Penn State brings back latest alumnus in new NIL role

Penn State football head coach James Franklin has repeatedly expressed during his tenure his interest and commitment to fielding a staff filled with program knowledge. Welcoming Terry Smith to his initial staff in 2014, that sentiment has carried through at every level.

Monday afternoon, the Nittany Lions welcomed their latest back into the fold.

Announced via social media channels, 2022 Penn State graduate and former defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins has been named to a new staff position. He’ll be the Nittany Lions’ assistant director of advancement and revenue sharing strategy.

Hawkins arrives to the role after a medical retirement from football in January 2022. At the time, he’d come off a 2021 season in which he’d been unable to participate, ultimately appearing in only two games during his four seasons in the program.

“After 4 years and many conversations with those closest to me, I’ve made the decision to end my football career. Although much of my time in college was spent battling injury, my experience as a Penn State student-athlete was better than I could have ever imagined,” Hawkins wrote. “I will always cherish the opportunities, experiences and growth-demanding environment the game of football brings. I will cherish these memories forever.”

In the time since, Hawkins parlayed his media ambitions into hosting a successful podcast, The Lions Den, covering the Penn State football program with weekly player interviews.

Penn State builds player personnel staff

The move provides a boost to Penn State’s staff handling name, image, and likeness and its wide-reaching implications.

In a February press conference with reporters, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft was asked about the potential for the football program to bring in a general manager. And while there’d been no movement to that end, he acknowledged the rapidly changing landscape and the necessity of staff to help sort through the issues releated therein.

“How about we change the narrative of NIL? It’s marketing now. It’s marketing dollars with the new rev-share and the 20.5 [million]. Obviously, we’re going to invest the 20.5 and then it increases four percent every single year after that. We’re doing that,” said Kraft. “I think, when people think of the traditional NIL piece, we’re where we need to be. You have to keep looking and you’ve got to continue to do what you got to do. But in this new system, you’re going to have to show fair market value and this is where the power of Penn State is a huge asset. Fair market value for the starting quarterback at Penn State is pretty good. We’ve got to lean into that with our business partners. That’s kind of the new world of name, image and likeness.

“Everyone is discussing the 20.5 and the rev-share, but one of the biggest pieces to the house case is pulling the restriction of scholarships off. That’s huge. That allows us to offer scholarships to all of our athletes if we can afford it. As we’re out there raising money, we’re trying to let people know that as important as the 20.5 is, and that gets all the headlines, I get it.”

Continuing, Kraft offered his optimism at the trajectory the program is on.

“I feel really good where we’re at. We can always be better,” he said. “I’m a competitor. I want to be the best in the country, but I think the new landscape is changing the way that that’s going to play out.”

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