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Report: Purdue co-defensive coordinator leaving for job at Penn State

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Anthony Poindexter is reportedly leaving the B1G West for the B1G East.

Sunday night, Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports reported that Poindexter, who is Purdue’s co-defensive coordinator, is expected to take a job on Penn State’s staff as a defensive assistant. The news comes just a few days after the Boilermakers kicked off spring practice last Friday.

Poindexter joined Purdue’s staff in 2017 when Jeff Brohm was named head coach. He’s been the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Boilermakers since his arrival. The job Poindexter would have on the Penn State staff was not mentioned in the initial report, though he’s expected to take over as safeties coach.

The Nittany Lions are looking to replace Tim Banks, who left State College to join Josh Heupel’s staff at Tennessee. Banks was the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for James Franklin for five seasons.

Before joining Brohm’s staff in West Lafayette, Poindexter was a longtime assistant coach at Virginia, serving in various roles from 2003-13. He started out as a graduate assistant for the Cavaliers in 2003 before moving to running backs coach from 2004-05. He added special teams assistant to his title from 2006-08.

From 2009 through 2013, Poindexter moved to the defensive side of the ball, coaching defensive backs at Virginia. He also played college football at Virginia and was a seventh-round selection in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Poindexter also had a three-year stop at UConn (2014-16), where he was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

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