John Lovett Explains Why He Joined Loaded Penn State Backfield

When former Baylor running back John Lovett decided to leave the program last year as a graduate transfer, there was only one place he had in mind.

Delco Times reports Lovett watched the Nittany Lions develop Saquon Barkley, Miles Sanders and Journey Brown in recent years and liked what he heard from assistant coach Ja’Juan Seider.

“There’s a lot of talent," Lovett said. "We all compete every day. We push each other. All that’s going to do is make everyone else better. The best man will win the job and the best man will help the team win games.”

The six-foot, 209-pound Lovett — who led Baylor in rushing in three seasons (2017-19) — will battle Noah Cain, Devyn Ford, Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes for playing time, Delco Times reports. It marks the greatest depth that Penn State has had in Seider’s four seasons on the staff, with all but Holmes having been starters.

Seider referred to the situation as a luxury for him as their position coach, not a dilemma.

“The dilemma is when you don’t have that depth and one of those guys goes down,” he said. “Who do you go to? I always tell them you get what you earn. If a guy is clearly better than everybody else, he’s going to be the guy. If two guys are close, we've got to play them. If there’s another one close, we've got to play him."

In four seasons at Baylor, Lovett rushed for 1,803 yards and missed three games last year with an injury.

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