Back in October, in the aftermath of the coaching change, I wrote an essay about Penn State’s coaching search with this fundamental question; “What have we become, and what will we be?”
The column started with this quote: “I don’t want Penn State to become the kind of a place where an 8-2 season is a tragedy. You can’t tell kids that a football loss is a tragedy. It’s not.” –Joe Paterno 1971
That quote is not to suggest that we accept losing. It is an understanding of the proper emphasis of football within the overall goals of a university and a program designed to build better people, better students and better athletes. It is the ancient Greek ideals of mind, body and spirit.
It is a mindset that coaches like Bob Higgins, Rip Engle and Joe Paterno used to define Penn State.
Now, several months after that column, the Blue-White Weekend is a step to understanding what we will be at Penn State. No one can say exactly what this fall will bring, but there are a couple of certainties about what we will be.
I have had several positive conversations with Matt Campbell and a number of his coaches and staff. The substance of those will remain among us. But there are things that anyone paying attention the past few months can see.
He knows who he is, where he comes from, what he stands for — the hallmarks of true self-confidence.
Inner self-confidence need not manifest itself with false bravado. It is how the greatest coaches, players and teams carry themselves. They don’t ever tell you what they are going to do, they just prepare to do it and then fight like hell to deliver.
And where does Matt Campbell come from? Northeast Ohio has been a place where great coaches learned the game. It instills pride, a blue-collar attitude and a no-nonsense toughness to weather the changing fortunes of success and adversity. It is eerily reminiscent of what we’re used to here.
Two Hall of Fame coaches from that same area who’ve long admired Penn State football called to tell me what an incredible fit Matt was for Penn State. They talked about Penn State’s long-time reputation for discipline, hard-nosed toughness and preparation.They said to expect that in the future.
In 2008 before Penn State beat Ohio State, wide receiver Deon Butler gathered his teammates around him. The normally reserved Deon had something to say, “We are NOT NORMAL. We are LEGENDS…..WE ARE PENN STATE.”
The new coaching staff understands Penn State is something different, something better.
In his opening press conference, Matt Campbell stated that “If the only reason you want to come to Penn State is because we offer you the most money, this may not be the place for you.”
The cynic will say that’s naïve. The cynic will say you can’t operate that way anymore. Those people haven’t got the slightest idea of what it takes.
Any fool with a checkbook can build a great roster. But the true coach knows how to build a TEAM. To do that, coaches make their own evaluation of talent. They select guys who will give more effort because they want to be here. They drill the fundamentals that become disciplined, instinctive performance to build trust that is the core of success.
Above all, a true team is much more than a collection of talent. It is unity of mind and spirit destined to pursue a common cause.
And in any big showdown, the TEAM always beats the ROSTER.
Expect Penn State to have that approach. To dare to be different and take their own path. Because if all you ever do is what everyone else does, can you ever rise above? How do you set yourself apart?
This coaching staff will look for their own unique advantages, their own way of doing things. Part of that will be a laser focus on their team.
The alignment Matt Campbell is most concerned about is internal. It is how his team works together. It is how his coaches are focused and teaching their players.
It is focusing on the factors he can control with genuine appreciation for the things that he has, rather than complaining about what we don’t have.
It means alignment with the ideals that have made Penn State the national leader on and off the field. That will be the easy part, because Matt’s innate ideals and values already align with what has been here.
And this coaching staff has had a 400-level course in understanding Penn State tradition.
Matt Campbell understands how important the roots of tradition are to programs in college football. It is part of what draws certain types of players to a campus.
His interest in meeting and connecting with football lettermen has been genuine. The outreach has been incredible and sustained. Scores of former players have shared their excitement after having come back to campus.
Many felt they were coming back home for the first time in a long time. And the lettermen have connected with the current coaches and players, who’ve shown real appreciation for the past.
All that is prologue to what comes next and the next step comes tomorrow.
But there was a moment from Penn State’s game against Indiana that is instructive. We all remember the game-winning catch. But there was an earlier play that allowed that catch to happen.
To start that drive, Penn State sacked Fernando Mendoza. It set up a second-and-17 from the Indiana 13 trailing by four with the clock running.
In a no-huddle situation the guy who made the sack decided to celebrate and a linebacker ran into the backfield to join him. Meanwhile Indiana was hustling to get a play in and get lined up.
When the ball finally snapped, that linebacker was not fully lined up and ready to go. Mendoza hit a pass down the seam over him to get the first down that launched that drive. It was something seemingly small, something most wouldn’t even notice, but it meant almost everything.
If nothing else, Matt Campbell, his coaches and his players will be focused on the small things that may mean everything. And that is how you build true teams that over time build a true program.
