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Louisiana-Lafayette reportedly targeting Penn State DC Brent Pry for head coach

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry has emerged as the top candidate to become the next head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, according to reports.

Thursday morning, Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated reported that Louisiana-Lafayette was pursuing Pry heavily and was the primary candidate for the position. However, there was some speculation that the PSU defensive coordinator wouldn’t leave Happy Valley for the job.

Shortly after Feldman reported Pry was up in the air on the decision, another report surfaced saying that Pry was expected to become the head coach of the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Pry has been at Penn State since 2014, leaving Vanderbilt for State College with head coach James Franklin. In 2014 and 2015, he was the co-defensive coordinator with the Nittany Lions. Pry was promoted to associate head coach and defensive coordinator in 2016 after Bob Shoop left PSU for Tennessee.

Penn State’s defense ranked second in the B1G in scoring this season, surrendering just 15.5 points per game on the year. PSU pitched two shutouts and held three more opponents to less than 10 points this year.

The Lions also owned the conference’s fifth-best total defense.

If Pry does leave for Louisiana-Lafayette, he’d become the second Penn State assistant to leave the program for a head coaching job this offseason, as offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead bolted for Mississippi State at the end of the 2017 regular season.

Penn State still has a bowl game remaining, playing Washington in the Fiesta Bowl.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB