The Chairman of Nike, Phil Knight gives his remarks on the legacy of late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. He references the current child rape investigation of former PSU assistant Jerry Sandusky and defends Paterno, calling him “his hero”. His speech earned him a standing ovation from the audience.
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Another day and another recruit for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions have landed three-star OL Wendy Laurent. Laurent (6-4, 285) is from the Hun School in Princeton, NJ. Laurent chose Penn State over other offers from Buffalo, Connecticut, UMass and Navy. Laurent is a versatile lineman who also played on the defensive line in high school.
Laurent is new head coach Bill O’Brien’s seventh commit overall, and the sixth in the past three days. The Penn State coaches are working overtime rebuilding this class of 2012, which at 19 commits, is getting closer in size to what we thought it would be pre-Sandusky.
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The offensive minded Bill O’Brien has landed his first quarterback at Penn State at it is Georgia high school quarterback Steven Bench whi has reneged on an earlier commitment to Rice University.
The 6-2, 205-pound dual-threat quarterback from Cairo High School visited the Penn State campus last weekend and was offered a scholarship prior to his departure, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
“It was a really tough decision, but I felt like Penn State was the right choice for me,” Bench told the Atlanta newspaper. The school was amazing, the facilities were amazing, and the thing that really stood out there during my visit was the school pride. Everybody loves it there. It’s hard to find a place where 44,000 people like the school they go to.”
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The proof of the impact that Joe Paterno had on people’s lives was evident during Tuesday’s viewing at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on campus.
The 2011 team showed up en masse, including new head coach Bill O’Brien. So did several hundred of Paterno’s former players, who braved long lines and chilly conditions to pay their respects. Then came the public, which flocked to the spiritual center for the 1 p.m. start and the 11 p.m. finish. Ten hours.
The conservative estimate was 10,000 people stood in line for the public viewing.
Former Penn State greats Kyle Brady, Deon Butler, Kerry Collins and Daryll Clark spoke about Coach Paterno and share stories about playing for the legendary coach.
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Another sign that Bill O’Brien is having a positive impact on recruiting is that three-star running back Akeel Lynch, who originally committed to Boston College, changed his mind after the coaching change at Penn State and will become a Nittany Lion instead, according to ESPN Insider.
Lynch had not been recruited heavily previously by Penn State, but coach Bill O’Brien and the rest of the new staff made the back feel wanted. Lynch made an official visit over the weekend and changed his commitment to Penn State.
“It’s exciting because you always dream for them to call and to actually go there is pretty exciting,” Lynch said. “It motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing.”
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New Penn State Secondary Coach John Butler sat down last week an interview with GoPSUsports.com’s Tony Mancuso.
A couple highlights from the interview were:
That no returning defensive back has a guaranteed starting job is no surprise, considering all four starters in 2011 have graduated. Defensive backs Stephon Morris, Adrian Amos, Malcolm Willis and Stephen Obeng-Agyapong are four names that should be favorites to start heading into spring practice, as they have the most experience.
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Joe Paterno died today after losing his battle with lung cancer. He was 85.
His family released a statement Sunday morning to announce his death:
“His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. He died as he lived,” the statement said. “He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”
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Former Penn State college football coach Joe Paterno is gravely ill and his wife Sue has asked family and friends to come to the hospital because the former coach wanted to say his final goodbyes.
“Over the last few days Joe Paterno has experienced further health complications,” family spokesman Dan McGinn said in a brief statement Saturday to The Associated Press. “His doctors have now characterized his status as serious. His family will have no comment on the situation and asks that their privacy be respected during this difficult time.”
The 85-year-old Paterno has been in the hospital since Jan. 13 for observation for what his family had called minor complications from cancer treatments.
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The Bill O’Brien effect is being felt already with the class of 2012. While O’Brien has stirred excitement in his current crop of players with passion and his accomplishments, the full impact of his hiring will be found in the class of 2013.
And that class is getting a boost as Adam Breneman (Camp Hill, Pa./Cedar Cliff) who is one of the nation’s top junior prospects, is excited about Penn State‘s new coach.
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Severance pay for the seven Penn State assistant football coaches not retained under Bill O’Brien will amount to nearly $4.5 million, acting athletics director David Joyner said Friday.
Speaking before the university trustees, Joyner said the expense will be covered with monies from an athletics reserve fund. The severance tally does not include any money for former football Coach Joe Paterno, whose financial contract is being honored by Penn State, according to the university.
O’Brien, named the new Penn State football head coach this month, retained only two members of Paterno’s nine-member assistant-coaching staff: Larry Johnson and Rob Vanderlinden. The trustees fired Paterno on Nov. 9 as criminal sexual-abuse allegations against a former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, emerged.
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