Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1467458
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 2 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A fter conducting a nationwide search, Penn State found its next vice president of intercollegiate athletics at another Northeastern school, choosing an administrator with experience at two of the Nittany Lions' former football rivals from the indepen- dent era. Patrick Kraft, who has served as ath- letics director at Boston College for the past two years and previously held the same position at Temple, will succeed Sandy Barbour at Penn State. Kraft's hiring was announced on April 29, and it follows Barbour's decision in March to step down after eight years in charge of Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. Kraft will assume his new role on July 1. He will finish his tenure in Chest- nut Hill in May and spend June working on his transition to State College. Penn State president-elect Neeli Bendapudi led the effort to find Bar- bour's replacement. She worked with a search firm, TurnkeyZRG, a university search committee, the board of trustees, and other key stakeholders to ultimately settle on the Libertyville, Ill., native. "When we began this process, I knew the characteristics that I wanted to see in my vice president and athletics direc- tor," Bendapudi said. "I wanted some- one who understood the legacy of Penn State and understood that we are a place where the student-athlete truly comes first — both the student and the athlete aspects of their lives. I wanted someone who understood 'success with honor' means a great deal to us." Kraft, who will make $750,000 per year with additional compensation be- ginning at $500,000, has made a quick ascent in the world of college athletics administrators. He comes to Penn State after a nearly two-year stint at the helm of the Boston College athletics department. Before that, Kraft oversaw Temple athletics from 2015-20. An Indiana graduate, he was a walk- on football player for the Hoosiers and eventually earned a scholarship. He holds three degrees from his alma ma- ter and got his professional start at the school. Kraft also worked at Loyola University Chicago before moving on to the Owls. During his tenure as athletics director at Boston College, Kraft helped forge apparel and footwear partnerships with New Balance for most sports and Adi- das for football. His resume also boasts of academic, fundraising and facility- building achievements in Chestnut Hill. The same can be said for his time in Philadelphia. Kraft has a lengthy re- sume filled with raising money, adapt- ing to changes in the college athlet- ics landscape and working well with coaches and players alike. Even though none of his stops fea- tured a football program with the kind of playoff ambitions that Penn State has openly entertained, Kraft is well aware of what his biggest responsibility will be in State College. "Penn State is Penn State football, right?" Kraft said. "Nationally it drives the brand." Bendapudi said that she, too, rec- ognizes the importance of the football program as an economic engine that helps not just Penn State but the rest of Centre County and beyond. "Just think of what Penn State football does for State College and our surround- ing communities," she said. "I'm mindful of all of those things, and it was impor- tant to get a leader who gets that and also understands that [we have] 31 teams, and every one of those teams deserves the chance and the support to win." A big part of Kraft's mandate will be to raise funds for Penn State football so that it can maximize its on-field poten- tial and help generate enthusiasm for all of the university's athletics endeavors, including the Olympic sports. He will also need to continue ensuring that Penn State athletes excel academi- cally and will need to formulate policies to deal with name, image and likeness issues, the ever-evolving transfer por- tal and possible shifts in the structure of the NCAA. In early May, one of his Big Ten counterparts, Ohio State's Gene Smith, suggested that schools in the FBS conferences could break away from the NCAA in football and operate their Encounter With Joe Paterno Made An Impression On Kraft At his first press conference after being named Penn State's athletics director, Patrick Kraft was primarily focused on the future. But it should come as no surprise that his past, too, was part of the conversation. From 1997-99, Kraft was a linebacker at Indiana, joining the Hoosiers as a walk-on before eventually earning a scholarship. He doesn't have a victory over the Nittany Lions on his resume, but he does have a memorable story from his trip to Beaver Stadium as a student-athlete in 1999. Kraft recalls his Hoosiers playing tough against Penn State despite the roar of a boisterous home crowd. They were ultimately no match for Joe Paterno's squad, falling 45-24 to the second-ranked Nittany Lions. But that didn't stop members of the visiting side from seeking out the coach following the game. "Every time you played Penn State, you didn't know if it was the last time you were going to meet Joe Paterno," Kraft said. "So, the game is over. No matter how upset we were that we lost, there was a line to shake Joe's hand. I was one of those people. I called my dad, and said, 'I met Joe Paterno.' That marked the first time Kraft and Paterno crossed paths. The second time came about 12 hours later. Indiana was having problems with its plane, and the team ended up stuck on the tarmac following the game. With all the local hotels booked — "Obviously we were Homecoming," Kraft joked — the players ended up sleeping in a conference room. Ice cream from the Berkey Creamery helped some. But the most memorable part of that experience came the following morning. "At about 6 in the morning, Coach [Paterno] came in and talked to us," Kraft recalled. "He came and spoke to the team, and he was like, 'Hey, I'm sorry that this happened.' "When [the Penn State athletics director job] came to fruition, my roommates, my teammates, we still talked about that moment. Like, 'Oh man, remember we got caught in the lot.' That is a very memorable game actually because of all that." — Greg Pickel