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Things ultimately didn’t work out on the field for Penn State and Mike Yurcich. But one area where the Nittany Lions’ former offensive coordinator certainly excelled was identifying and landing talent at quarterback.
So when Lions coach James Franklin fired Yurcich midseason back in November, there was a real question as to how it would affect the program’s recruiting at the sport’s most important position.
Tuesday delivered a major win for Franklin and new quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien.
California’s Troy Huhn publicly committed to Penn State, giving the Lions one of the top signal-callers for the 2026 recruiting class.
At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, Huhn heads into his junior season at Mission Hills High School in San Marcos as the No. 7 quarterback prospect in the nation and the No. 81 overall recruit, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
Though he can’t officially sign with the program for another 18 months, Huhn is an important addition for the program, which missed out on a 2025 in-state blue-chip quarterback in Matt Zollers, who is headed to Missouri.
Huhn recently made a cross-country trip to Happy Valley, and he told On3 after the visit that his top choices were Penn State, Ohio State and Auburn.
The Lions won out, giving them a strong foundation for that 2026 class, which also features another top-100 overall national recruit in star Harrisburg running back Messiah Mickens.
Penn State enters the 2024 season with four scholarship quarterbacks in Drew Allar, Beau Pribula, Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jaxon Smolik, who is out indefinitely with an undisclosed but “significant” injury, according to Franklin.
The Lions also have a quarterback committed for the upcoming 2025 signing class in Colorado’s Bekkem Kritza, with Huhn set to follow a year later.
Huhn is the first California quarterback the Lions have landed since then-coach Bill O’Brien brought in Bakersfield native Tyler Ferguson for the 2013 season.
Ferguson came out of the junior college ranks to compete with future draft pick Christian Hackenberg, who won the job as a true freshman, leading to Ferguson’s transfer after the season.
But Huhn isn’t even the first California prospect to commit to Penn State this month.
With official visit weekends in full swing during June, the Lions have secured pledges from seven players for the 2025 class before Huhn joined up for 2026 on Tuesday.
That group includes Santa Ana defensive back Daryus Dixson, a 6-foot-1 cornerback prospect who checks in as the nation’s No. 135 overall recruit in the On3 Industry Rankings.
Also coming aboard this month were Texas edge rusher Max Granville, New Jersey corner Jahmir Joseph, Philadelphia running back Jabree Wallace-Coleman, New Jersey edge Cortez Harris, Florida corner Antonio Branch and New Jersey safety Braswell Thomas.
But there has been some attrition as well in the past week. Alabama running back Alvin Henderson, who previously was the highest-rated member of the class, flipped to Auburn. New Jersey linebacker DJ McClary is staying home to play for Rutgers.
Penn State’s updated list for the 2025 class, which can officially sign in December, is now at 18 recruits. Five of the six top spots in the rankings belong to players who committed in the past 10 days, led by Dixson, Granville and Joseph.
Through the recent additions and subtractions, the Lions have moved up three spots in the national team rankings into 13th overall and fourth in the Big Ten behind Ohio State (No. 1) and newcomers Oregon (No. 8) and USC (No. 11).