From the diamond to the gridiron | Long snapper Tyler Duzansky finds success at Penn State

Long snapper is one of the most unique positions in football, but it consistently goes under the radar as one of the most undervalued positions.

Before the 2023 campaign, Penn State hadn’t had to worry about its long snapper as Chris Stoll had locked down the position during his time with the Nittany Lions.

Stoll captured the Mannelly Award, an award given annually to the best long snapper, in 2022 and is currently the long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks.

The former Nittany Lion standout has appeared in four games this season with the Seahawks, but 2,635 miles away from Seattle, a new long snapper has emerged in Happy Valley.

Under the tutelage of Stoll, redshirt sophomore Tyler Duzansky earned the starting spot out of fall camp and hasn’t looked back.

“Chris Stoll has been able to help me a lot, just with little technique, things that only other snappers would be able to realize,” Duzansky said. “Just helping with accuracy and little things like that.”

In 2022, Duzansky was behind Stoll on the depth chart, which allowed him to pick up on the little things that made him successful.

Duzansky noted Stoll and former punter Jordan Stout were always relaxed during the game and that’s important for specialists since they play very few snaps.

However, just a few years ago, the Wheaton, Illinois, native never could have envisioned being a Division I long snapper.

The redshirt sophomore grew up playing baseball and when he was a freshman in high school, he thought he was destined to play on the diamond at the collegiate level and not the gridiron.

“Originally, all through high school, all through middle school, ever since growing up, baseball was my number one,” Duzansky said. “Baseball was what I wanted to do when I was older in college and beyond.”

Duzansky started long snapping during his junior year and he attended a Chris Rubio long snapping camp, which helped springboard his football career.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Duzansky said back in September. “My first snap, I rolled it back.”

What helped spark his development was that he had a built-in partner at home who could field his snaps.

Tyler’s brother, Nick Duzansky, is currently a long snapper at Oregon, but he used to be a punter and the two brothers helped each other develop.

Tyler mentioned the two have yet to face off against each other, but they are both excited that Oregon is set to move to the Big Ten in 2024.

“Growing up in high school, we were on the same team because he’s two years younger than me, so we’ve never played against each other,” Tyler Duzansky said. “It’ll definitely be cool to go up against him and hopefully get a bunch of family out to the game and our grandparents.”

Although the opportunity to play against your brother is extremely exciting, Tyler is focused on helping Penn State achieve its goals in 2023.

One of the Nittany Lions’ main goals in 2023 is to remain consistent and that reigns true for Duzansky.

“You’re the only position that can’t mess up,” Duzansky said. “Even if it’s a bad snap, you have to come back and have a perfect one the next time.”

Alex Rocco is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email alex.rocco1702@gmail.com.