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Terry Smith addresses Anthony Poindexter's future at Penn State after Pinstripe Bowl

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison12/28/25dan_morrison96

Coming into the season, nobody at Penn State aspired to the Pinstripe Bowl. The Nittany Lions had their goals set higher for the national championship. That, obviously, didn’t work out, though. So, amid a coaching change, Penn State found itself in the Bronx in late December, celebrating a bowl win over Clemson.

The coaching change had taken its toll on Penn State going into the Pinstripe Bowl. That included seeing defensive coordinator Jim Knowles leave for Tennessee. So, in his place, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter stepped up to call the defense. There, his defense was dominant, and after the game, interim head coach Terry Smith praised his effort.

“Coach Poindexter did an amazing job getting these things ready,” Terry Smith said. “He limited the pass game, completely shut down the run game. He’s a great leader, he’s a great leader of men, he’s a great human being. He’s one of the locker room favorites, when you look at staff, players, anyone unanimously in the building is going to vote for Coach Poindexter as that guy. I’m super happy for him.”

Penn State held Clemson to just 10 points in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Tigers would put up just 236 total yards of offense and only 43 of those were rushing yards. Penn State had four sacks, which contributed to that rushing total. In the process, Poindexter made the case that he belongs on the staff next season.

Despite that, Smith isn’t sure what the future is going to hold for Poindexter. Incoming head coach Matt Campbell will likely want to make some changes to the staff. However, with Smith already set to return to the new staff, it’s not inconceivable there’s room for coaches like Poindexter. Then, of course, James Franklin has a new job at Virginia Tech, which could see him fill in his staff with some familiar faces.

“Right now, as far as his future, we’re just going to relish in this trophy right here. We get to add to the Penn State history trophy case,” Smith said. “And whatever is next for Coach Poindexter, he’ll announce that at a time for him.”

Anthony Poindexter is a Virginia native who played for the Virginia Cavaliers from 1995 to 1998. After a brief NFL career, he returned to Virginia to begin his coaching career. He has since made stops at UConn, Purdue, and Penn State as a defensive coordinator, co-defensive coordinator, and safeties coach.