A former Penn State defensive tackle is headed to the Arizona Cardinals.
Per a report by league reporter Ayre Pulli, Coziah Izzard has signed a one-year deal with Arizona.
Izzard’s path to this point has already taken him through a couple of NFL stops. After his five-year run at Penn State came to a close, he joined the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.
He remained with Kansas City until late August, when he was cut shortly after landing on the practice squad. Not long after that, he caught on with the New Orleans Saints, where he spent the season and later signed a reserve/future contract on Jan.
- The Saints released him last month.
At Penn State, Izzard played a bigger role than his name recognition suggested, especially on the Nittany Lions’ 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal team. With Alonzo Ford Jr. sidelined by injury and Hakeem Beamon no longer in the program, Izzard’s importance grew late in the year, and he delivered. In Penn State’s first playoff game against SMU, he finished with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and pressure on SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, which helped set up a pick-six by Dom DeLuca.
In the semifinal against Notre Dame, Izzard turned in a career-high six tackles and added a sack in what became his final college game.
His Penn State story started long before that. As a redshirt freshman, he was forced into the lineup when veteran defensive tackle PJ Mustipher suffered a season-ending injury in late October. Izzard responded by starting Penn State’s final seven games and finishing that season with 21 tackles, including 11 solo stops, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
In Other News...
Penn States Iconic Jersey Is About To Change Forever
Penn States football uniforms are headed for a long-anticipated change, with athletic director Pat Kraft confirming the program will soon add a corporate logo patch to the jerseys. It is the latest sign that even one of college footballs most tradition-heavy brands is adjusting to the new financial realities of the sport, and Penn State is approaching the move with the same caution it has shown in other revenue pursuits.
Kraft said the department is weighing the right fit while trying to protect the look and feel of the jersey, a balancing act that has become familiar across the Big Ten as more schools embrace patch deals. Penn State has already leaned into other money-making avenues, from a cryptocurrency fan token platform to a stadium field-naming rights agreement, and the jersey patch now appears to be the next piece of that broader push, even if the final rollout is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Fans Can See This Uniform Change Coming Now
The NCAAs approval of commercial patches on college uniforms has already started to reshape the Big Ten, with Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan State and Ohio State all moving ahead with jersey sponsorships. For Penn State, the change feels less like a question of if than when, especially as schools around the league begin turning a once-taboo space on the uniform into a new revenue stream.
An official announcement has not arrived yet, but the expectation around Happy Valley is that the Nittany Lions will not sit this one out for long. Once Penn State does move, the sponsor will say plenty about how the program wants to balance tradition with the modern business of college sports, and it will be worth watching which local or national brand ends up in that spot. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Kraft Just Sent Penn State Fans A Blunt Basketball Message
Penn States mens basketball budget is getting a noticeable lift, and athletic director Pat Kraft made it clear the program is being asked to think bigger about what it takes to compete in the Big Ten. In an interview, Kraft said the Nittany Lions are still spending below the leagues top programs, even as the budget has nearly doubled for the 2026-2027 season and now sits around $8 million, with NIL and third-party support playing a growing role in how schools build rosters.
Kraft also put the focus on the people trying to make that money matter, praising Mike Rhoades and his staff for the way they have recruited and developed the roster. The message was straightforward: Penn State wants to be competitive at a high level, but getting there means more than just opening the checkbook, and the next step in that climb will depend on how the program keeps bridging the gap with the leagues biggest spenders. [Read more 🡒]