Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1430714
1 8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Hailing from the suburbs of Colum- bus, Ohio, fifth-year senior long snapper Chris Stoll might have seemed like he was destined to wear the scarlet and gray in college. But instead of enrolling at Ohio State like many of his classmates at St. Francis DeSales High in Westerville, the versatile athlete headed over the border to Penn State. Stoll was a four-sport standout at St. Francis, playing lacrosse, ice hockey and basketball in addition to football. It was the latter sport that drew him to PSU. He joined the Lions in 2017, made his first start in 2019 and has been the primary long snapper the past two seasons, work- ing closely with senior Jordan Stout, who is Penn State's punter and placekicker and also Stoll's roommate. Named in early November as one of 88 nominees for the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the nation's most outstand- ing player who began his career as a walk- on, the 6-2, 249-pound Stoll recently took the time to discuss his career path and his role on the Nittany Lions' special teams units. QUESTION: Did you consider any other schools outside of the Big Ten? STOLL: "I had a walk-on offer from Ohio State and a couple of other places. I was really trying to stay in the Big Ten, somewhat close to home. But I was one of those guys who wanted to get away after high school and have a new experience somewhere else, so Penn State was kind of the perfect choice for me." QUESTION: Did you grow up an Ohio State fan? Did you attend games at the Horseshoe? STOLL: "Yes, I did. I was an Ohio State fan for 17 and a half years. But as soon as I came here, my parents had a garage sale and sold all our Ohio State stuff. There may be a couple of baby pictures of me in Ohio State gear, but other than that, everything is in the trash or gotten rid of." QUESTION: Do you have friends back in Columbus who bust your chops about going to Penn State? STOLL: "Yeah, I have a few buddies who still go to Ohio State. Most of the people in my high school either go to Ohio State, Cincinnati or Ohio University. But they're all Ohio State fans, so every time I go home, they give me crap about it." QUESTION: There have been a couple of games this year in which special teams have been really important, like the Iowa game, which was a punter's battle. What is your approach, knowing that there are going to be games in which special teams are a big factor? STOLL: "My job is to make Jordan's job easier, and that's on field goals and punts. My only goal is to make sure that Jordan is ready to play, all the snaps are in the right spot for Rafael Checa, who's our holder, and to Jordan on punts, so that he can do his job like he's done all season." QUESTION: What's your relationship like with Jordan, and how has that helped lead to him having such a great season? STOLL: "Jordan is my roommate. He's a great guy. He and I spend a lot of time together, as specialists do. He's really ex- ploded this year. He's put in all the work, and he's done super well on and off the field. "I think not only Jordan is doing well, but our scheme and our special teams guys as a whole are doing well. We've re- ally bought into the system. Coach [Joe] Lorig calls it doing our 'one-eleventh,' each of us doing our job, and I think the team has really rallied around Coach Lorig, and obviously Jordan has had an incredible year. And he's going to keep having an incredible year." QUESTION: Jordan has mentioned that he's pretty close with some of the other Big Ten punters. It seems like that's a thing among punters across the country. Is that a thing with long snappers, too? Is it a special teams thing in general? STOLL: "Yeah, I think it's more of a specialists thing. There was one point, I believe it was about two years ago, when I think three or four of the snappers in the Big Ten were from my area in central Ohio. So, we all kind of know each other from different camps coming out of high school, and we all follow each other on social media. It's really a tight-knit group, you could say. I know the guys at Texas, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. I know all those guys. We're competing against each other. "We're going at it on the field. Obvi- ously, we're not banging heads. In a way, yes, we do have a little bit of a bond. Spe- cialists are kind of known for that." Stoll (left) joined the Nittany Lions as a walk-on in 2017 and was put on scholarship last year. He rooms with Jordan Stout (right), Penn State's punter and placekicker. PHOTO BY NATE BAUER Sitting Down With Penn State Long Snapper Chris Stoll