Penn State football is closer to flipping this 2025 priority recruit away from a rival

Intro Penn State is getting closer to potentially flipping this 2025 priority recruit you are locked on nitty Lions your daily podcast on the Penn State nitty Lions part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday Penn State is trending in the right direction for one of its priority 2025 targets they actually were able to flip another one away from an old friend and should Penn State be on upset alert against West Virginia this is lock on NY Lions I'm your host Zach Seiko and thanks so much for making us your first listen and watch every single day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast including YouTube Brian Smith is back the recruiting expert for the lockon podcast Network and since we're talking recruiting let's talk about the leaders in job recruiting LinkedIn jobs these days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business that's why LinkedIn jobs helps you find the right people for your team faster and for fre poster job for free at linkedin.com lockon col terms and conditions apply I mean Brian this Zahir Matthys is good news this is something we've discussed for a while that Penn State is headed in the right direction but a little more so than they were yesterday for Pennsyvania prospects a here matthys I mean this has been a long conversation matthysse committed to Ohio State pretty early in the 2025 cycle and this was something that Penn State and Dion Barnes have been chipping away at and now with Max Granville reclassifying to 2024 it opened up the door for Penn State to try to take another Defender there another Edge Defender and zamir Zahir matthys is their primary target and it's looking better and better by the day that a flip will be happening it's just a matter of when though would it happen sooner or rather or or later with big-time recruits like Mattis I hate trying to pin it down because quite honestly you're talking about a kid that the time is on his side both schools are going to be happy to take him when he comes to Signing Day so they'll take him now they have to fight for him they don't like it but elite players get a little more leeway the interesting part is we've been talking about this forever uh even when he committed to Ohio State I remember you and I talking about that on this very show we knew Penn State wasn't gonna give up I mean he's a local kid he lives two hours from campus pretty much have to recruit him and he plays a critical position of an edge rusher so yes I I would imagine Penn State would love it if he could jump in the boat before the season but even if he doesn't that's a kid they're trying to get no matter when it is oh I'm sure that Penn State and even Ohio state would want Zahir Mattis in the class of 2024 where Penn State did the same thing with ma did the the same idea right that Max Granville skips his senior season to basically red shirt and be an early and rool Le here in that case for 2025 so here matys has the talent to hypothetically do that he's not going to he at either institution but at the at the end of the day that's that's where he is right now listed at 6'5 220 pounds according to on three and then when you look at the recruiting Services I mean he's a consensus top five player in the state of Pennsylvania but Rivals has him as the top player and then the number two Edge Defender overall in the country so you can see why Penn State hasn't give up given up here aside from the fact that yes he is local and does have a really good relationship with Deon Barnes this is the reason you recruit every day brother it's a long process relationships are the key and then again he's two hours from home it's not hard to sell that and that defense they have I'm sure they're selling him that one day he could wear the 11 Jersey the whole nine yards so I mean I would at least mention it to him if I was some Penn State staff that's just me yeah this is not hard here you have to go after this kid until he basically gets a restraining order against you I think he projects as that typical defensive end and and the defensive that that number 11 Jersey is usually I I think 100% of the time to this case to the linebacker but then Abdul Carter moves down to the line of scrimmage he's going to play a hybrid defensive end linebacker rues so in this present time maybe that number 11 is changing where it can just be the best defensive player I don't know what that looks like for the future but Carter is redefining what it means to wear the number 11 just to add on to your point Brian because typically it is given to linebackers as opposed to defensive ends uh but in this case I mean matys would obviously boost the class of 2025 this is somebody that is top on Penn State's Big Board here and and a lot of this this update from uh part of this update uh courtesy of the reporting of Penn State rivals is the fact that Ohio state is beginning to do its own re they're re-recruiting other defensive ends in this case so it's almost like they're preparing for the inevitable there is something you can read into that beyond that we think this may not go well they're probably thinking that it won't like let's play it worst case scenario doing which I don't blame them do their due diligence and if he still comes we're good Penn State doing that to Ohio state is a good sign though you're gonna beat them on the field you can't lose your Elite kid from your backyard especially at a position again that's CR that you should recruit well based on how you've been playing on the grid iron so yeah this is great man U I love these kind of battles and recruiting it's why I always enjoyed being a recruiting analyst the back and forth two schools to play each other every year the whole nine yards it's great he's been committed to Ohio State since January of this year of 2024 I so and I I agree with you I don't think we're going to get anything imminent like tomorrow next week next month anything I think this will be probably he I think he would have to go to a game I I think the best case scenario would be to get him on campus for another game game day atmosphere and and repitch to Penn State because you're gaining ground I'm not saying that this is happening it it's a guarantee to happen but Penn State is moving more so in the right direction and Brian I've already told you that I've I'm very confident or I was very confident that Penn State the idea of flipping matys and now there's more evidence to back it up with the fact that hey Larry Johnson the defensive line coach who also you know was a coach at Penn State once upon a time is they working to recruit other defensive end targets Larry doesn't miss very often he can read recruits well he's a tremendous football recruiter and historically he knows the kids from Philadelphia to DC you know South Jersey and stuff very very well because he's always recruited it if he's doing that what's that tell you um i' I'd imagine the Penn State is happy that he's doing they know too now can they keep that tide going because Ohio State's still gonna try to get him back on campus for one of their first games sure this is not over and I wouldn't be surprised if he was on both campuses multiple times this fall I'm not as concerned about the commitment as much as what Ohio State's doing for the long term right that's who you sign with not who you commit to that's most important again I want to emphasize I am not guaranteeing anything but Penn State continues to move in the right direction for the potential flip of Mattis again I was confident last week when we had this discussion Brian or the last time we had this discussion around Zahir matys now I'm more confident as we move into the middle late part of August uh about this recruiting conversation now Penn State that's the prospect of flipping a player well they actually did it with another one and a Pennsylvania Prospect so hey dominate the state is starting to come back around for the nitty lions and James Franklin we'll talk about that player and what he brings to the class of 2025 on the other side of this break and Today's Show is brought to you Game Time by game time you get a download the game time app because buying tickets to your favorite events should not be stressful it's still summertime which means it's a great time to get tickets to Major League Baseball games I use game time to get MLB tickets because it's the fast and easy way to get base tickets and get this prices on the game time app actually go down as it gets closer to first pitch so you get those last minute deals you can save up to 60% off buying last minute tickets for not only MLB games but Sports concerts comedy theater and more you get Flash Deals and Zone deals exclusive discounts within the app on select seats and there's no there's no confusion there's no surprise fees to check out with the allend pricing and probably the best feature in my opinion the panoramic of view of 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day now the player that Penn State has actually flipped in this point in time was committed to Duke Manny Diaz and then he comes back home to commit to Penn State and that is Cam Smith linebacker from St Joe's Prep uh a consensus top 10 linebacker or consensus top 10 player overall in the state of Pennsylvania I should say a consensus give or take top 25 linebacker but 247 is actually uh uh very fond of who he is as a prospect ranking him 167 overall in the country top 20 linebacker and a top six player in Pennsylvania I mean this is this is huge Prim because we were critical of Penn State and to an extent not everything has gone the best when it comes to recruiting in Pennsylvania for 2025 they figured it out for 2026 so far but I think again anytime you can get a win where you can again it hasn't gone perfect but obviously this is a nice rebound to not only get Smith uh an instate Pennsylvania Prospect but also a linebacker after they lost DJ McClary to recers you know what if Penn State likes him they EV valuated him he's a local kid kind of fits their scheme I don't think I'd argue with it that staff has evaluated defense as well as you're going to get I don't care where he was committed or where he's ranked I'll go with what Franklin and his staff like and on top of that he's obviously a smart kid if he got into Duke so I think this is a good win for them I'm curious where they play him at exactly in their scheme and would he play much on nickel and dime defense and stuff like that theyve had a lot of versatile kids and I think he could play a role in that too but I'm curious to see how is utilized I think as a rising senior he has really good size I mean he's 6'1 200 pounds so there's there's not much of that Gap to get to 220 2 230 eventually when he is on campus I mean he's somebody that could enroll early don't know for sure but he's somebody that could enroll early I I think he does project as someone that is like a Kobe King like a Tyler ellon as that true Mike linebacker I don't see him as that off ball disruptor I see him as somebody as the C captain of the defense calling out the plays making the signals making the adjustments and like you said he got into a du it got into Duke so if you're going to be the the captain of the defense the guy organizing things out there the eyes on the field you need to be that intelligent you need to be that cerebral yeah smart players is something that Penn State linebackers are kind of synonymous with I think as much as any other group in Pinn State history I can even remember back to the 80s when they beat Miami for the title they had got that made big plays and critical moments because they knew where to beat to say the least he fits um now the question with Cam Smith is where exactly um I'm gonna guess that eventually he moves into a middle linebacker role but I bet he starts at weak side backer he'll be 210 215 by the time he enrolls a year from now and he'll grow himself into that role uh but also with that it takes time to learn the Playbook and the responsibilities that go along with being a middle linebacker and the playbooks for college you think about the offense being hard of a defense now especially linebacker it's super complex because all the RPO game and everything so having goai Kim's gonna have multiple benefits for Penn State Penn State is is not finished obviously we just had the discussion about sahir matys again they're still going to be targeting guys like Lex Cyrus Brandon finny players and Prospects that they had a really good relationship throughout the recruitment process but ultimately lost out to one other school I mean Penn State number finishing number two to South Carolina in the case of Cyrus Penn State finishing number two to Oregon in the case of finny so Penn State could ultimately add two or three other prospects by the end of this cycle and that would cement them as a top 15 class and depending on how many other recruits bolster their ranking because these rankings aren't finished across any of the services Penn State again they would need to go three out of three in all of their flip targets there or four out of four whichever ones they're still Target targeting in this case with there other ones out there Penn State could finish with a top 10 class but that means they would need to bat a thousand for the rest of it I would say that this is now a top 15 class given that they have 24 and they're trending in the right to 24 total commits and they're trending in the right direction for some others I'm not as concerned about the ranking as some other people I know a lot of people get totally in depth with that I'm interested to see how well they do with the so-called three star border Waring borderline fourstar guys this is the difference between winning and losing even Ohio State even Michigan even Texas if you really want to have great classes you got to develop some of the kids that aren't ranked as high and we've went over this before Zack on this show some of these guys come from towns or areas that aren't as easy to scout so they don't get ranked as highly but how do you develop those players how quickly did they acclimate to your college football program including the weight room Etc that'll tell me whether or not they continue to have a top defense Etc because a lot of the kids they had the last few years they weren't fstar kids coming out of high school but they ended up being all conference kind of guys getting drafted because they fit what they were trying to do and they got all the effort they could out of them in the weight room and strength training is a big part of it so they maximized that has to continue now Manny Diaz is a Duke now that's part of it he totally deserves credit for what they did on defense in particular but again they evaluated so well I'm really curious to see some of those guys that aren't as high like a Mattis or something that they flip in from Ohio State how do they devel him and don't forget guys like Malachai Goodman remain uncommitted to this point in time same with j m same with JL mil so we're talking about a lot of flip targets but there are some uncommitted prospects that again if they bat a thousand this can be a top 10 class and they fulfill needs that that were projected for the longest time wide receiver offensive line but they've they've done well five defensive backs you didn't get your primary quarterback Target but you got your your secondary one in Beckham I mean again if they didn't want him they wouldn't have taken the commitment I know they wanted Matt saers real badly but again this class I have few criticisms of this class other than the fact that they didn't do enough at wide receiver they still could they didn't do enough but overall I I like I'm glad you brought up that point Brian it's not so much about the ranking it's did Penn State check off enough of its boxes on its to-do list and I think they checked off a majority of them with some with some other is missing but overall this is a very good class and again if they bat a thousand they could finish even better I think this class could be right on the top 10 Verge you got to remember if they flip matys right that's gonna have more accum depending on the poll like Rivals obviously has him high or whichever one it was really really high okay great but again he's an elite kid by look who's recruiting him Pence state knows dline Ohio State I don't need the ranking anyway so that carries weight but they o have guys that they already had like the one kid he's skipping 25 and he already enrolled I count him as part of this class I know he's just going to red shirt this year anyway Penn State has found the guys they wanted to recruit and done really well for the most part receiver aside um they could use one more stud there how many spots right now Zack would you say Penn State really missed right there like they are just awful at recruiting this spot even receiver they got a couple pretty good players there there's no no spot so their depth is better they're getting faster and they're fitting their schemes it's a really good class now Brian you're not just a recruiting guy you're a college football guy overall should Penn State be on upset alert against West Virginia in week one we're going to get your thoughts and more coming up next turn locked on NY Lions we're almost within that two-e West Virginia window for Penn State versus West Virginia and I things have changed Brian I was very confident that Penn State was had you know a strong Gap and we much better and much further ahead than this West Virginia team but things change uh a second string defensive end and a second string linebacker are no longer with the team there's been some other negative headlines associated with Penn State and this new cycle I wonder about just how focused this team is I know they've they're had they have some time to adjust and get ready but I feel like West Virginia has some tunnel vision here I'm not trying to imply that Penn State loses and gets upset but they should definitely be aware that West Virginia is not going to be a pushover this is in Morgantown Garrick green they have all three rushers from a year ago who had 700 plus yards and you lost two key defenders in the front seven that are supposed to be there to stop the run I think it's a lower scoring game and I like West Virginia to keep it entertaining and and keep it relatively close like I can sit here with confidence and say that West Virginia covers the spread but Penn State still wins West Virginia gave up 26.2 points per game last year uh just over 31 points per game for them so they they were a team in a lot of close games Zach but I'm not sure they will be able to handle Penn State's Run game based on the one-w punch they have in the backfield and hit a few big play play ACS and shot that would be my guess and honestly that would be a traditional Penn State West Virginia game uh like a 247 kind of game where one big throw kind of changes the game and the running backs do their due diligence and maybe they see in it with a late field goal or something win 277 something like that I I could see it but I'm curious I don't think West Virginia has a dominant guy at corner or safety will this finally be the game that Penn State throws it around a little bit and hits some big plays down the field I need to see the check box at some point I know that's what Penn State fans want to see too game one I don't know yeah but I would love to see that because it's time for Penn State to be able to throw the ball win they want and and it's tough to say Brian New Offense because it's a new offense this is a brand new offense I feel like thing things will click in the second half of the Season which is good but there's still adjustments that have to be made even though Penn State is saying the right things Andy cot Nikki James Franklin you know we're making some tweaks but at our core it's still a similar offense okay feel like that's a lot of Coach speak for you know different a different variety of things but this is still you also have to get used to new wide receivers Keandre Lambert Smith Malik Mega Dante cus were in the room last year you get rid of all of them and you bring in Julian Fleming it's not like they went out and they got tons and tons of different wide receivers that all have gamechanging ability I respect Julian Fleming I hope he can live up to that five star uh that five star ranking once upon a time but that's going to take that's going to take a lot I I don't know that he lives up to that five-star ranking from when he was when he was back in high school I think that Penn State is still going to at least for the time being until that Midway point it's not going to be as explosive as you would like them to I think it's going to be very simple they don't need here's the thing though about West Virginia they don't need to score 30 40 points to beat West Virginia I feel like the first team that gets past 24 ultimately wins and if you get to 30 you can a 99% guarantee a victory I'm anticipating something like a 24 to20 between Penn State and West Virginia maybe 27 to 20 but it's definitely it's not going to be a double digit deficit unfortunately for Penn State yeah I I think Penn State will be in a scenario where they have at least a few shots whether or not all of that comes together passing game takes longer I'm add adding in the fact I just want to see it not saying it's gonna happen but worst case you know if you look at the stats again it's not very good for West Virginia last year and that's kind of their IMO they don't get enough guys up front defensively yeah defensiv yeah they just don't offensively I think they'll be pretty good but Penn State's defense is still legit with or without Manny roaming the sideline so if they lose that game Penn State that that's going to be more on them than it is West Virginia in my opinion the only thing I'll add to this I've been to a West Virginia game before that fan base is nuts so if you get down or play poorly early in the game and you open up that can of worms you won't be able to hear the person next to you for the rest two and a half hours no and I'm I'm glad that it's not a night game from P from Penn State's perspective a massive benefit that it's at no yeah yeah early game kicks let's let's just cut to the chase students hate it they're going to go out and party the night before half of them won't go and the other half get there half to that's sway it so that's that's a huge benefit even a three o'clock game would be massively different for Western because all students be this early in the season yes yeah yeah just no doubt about it GNA be hot but I mean it won't be terrible or anything I think both teams be ready to go and they're Rivals a lot of these kids probably know each other ton of them from Pennsylvania on the West Virginia roster so should be a good game pennate versus West Virginia August 31st kickoff at noon still anticipating a Penn State win I just think it does get a little more difficult under the circumstances especially when you lose two key rotational Defenders on on that on the new look defense under Tom Allen as you mentioned no more Manny Dias it's now at the helm of Tom Allen but that's why I bring you on Brian to have these uh in-depth discussions not only about recruiting but now truly into the college football atmosphere if you want to keep up with Brian's work all of his platforms and profiles will be linked down in the description Brian thanks so much for the time and can't wait to talk more about recruiting and college football specifically in the not too distant future thanks for your time thank you very much sir have a good one and as always thanks so much for making luck on nit lines your first listen and watch every single day be a part of the discussion down in the comment section what you think about Penn State potentially flipping Zahir Mattis and the class of 2025 overall and if Penn State should be on upset alert against West Virginia if you enjoyed this conversation leave a like on it share it with friends and family I'd greatly appreciate it and if you're not already becoming everyday or subscribe to lock on nney lions on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast for the latest conversations around your favorite Penn State sports teams and for your second listen and watch check out locked on college football Spencer mlin is the host I've been a guest on that show many times and it's a great show I'm telling you he's talking about everything from nil to the impact of the transfer portal in this upcoming season to the unprecedented college football season itself conference realignment the expanded college football playoff he is talking about all of it in depth over at lockon college football available on YouTube and wherever you get your 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