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5-4 record, before Penn State went looking for new blood. Engle, a 41-year-old native of the Somerset area of Pennsylvania, was just the right man. He agreed to keep Bedenk and Bedenk's staff as long as he could add one new assistant. Engle liked the men he inherited, but they were all single-wing specialists, and the only assistant with limited T-formation experience was Frank Patrick, who had been hired by Bedenk. Engle knew he would have to teach both the coaches and the players the wing-T, and his first priority was to find a quarterback. He could not afford to wait until preseason practice. When he asked the players to go back on the practice field for two more weeks, they eagerly agreed. (That would not only be impossible today because of NCAA rules, but it's doubtful most of today's young men would be willing to do it.) It's evident from the headline in The Daily Collegian that the 1950 players were ready for whatever their new coach wanted from them. The headline read: "Engle's Arrival Brings New Spirit to Gridders." "Enthusiasm has reached such a pitch that the squad has volunteered to report for additional drills," the Collegian reported. "The main problem facing Engle will be the selection of a T-formation quarterback. Engle will be looking for someone who can handle the ball under center and can pass. Engle has said that passing is onethird of his offense." Engle told the Collegian he was "encouraged" by what he saw in the scrimmage against Duquesne but added that "a change in the system requires time and there's a lot of work to do here." Based on what he had seen in the scrimmage, Engle thought senior tailback Vince O'Bara might be the best potential quarterback because he had some experience as a T -formation quarterback at Johnstown Central High School. Earl Bruce, the assistant coach who supervised the four previous weeks of spring practice, had recommended junior fullback Len Shephard, and Engle felt Shephard had possibilities because of his passing ability. At 6-foot-0, 205 pounds, Shephard was bigger and stronger than the 511, 170-pound O'Bara, but he also was the best returning linebacker. Twoplatoon football had just begun in college football, with basically one team for offense and another for defense. Engle realized it would be difficult enough for Shephard to adjust to this new offensive system as the quarterback, even without the added burden of playing linebacker. Engle put Patrick in charge of the quarterbacks. Patrick had been a threeyear starting quarterback on Pitt's great single-wing teams of 1936-38, including the 1937 national championship team, and had been good enough to be named to a couple of first-team All-American squads in his junior and senior years. Koerber had moved up on Engle's list. Koerber had been a T-formation quarterback at Pittsburgh's Carrick High School but had not tried out for the football team when he enrolled at Penn State. He changed his mind when he read about Engle's need for a T-formation quarterback. In today's vernacular, Koerber was a walk-on, but so were many of the players. Scholarships had been banned since 1927 but an alumni faction had found a way to skirt the rules and give financial aid to help recruit players. After Higgins retired, Penn State reinstated scholarships, and the first scholarship class of nearly 30 players had spent their freshman year of 1949 at California State Teachers College under Earl Bruce. "Engle High On Koerber; Drills End" was the headline in the May 13 edition RIP ENGLE AS QUOTED IN THE DAILY COLLEGIAN "A change in the system requires time, and there's a lot of work to do here." PennStateNews He was the No. 1 draft choice of the Chicago Cardinals and while in Chicago had watched the cross-town Bears become the only NFL team to use the Tformation. So, on the first day of extended drills, O'Bara and Shephard worked out at quarterback with two younger players, Tom Strucher and Bill Patterson. Five days later, the Collegian reported that two more men had entered the competition: newcomer Dick Koerber and Joe Bonchowski. "Koerber, like O'Bara, Patterson and Bonchowski, played the T quarterback spot before, but was not out for practice when the squad was using the single wing," wrote the Collegian's Marv Krasnansky, adding that Koerber, Shephard, Patterson and Strucher threw touchdown passes during the workout. When the extra practice sessions finished on May 12, the 6-1, 185-pound of the Collegian. Although Engle made it clear the quarterback position was still "wide open," he told the reporter Koerber had done "remarkably well" despite missing the last four days of the final drills because of a sprained back. "Koerber's ball handling, passing and faking, combined with his ability to adjust himself to the Engle system, [have] catapulted him to prominence," the unidentified reporter wrote. "Effective at deceiving the defense with his fakes, Koerber comes close to filling the specifications required of Engle by his ball-handler." To quote Engle, Koerber was "a boy who can call plays, pass and take pride in fooling the other fellow with slight of hand." Although the varsity was done until mid-August, Bruce returned to California State and spent two weeks teaching the freshmen Engle's new system.

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