So, a highly-touted quarterback bailed on Penn State?
Not the first time, just in case you didn’t know. Kind of a big field.
So, Justin Fields, meet Brandon Wimbush and Chad Henne.
Meet Jake Waters, Chris Simms and Jim Kelly — all close, but no verbal. And no cigar, either.
Meet Unhappy Valley quarterback transfers (out) Steven Bench, Rob Bolden, Pat Devlin, Tyler Ferguson, Jeff Hostetler, Steve Joachim, Paul Jones, Kevin Newsome, Michael O’Connor, John Sacca, Austin Whipple and Zac Wasserman.
Meet, in a neat bit of reverse verbal engineering that actually benefited the Nittany Lions, Trace McSorley.
And while you’re at it, meet his Penn State quarterbacking teammate, Tommy Stevens.
Also in the James Franklin Spurned-by-QBs Division, meet Chad Kanoff (the starting quarterback of Princeton’s 2QB offense that PSU’s Trace & Tommy could emulate, in some ways, in 2017. Read about it here. Kanoff spent a month at Vandy with Franklin in 2013, then bailed for Princeton.)
Quarterbacks may never come and quarterbacks may eventually go, but somehow Penn State soldiers on. Through 130 seasons, 867 victories (and 385 losses and 42 ties), and one failed set of NCAA sanctions.
COUNTING THE FIELD
That’s not to diminish the skills and potential contributions of Fields, ESPN’s No. 1-ranked dual-threat high school quarterback in the Class of 2018, and the World Wide Leader’s fourth-ranked prospect overall. But the Nittany Lions still have four scholarship quarterbacks, and may still add one more.
Fields officially decommitted from Penn State on Tuesday, after verbally committing his allegiance to Penn State on Dec. 1, 2016. The verbal relationship, which turned out to be worth the paper it wasn’t written on, lasted 187 days. Which is just about the right (or wrong) length of a high school romance — or, in this case, bromance.
Compare that to Christian Hackenberg, who for his part held true to his verbal commitment to Bill O’Brien, holding tight through 342 days and one major set of NCAA sanctions, and never reneging. Then he stayed again, when O’Brien left and Franklin arrived.
Or compare that to incoming Nittany Lion quarterback Sean Clifford, who signed with Penn State on Feb. 1, 2017, after giving his word that he would back on July 13, 2015. That’s a verbal which lasted an even 600 days — a veritable relationship lifetime, compared to Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage to former NBA’er Kris Humphries, and 321% longer than Fields’ day with Penn State.
THE REST OF THE STORY
These things have a way of working out.
Or, as John Wooden used to say, ‘Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.’
For example:
Wimbush verbaled to Franklin and Penn State in May 2014, then five months later decommitted to go to Notre Dame, where he is the leading candidate to be the starter this year, after five pass attempts and seven runs in 2015-16 for the Irish, who had a 14-11 record over those two seasons. Meantime, McSorley threw 387 passes and ran 146 times in 2016, as he led Penn State to an 11-3 record and the Rose Bowl.
Henne verbaled to Joe Paterno as a junior in May 2003, then recanted in favor of Michigan before his first game as a senior at Wilson High School. For the Wolverines, he won 33 games as a starter, but was 0-4 vs. Ohio State and 1-3 in bowl games. Meanwhile, Penn State signed Anthony Morelli and Daryll Clark instead, and from 2005-09, PSU won 51 games, two Big Ten titles, was 4-1 in bowl games with wins over Florida State, Tennessee, LSU and Texas A&M. Henne was All-Big Ten once, while Clark was two-time All-Big Ten and Big Ten MVP.
O’Brien lost out on juco starter Jake Waters to Kansas State (where he went 17-9), but kept Hackenberg. Simms, who was 26-6 at Texas, finished his college career with two dubious records: most picks in the Holiday Bowl (4) and longest returned interception pass in Senior Bowl history (99 yard). Kelly said no to Paterno and his pitch to be the next standout at ‘Linebacker U,’ opting instead to play QB at Miami. He was 1-2 vs. PSU, knocking the Lions from No. 1 in 1981. Still, Todd Blackledge did OK in his stead, going 29-3 as a starter.
And among the boatload of transfers, just three — Joachim at Temple, Hostetler at West Virginia and Devlin at Delaware — went on to good collegiate careers, as well as the NFL. But in Hoss’ absence, Blackledge erected that record and won Penn State’s first national title, while Clark — who started ahead of Devlin — was 22-2 as a starter. Others hit an iceberg. Bench ended up in jail, O’Connor went back to Canada after badmouthing Franklin. Newsome and Jones never played QB again. None of the others ever made it to the NFL, although Ferguson was in the Tennessee Titans’ camp this spring as an undrafted free agent.
TWO-WAY STREET
Lest we forget, broken verbals go both ways. Take my word for it.
McSorley verbaled to Franklin while he was Vanderbilt, then reneged and followed the head coach to Penn State. Stevens had committed to his home state Indiana University. But when Wimbush recanted in the fall of 2014, Franklin beat the bushes and came up with Stevens, who switched his allegiance to Penn State.
Each situation is different. But that doesn’t a man shouldn’t be true to his word — which a verbal commitment is, after all. Even if that major commitment comes from a minor under the age of 18.
As it was, Fields may not have seen the field at Beaver Stadium at Penn State until 2020. Maybe. McSorley’s likely still The Guy in 2017-18. Followed, probably, by Stevens in 2019. And who knows whether Fields would have made the commitment to beat out Clifford — ‘ole Mister 600 — the year after that.
It’s all a guess, a crap shoot. It was a chance Fields wasn’t willing to take.
