Tristin Iannone

UNIVERSITY PARK — Over the past year, Tristin Iannone has lived the high life as a Monarch, working at Old Dominion University, and climbed Mount Nittany with the Lions.

The Mifflin County High School product thought he found his dream job and welcomed the opportunity to move close to home after being hired as the director of external operations for Penn State football.

There was plenty of excitement with the Nittany Lions’ preseason hype, but things quickly went south this season, starting in week four. An overtime loss to mighty Oregon eventually led to Penn State head coach James Franklin’s downfall.

Nittany Nation was shocked on Sunday, Oct. 12, when Franklin was fired by Penn State. The decision came after a three-game losing streak and an upset loss to Northwestern.

While the decision impacted Franklin immediately, it also had a ripple effect on his staff and players. On Nov. 17, Virginia Tech announced the hiring of Franklin and introduced him as the Hokies next head coach last Wednesday.

Shortly after that news conference ended, reports started to surface about his staffers following him to Blacksburg, Va. A total of nine were reportedly leaving, including Iannone.

Neil Rudell, who covers Penn State football for The Sentinel, confirmed the news. Iannone also does not currently appear on the staff directory of Penn State’s athletic department website.

Two big names, Kevin Threlkel and Andy Frank, are said to be following Franklin to Blacksburg with the Hokies. They also don’t appear on the Penn State staff directory.

Threlkel and Frank joined Franklin’s first staff in Happy Valley in 2014 and have ties to Franklin from his previous coaching stops.

Threlkel served as Penn State’s chief of staff for the past seven years and was the director of football administration for the previous five. According to his Penn State biography, Threlkel’s responsibilities included “day-to-day management of the football program and its administrative staff, oversight of the football budget and handling all football contracts.”

Threlkel was also on Franklin’s staff at Vanderbilt, while the two worked together and Maryland and Kansas State before that.

Frank was Penn State’s general manager of personnel and recruitment. He oversaw all of Penn State’s recruiting efforts from the 11-plus years of the Franklin era. Frank held a similar role at Vanderbilt with Franklin.

A few other staff members are reportedly no longer at Penn State, including Iannone:

• Brett Arnold, associate director of player advancement and revenue sharing strategy;

• Rashad Elby, associate director of player advancement and revenue sharing strategy;

• Aeneas Hawkins, assistant director of player advancement and revenue sharing strategy;

• Karsyn Kehler, assistant recruiting coordinator for operations and visits;

• Chris Mahon, recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment;

• Caleb Tyler, director of recruiting content.

This might just be the beginning of staff changes at Penn State in connection to the change in leadership. Players might decide to follow Franklin via the transfer portal and high school recruiting. Stay tuned.