Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545007
2 2 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M W hether he was medically cleared for full participation this spring or not, redshirt sophomore de- fensive end Max Granville was always going to face some complications in his road back from the lower-body injury that forced him to miss Penn State's en- tire 2025 season. Granville's injury, which occurred while he was home in Sugar Land, Texas, last May, short-circuited the much-anticipated follow-up to his true freshman season in 2024. He had been a late addition to the Nittany Lions' re- cruiting class that year, a four-star 2025 prospect who caught many observers off-guard when he opted to reclassify and join the preceding class shortly before the start of preseason practice. Despite the late change in status, Gran- ville earned playing time on defense and special teams during his debut season. He played in the Nittany Lions' regular- season finale versus Maryland, the Big Ten Championship Game against Or- egon and each of the team's three Col- lege Football Playoff contests. But when Penn State opened its 2025 season against Nevada last August, Granville was a spectator. He sat out the team's up-and-down season, and while he was gone, the program underwent significant upheaval. This spring, the coaching staff that shepherded his first season was largely elsewhere. Former defensive line coach Deion Barnes was at South Carolina, while head coach James Franklin was at Virginia Tech. Former defensive coordinator Tom Allen was gone, too, although his departure for Clemson predated the coaching overhaul that was put in motion last October when PSU fired Franklin. In the place of those coaches, Penn State brought in a largely new leader- ship team. Christian Smith is now in charge of the defensive ends, PSU alum D'Anton Lynn has taken over as defen- sive coordinator, and Matt Campbell is the Nittany Lions' 18th head coach. Granville played a limited role this spring, but the changes to the coaching staff have added another layer of com- plexity to his comeback. Working Through Setbacks Penn State's previous coaching staff didn't specify the nature of Granville's injury, but Smith said recently that it was an ACL tear. Granville acknowl- edged this spring that he was not 100 percent healthy, but he said it wasn't last year's injury that was slowing him down. Rather, he was bothered by what he called a "minor back issue" that flared up early in the offseason, forcing him out of spring ball and preventing him from getting the valuable team reps he wanted. With Granville already working his ROAD TO ROAD TO RECOVERY RECOVERY Max Granville is eager to put injuries behind him and resume his promising Penn State career NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M Although he was a late addition to Penn State's 2024 recruiting class, Granville saw action in seven games as a true freshman, contributing on defense and special teams. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER