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team was a powerhouse. St. Henry High won the 1990 state championship in its division, with the All-State Hartings serving as its best blocker on offense and also as a standout defensive tackle with more than 200 career stops and 23 sacks. Penn State's staff envisioned him as an offensive guard and a potential team leader. Ohio was the recruiting territory of Bill Kenney, the Lions' offensive line coach at the time, but Bove became deeply in- volved. "St. Henry also had a quarter- back we were after, but he didn't give us a smell," Bove said. "Hartings was a heck of a player and a pretty smart kid, too. I was a little more active on the phone and stuff with the Ohio kids going back to [future All-Americans] O.J. McDuffie and Ki-Jana Carter. I was more familiar with the schools and players in Ohio, overall." Johnson and Rivera were recruited by Joe Sarra, who may have been the team's most assertive recruiter despite his soft- spoken personality. New York was Sarra's assigned recruiting area even though he was then coaching inside linebackers, where his star pupil had been future Hall of Famer Shane Conlan. "Joe Sarra wasn't going to miss anybody in his area," Bove said. "Conlin was a fam- ily thing, and McDuffie and Carter were from Ohio, like Hartings. So we hit the lottery with those four guys." Patience pays off After the 1990 season when three of the four starters on his offensive line gradu- ated, Paterno thought about using one or two of the incoming freshmen as reserves in 1991. But he had a hunch it would be best for the future of the football program to redshirt all four and let them develop. Anderson said Paterno's instincts about the capability of his players were uncanny. "Joe had a great eye in terms of believ- ing this guy was going to be a good player but not at this position, at another posi- tion," Anderson said. "Over the years, we made a lot of that kind of switch – offense to defense, defense to offense. A lot had to do with our needs, where we needed players or the potential of where these guys were going to go." Reflecting back, Anderson cited Mike Munchak as the foremost example of Pa- terno's mindset. Munchak had been re- cruited out of Scranton in the late 1970s to play defensive end. After seeing him in practice, Paterno told Anderson that he wanted to switch Munchak to offense. "Mike said, 'No way. I don't like it and I'm not big enough,'" Anderson recalled. "Joe talked to him, and I explained how he would add weight and get stronger. He went on offense and became one of the best guards in the country." Munchak is now Penn State's only of- fensive lineman in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after an 11-year career with the Houston Oilers. He has been coaching since the end of his playing years and is regarded by many people in pro football as the top offensive line coach in the NFL, having just ended his second season with Denver after many years in Tennessee and Pittsburgh. So, when the 1991 recruits arrived on campus, Paterno placed all four freshmen on the foreign team that scrimmaged against the varsity using the plays of the upcoming opponent. Hartings, Rivera and Conlin were on the offensive line and Johnson on the defensive side, but in- juries sent Hartings and Conlin to the sideline. Conlin said it was fortuitous for both of them. Conlin had suffered a shoulder separation in high school and it needed to be repaired. "Jeff tore his knee up in practice and he actually went through surgery before me," IRON MIKE Munchak was ini- tially reluctant to move from de- fense to offense, but he shined at guard and went on to enjoy an 11- year NFL career. He is the only for- mer Penn State offensive line- man enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. BWI file photo >>

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