While CFB Saturdays remain vacant, a couple of ancillary offshoots help fill the air. Whatever your opinions on it, the transfer portal at least provides some zest between January and Spring Football. But most schools have concluded their business, and National Signing Day is also past us. Talking points in this sport, though, are incessant. The coaching carousel is perpetually rotating, and picks up speed this time of year. James Franklin and Penn State have been riding along merrily. They’ve gained help in the form of new DC Jim Knowles in what was the biggest horse on this proverbial carousel. However, they’ve lost a stallion of their own, too, in RB coach Ja’Juan Seider.

When the emotions from losing Natty subsequently settle down, Notre Dame can take solace in their efforts to even get to that juncture. However, success inevitably breeds its own kinds of problems. For Marcus Freeman, it bred substantial interest from the NFL. At least the Irish were able to avert that, but they couldn’t quite do so with other personnel. In a revelation that’s equal parts expected and troubling, a mass exodus ensued out of South Bend this off-season. A multitude of key contributors to the National Championship run are departing for greener pastures than even the leprechauns could conjure. Freeman had to fill voids on the coaching front and elsewhere. One of these was a new running backs coach. For this, he snatched long-time Penn State servant Ja’Juan Seider away from James Franklin. As if the loss he inflicted in the Orange Bowl wasn’t enough!

Seider’s move to South Bend happened under wraps without much reporting in the media. In fact, Franklin addressed it before the Irish even officially announced the coup. “Ja’Juan Seider, after being with us for seven years, did a great job for us, has moved on,” Franklin said during his winter press conference. “We wish him nothing but the best.” He replaces Deland McCullough at ND, who left for the Raiders in the NFL. Now, Seider has finally broken his silence on why he left State College after 7 successful years.

During his introductory presser for Notre Dame, Seider was asked to address the elephant in the room right off the bat. “It’s never easy,” he began. “You’ve been in a place for seven years. The type of room that we have built at Penn State, the culture with those kids,” The Nittany Lions have a storied history with RBs. The best in the world right now, Saquon Barkley, is a product of Happy Valley. Present day as well, Seider has left behind 2 excellent backs in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Which makes the move even more surprising. However, one factor in particular became decisive for Seider.

“It was Notre Dame. It was Marcus Freeman,” resounded Seider. That’s bold. The strides coach Freeman has taken since coming onto the scene have been massive. But for a veteran to leave their disposition to carve a team in his vision is a feather in his cap. James Franklin has struggled to break a glass ceiling and get over the hump of beating the big programs for close to a decade. That B1G championship is a distant memory now. Meanwhile, Freeman made a Natty in Year 3. Ja’Jaun Seider’s move does imply a bigger trust in the captain of this ship to reach the treasure. That said, Seider and Freeman also have previous thanks to a middleman.

Ja’Juan Seider and Marcus Freeman share a pre-existing relationship thanks to a former Notre Dame coach

During the aforementioned presser, Ja’Juan Seider also acknowledged that rekindling a past relationship with Freeman pulled him to South Bend. One facilitated by Gerad Parker, former OC for the Irish. “[Marcus Freeman and I] built a relationship 14 years ago. When we were young coaches in this profession, through Gerad Parker, who used to be here,” said Seider. He elaborated on how this relationship came about. 

“They had just gone to Purdue, and we were on the road together, and we kind of hit it off… I was telling my wife it was almost like talking to myself. When I talk to [Freeman], it was like I’m talking to myself, and we just stayed in touch,” he stated. This much is conspicuous that Marcus Freeman was probably the only head coach who could’ve lured Seider from PSU. Who even alluded to this himself.

Suggesting even the NFL couldn’t make him leave State College. Ja’Juan Seider claimed, “It had to take something special for [my wife and I] to leave [Penn State]. Whether it was the head coach [or] coordinator position. You know, there were some chances with some NFL teams. But when this opportunity came, we thought hard about it. We turned the phone off for a couple of days. Only person really talked to was Marcus, a little bit here and there.” 

Penn State is currently considered the pre-season favorite for the national title by many. For good reason, too. They’ve managed to have continuity with the roster, and have added around the edges. Plus, Jim Knowles should be a great boost in theory. James Franklin will hope his Seider replacement, Stan Drayton, hits the ground running. To continue their modus operandi of running the football. It may not seem like a big deal on the surface level. But Seider’s move holds a lot of weight in the grand scheme of the upcoming season. As for Notre Dame, they’ve got more holes to plug.