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Top New Jersey Recruiter Returns To PSU A former Penn State football recruiting staff member has returned to the Nittany Lions three months after taking a job elsewhere. Khalil Ahmad, who became the executive director of personnel and recruiting at Syracuse in Decem- ber, is now back in State College as an assistant recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment. It's the same title he held before moving, albeit briefly, to the ACC school. "Appreciate Coach [Fran] Brown and the administration for the opportunity," Ahmad tweeted on Feb. 8. "Nothing but love to the entire Orange community but I'll be moving on to the next chapter of my journey." Ahmad has deep recruiting ties in New Jersey and throughout the Northeast. A Delaware State University alum, he broke into the coaching ranks at two high schools in New Jersey between 2019 and 2020. He later spent a year at Rutgers as a player development assistant before going to Syracuse in 2022. Ahmad then came to Penn State ahead of the 2023 season. — Greg Pickel