Penn State has brought back another former Nittany Lion to join its staff for the 2020 season. Former offensive lineman Wendy Laurent has accepted an Offensive Graduate Assistant position and has joined the program. Laurent was previously an Offensive Line Graduate Assistant under Lance Leipold at Buffalo.

Laurent played three seasons as an offensive lineman under James Franklin for the Nittany Lions, starting five games in 2015 and three in 2014 as a center and a guard. He was a reserve as a senior in 2016, playing in all 12 games, including the Big Ten Championship win over Wisconsin and the Rose Bowl against USC, but did not start any games.

He’s the second former Penn State offensive lineman to join the staff this offseason, as Franklin hired Ty Howle as an Offensive Analyst. Howle played for the Nittany Lions from 2009-2013, with his final two seasons overlapping with Laurent’s start in Happy Valley.

Laurent, a native of Haiti who came to Penn State from the Hun School in South Jersey in the Class of 2012, will work with Phil Trautwein and the offensive line this season. His senior year was spent in the same room as projected starters Michal Menet and Will Fries, who were freshmen at the time.

He graduated from Penn State in 2016 with a degree in Economics and added a second degree in Labor Employment Relations in 2017. He began coaching at Buffalo in June of 2019. He coached the Bulls in their 45-13 loss to Penn State in September.

Buffalo’s offensive line earned honorable mention for the Joe Moore Award in November, which is given to the nation’s top offensive line. Offensive tackle Evin Ksiezarcyzk was a first-team All-MAC selection and linemen Kayode Awosika and Paul Nosworthy earned second-team honors.

Laurent joins Jeff Carpenter as the Nittany Lions Offensive Graduate Assistants, taking over for Mark Dupuis and Kevin Reihner, who are now assistant coaches under Ricky Rahne at Old Dominion.

In addition to the addition of Laurent, Special Teams Analyst and Analytics Coordinator Aman Anand has left to be a Special Teams Analyst at Baylor. He came to Happy Valley with Special Teams Coordinator Joe Lorig last winter.