Dominic DeLuca isn’t one to spend many words talking about himself.
Fittingly, the Penn State linebacker made the public announcement of his return to the Nittany Lions short and sweet.
“Let’s run it back,” DeLuca wrote on social media Wednesday, accompanying it with a graphic of his playoff pick-six that said, “I’m back. I will return to Penn State for the 2025 season.”
The Wyoming Area grad has a chance to join one of the rarest clubs in school history by becoming a three-time team captain after being selected as a special teams captain in 2023 and 2024.
Regardless, it will be DeLuca’s fifth and final season at Penn State, having arrived as a walk-on in January 2021 and earned a scholarship right before playing in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2022 season.
He has been a special teams standout and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time at linebacker, coming up with five career interceptions. Two of them came in the Lions’ College Football Playoff debut last month against SMU, with DeLuca going into the record books as the first Penn State player to score in a playoff game with his pick-six.
According to his coaches, it’s not a coincidence. Both former defensive coordinator Tom Allen and linebackers coach Dan Connor said this season that DeLuca was one of the smartest players they’ve ever been around.
Allen said last month that he looked forward to having another season with DeLuca. That didn’t materialize, as Allen left to become defensive coordinator at Clemson on Tuesday. But that didn’t change DeLuca’s plans to play out his final season of eligibility.
DeLuca was honored on senior day in November, a moment provided to all players in their fourth year or beyond, just in case it ends up being their last game at Beaver Stadium.
He’ll have a chance to make that walk out of the tunnel again in 2025, and Penn State is happy to have him.
“I think he’s a tremendous example for all of our players on the team,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “He’s got a smile on his face. He’s appreciative. He works his tail off. Trusted us when we talked about the positions that we wanted to play him (at), and whatever role we’ve asked him to do, he’s done it 100 miles an hour.”
Along with DeLuca, Penn State announced Wednesday that its core specialists would also all return for next season. That group is kicker Ryan Barker, punter Riley Thompson, kickoff specialist Gabe Nwosu and long snapper Tyler Duzansky.
“Fired up to have these guys back in ‘25,” special teams coordinator Justin Lustig wrote on social media. “Let’s work, earn it everyday.”
In addition, veteran offensive lineman JB Nelson also announced his intent to return for his final season on Wednesday, giving the Lions another experienced player who has worked at guard and tackle.
Nelson has started games at guard for the Lions but was limited by injuries in 2024. At the moment, Penn State appears to only be losing one starter up front in right guard Sal Wormley, who is out of eligibility.
The other starting guard, Vega Ioane, is a future NFLer who has not made a formal announcement on his plans, though he did tell reporters before the Fiesta Bowl playoff quarterfinal that he was likely returning to Penn State.