It’s hard to argue that Penn State’s administration could have handled Patrick Chambers’ ouster much worse, and that we haven’t seen the last of its effects.

 The encouraging thing? In the grand scheme of things, it won’t matter much.

When athletic director Sandy Barbour chose to part ways with Chambers last October, it not only left Penn State’s players and remaining coaches scrambling to get ready for the season, without any real answers, but it also cast a pall over the Nittany Lions’ future, effectively putting the parking brake on recruiting. Jim Ferry and the remaining staff and the players deserve a lot of credit for a collective effort that won’t put Penn State in the NCAA Tournament but did earn the respect of fans and Big Ten peers.

Poorly timed as it may have been, though, Barbour’s decision also opened a door of opportunity for a program that can still count the highlights in its 29-year Big Ten history on one hand: The Nittany Lions now have the chance to hire a difference-making coach and, perhaps more importantly, the chance to pay him like one.

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What defines the health of a major college athletics program?

Is it success in every sport?

Is it the ability of its teams to generate revenue, through tickets sold or television contracts?

Is it the rate at which its student-athletes graduate?

Or is it simply how good its football team is?

The answers differ depending on whom you ask, and most athletic administrators would lobby for an “E. All of The Above” option. But if your answer to the last question is “pretty good” or better, chances are your athletic department is in good shape.

On Friday, Penn State’s Board of Trustees voted, by a comfortable margin, to push through plans for an eight-figure renovation of the Lasch Building, also known as Nittany Lion football headquarters.

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Following a Breakout 2020, Penn State’s Top Pass Catcher Can’t Hide Under The Radar Now That He’s the Focal Point of an Offense Known for Piling Up Points and Video-Game Statistics

Love to say ‘We Told You So’…so WE TOLD YOU SO!

As the last drops of Penn State’s 2020 season circled the drain vs. Illinois, a swarm of Keyboard Kiper’s – many of them Friends of the Blog — stormed Twitter to say goodbye to Nittany Lions WR Jahan Dotson following his 6-reception, 189-yard, 2-touchdown cap to a 52-reception, 884-yard, 8-touchdown campaign. To them, Dotson was as good as gone. So long Penn State. Hello, paycheck football. 

Because we’re not popular enough to make enemies (God, it’s gonna be SWEET once we are, though. Sitting there in a big, oversized chair petting an evil cat like the faceless bad guy from Inspector Gadget), we won’t screenshot those Tweets.

Instead, we’ll have our DD take the high road and repost our rum-fueled response to those Tweets from DISPENSING THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS: ILLINOIS POSTGAME

I’ll gladly die alone on my ‘Jahan Dotson needs to stay’ hill if necessary, dang it. What’s the rush? Why leave an advantageous situation (returning QB, returning OC) to become a 3rd or 4th Round NFL Draft pick and find yourself locked in a terrible (comparatively) less-than-a-million-dollars-a-year contract for 4 seasons? …If Dotson builds off what he did in 2020, I don’t think it’s inconceivable No. 5 sneaks in the end of the 1st Round.

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It’s Valentine’s Day, and Penn State football fans are in search of a new love – under center.

The recent departures of Will Levis and Micah Bowens leave the Nittany Lions with three scholarship quarterbacks – senior Sean Clifford, redshirt sophomore Ta’Quan Roberson and freshman Christian Veilleux. However bullish you are on Clifford’s chances of returning to his 2019 form or surpassing it in Mike Yurcich’s system, there is room there for an experienced transfer to either back up Clifford as Roberson and Veilleux develop or to claim the starting job outright.

As the staff mulls its options in the portal, including Tyler Shough, who announced his decision to transfer from Oregon on Friday, they would be wise to value certain traits over others – both those any transfer already possesses and those the coaches think they can develop.

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Word of Advice for the Harvard Newbie: Don’t Tell Us How Wood Drastically Underestimates the Impact of Social Distinctions Predicated Upon Wealth, Especially Inherited Wealth. We Know You Got it From Vickers, ‘Work in Essex County,’ Page 98. Yeah, We Read That, Too. 

When assessing new Penn State offensive guard Eric Wilson – the latest (last?) of James Franklin’s Transfer Portal pickups – we got some good news and we got some bad news for you. 

Which do you want first?

The good news? OK, that’s an unorthodox choice, but whatever.

Good News: After spending the weekend scouting two Harvard games from 2019, we feel confident proclaiming Wilson (the Crimson’s starting left guard) is a better run/pass blocker than he is a PSA spokesperson. 

Sigh…where do we even begin? 

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So the final results are in for Penn State’s Class of 2021. And they’re … not great, at least not by recent standards. The Nittany Lions’ 16 signees gave them the 21st-best class in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings, representing the program’s lowest ranking since 2014, when James Franklin wrapped up the 24th-ranked class in just his fourth week on the job.

When you consider not so much the circumstances but just how many different people were involved in assembling that class, though, it becomes a little more impressive.

This past week, tight ends coach Tyler Bowen took a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars, becoming the 13th Penn State assistant to leave the program – willingly or otherwise – since the end of the 2015 season. His replacement, former Nittany Lion offensive lineman Ty Howle, became the program’s sixth new assistant coach since the end of the 2019 season. Of the eight assistant coaches who came with Franklin to State College from Vanderbilt in 2014, only Brent Pry remains (as does Terry Smith, who was not with them at Vanderbilt but joined the Penn State staff that year).

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Our Counter to the Ridiculous Hype and Conjecture of National Signing Day, We ‘Wished Upon a 3-Star’ and Assembled a Squad of Penn State Players That Outperformed Their Modest Recruiting Profile.  

Note: For those who missed our All-3-Star and Under Offense unveiling, click HERE. 

Concept: Fair warning to all you ‘Star Chasers’ who spend mid-December and early-February decoding emoji-laced social media messages from blue-chip prep prospects…this article isn’t for you. No, this two-part series — Penn State’s All-3 Star and Under Team – is sweet nectar for the Eye Rollers and Cloud Yellers out there who scoff at Carrot Top-inspired, prop-filled televised announcement ceremonies and the exalted status bestowed upon kids who won’t step on a college football field for seven months AT THE EARLIEST. Yes, the players on this team are the exception not the rule, but their careers do remind us that none of us truly know what the heck’s in store for signees once they hit Happy Valley.

Criteria: Candidates had to be rated a 3-Star prospect or less by ONE – not all – of the major recruiting services (Scout, Rivals, 247). Because these databases only go back to 2001 this is a 21st Century Team by default, so don’t blow us up wondering why we left 1950s unheralded Ampipe High linebacker Sergei “Soot Lung” Mesarzos off the list. Your whining is just gonna get lost among the sea of boner-pill-slinging bots encamped in our comments section, anyway. So give us and your angry fingers a break.

Special consideration was given to 2-Star, 1-Star and Walk-on prospects whose Penn State football resumes compared similarly to that of a 3-Star prospect. No consideration was given to what these guys did/are doing in the NFL. Like most All-American/All-Conference teams, we went 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 5 OL (no specific position) on offense and 2 DE, 2 DT, 3 LB, 2 CB, 2 S on defense.  

The Starting Defense:

Click to Enlarge

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Our Counter to the Ridiculous Hype and Conjecture of National Signing Day, We ‘Wished Upon a 3-Star’ and Assembled a Squad of Penn State Players That Outperformed Their Modest Recruiting Profile  

Concept: Fair warning to all you ‘Star Chasers’ who spend mid-December and early-February decoding emoji-laced social media messages from blue-chip prep prospects…this article isn’t for you. No, this two-part series — Penn State’s All-3 Star and Under Team – is sweet nectar for the Eye Rollers and Cloud Yellers out there who scoff at Carrot Top-inspired, prop-filled televised announcement ceremonies and the exalted status bestowed upon kids who won’t step on a college football field for seven months AT THE EARLIEST. Yes, the players on this team are the exception not the rule, but their careers do remind us that none of us truly know what the heck’s in store for signees once they hit Happy Valley.

Criteria: Candidates had to be rated a 3-Star prospect or less by ONE – not all – of the major recruiting services (Scout, Rivals, 247). Because these databases only go back to 2001 this is a 21st Century Team by default, so don’t blow us up wondering why we left 1950s unheralded Ampipe High linebacker Sergei “Soot Lung” Mesarzos off the list. Your whining is just gonna get lost among the sea of boner-pill-slinging bots encamped in our comments section, anyway. So give us and your angry fingers a break.

Special consideration was given to 2-Star, 1-Star and Walk-on prospects whose Penn State football resumes compared similarly to that of a 3-Star prospect. No consideration was given to what these guys did/are doing in the NFL. Like most All-American/All-Conference teams, we went 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 5 OL (no specific position) on offense and 2 DE, 2 DT, 3 LB, 2 CB, 2 S on defense.  

The Starting Offense:

Click to Enlarge

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Penn State hosted No. 14 Wisconsin on Saturday and did what it has done for much of its basketball season – gave as good as it got against a quality Big Ten opponent. 

Then the Nittany Lions did what they haven’t often done – finished the job. And they did so mostly on the defensive end, which should be their emphasis going forward if they are going to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Yes, the offense should be commended for this one, Myreon Jones (20 points), Izaiah Brockington (18) and John Harrar (17) in particular. The Nittany Lions put up 81 points on a good Badger defense, four more points than any Big Ten team had scored against that bunch previously this season.

But it was relentless, aggressive, smothering team defense, led by Harrar and tenacious point guard Jamari Wheeler, that allowed the Lions to take control of the game in the second half and hold on when the offense, as it has often done late in games this season, lost some rhythm.

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