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This was, to put it mildly, an emotional year for Penn State football fans.

I won’t pretend that I can list all of those emotions nor the depths of them here, but for most of you, it probably went something like this: The excitement of lofty preseason expectations in August turned to nervousness during sloppy performances in September turned to a strange blend of anger, disbelief and shock went it all went into the toilet in October turned to an admiration of how the Lions regrouped in November.

Saturday’s outdoor hockey game in the world’s most famed baseball stadium no doubt elicited some mixed emotions, too, bringing the past and the future of Penn State football into simultaneous focus even as the present-day Lions played one of their most complete games of the season, shutting down a similarly shorthanded group of Clemson Tigers, 22-10.

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As calendar year 2025 approaches its end, the guys pour some egg nog, gather around the yule log, and retell the long and winding tale of a crazy year in Penn State football. Sure to warm your heart and freeze your blood, it’s the perfect distraction from (or contribution to) your holiday season stress.

Penn State football has a new head coach! It may have taken Pat Kraft a couple of months, cost us a recruiting class, and ended with a stranger-than-fiction leaked audio scandal destined for memetic infamy, but Penn State’s AD got his man in former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. The guys react to Campbell’s introductory press conference – expanding on their thoughts from The Obligatory PSU Pregame Show and adding Brandon’s perspective – and then consider what comes next on a roller coaster ride that (with roster retention, staff changes, a bowl game, and the transfer portal all looming) may be closer to its beginning than its end.

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I’ve always hated the term “home-run hire” when it applies to coaches (or anyone else, really).

Sure, I suppose it’s better than a double hire or a single hire or a ground into double play hire, but my problem with it is anyone can hit a home run. Even the 175-pound second baseman gets a fat pitch now and then and pulls it over the fence.

If we are going to stick with a baseball analogy, I’d argue it’s better to have an ace hire than a home-run hire. Aces make it tough on the whole lineup. They compensate for a lack of defense or a competent bullpen or run support. And aces travel—they’re good in any ballpark, in any weather, against any style of offense. Keep your home-run hires. The aces are the guys who determine your ceiling and your floor.

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