'You’re never satisfied’: Penn State keeps pushing star running backs

When Stan Drayton replaced Ja’Juan Seider as Penn State’s running backs coach, he had a refreshing answer when asked about overseeing the continued development of 1,000-yard backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Drayton, who previously coached Ezekiel Elliott, Bijan Robinson and Brian Westbrook at the college level, said he wanted to focus on their weaknesses.

“They all have weaknesses, right?” Drayton said in February, referring to college running backs.

“And we’re going to address those weaknesses early and often.”

So, six months later, how are things going between the position coach and his star players? Singleton and Allen are arguably the best returning running back duo in the country.

Drayton sees room for improvement.

“Well, you know, (Singleton and Allen) want to be elite,” Drayton said Penn State’s practice Thursday. “If you’re going to be elite, you’re never satisfied with what you’ve done in the past. You’re always trying to take the next step forward.

“It was a matter of showing them the film and showing them the standard of how they’re going to be coached and them receiving it the right way. And hey, you know, they want a lot of big things for this football team, a lot of big things for their futures after this place.”

Both backs were named to the Doak Walker Award watch list Tuesday. The award goes to the nation’s most outstanding running back. Allen was All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2024 after rushing for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns.

Singleton, tabbed a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, also was All-Big Ten honorable mention last year. He leads returning FBS players with 2,912 career rushing yards, 32 career rushing touchdowns and 4,673 career all-purpose yards.

“There were some things they really need to work on,” Drayton said. “It was legit, and film validation showed them, and they received it well and that’s what we’ve been doing every day.”

Two priorities for Drayton when it comes to elevating the play of Penn State’s top two runners?

Anticipation and recognition.

“So, the instincts are there (for Singleton and Allen) but not necessarily the understanding of what they’re doing,” Drayton said.

“They were always reacting at a high level and an elite level. Now it’s time to anticipate. In order to do that, you’ve got to learn defense, you gotta understand how your formation’s gonna set a defense and how that defense is going to fit that formation.

“You gotta understand linebacker flow, you gotta understand indicators in pass protection. All that stuff was not developed, right? So, they had a huge learning curve, as far as that’s going, and we’re trying to slow the game down.”

Drayton added: “To be quite honest with you, the game is just now starting to slow down for them on those things. It was a huge learning curve of, just taking their learning to the next level, to be elite, that’s what it’s gotta be.”

Progress has been slow but steady for Singleton and Allen, according to Drayton.

But he is encouraged with Penn State’s season opener against Nevada at Beaver Stadium three weeks away.

“That’s the one beauty about those two,” Drayton said. “You can drill it, you can coach it on film and you’re going to get the carryover in practice. That’s what you want, right?

“You gotta stack it, you just gotta do it one thing at a time, not to overload their thought process. Let them focus in on one thing at a time.

“So, we’ve just kinda been spreading their weaknesses out over the camp. It’s been great.”