Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472993
A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2017 A couple of in-demand coaches were making headlines in the summer of 2017. Wrestling coach Cael Sanderson was in the news after signing a new long- term contract with Penn State, the de- tails of which were not disclosed, in keeping with university policy. At that point in his tenure, Sander- son had led the Nittany Lions to national championships in six of the previous seven years. Whatever he got from PSU, it was money well spent, because the national titles have continued to roll in. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Lions have added three more NCAA championship trophies to their collec- tion and have shown no signs of slowing down. The other coach whose contract sta- tus was making news that summer was James Franklin. In contrast to its Olym- pic sports programs, Penn State does dis- close the contract terms of its football coach, but there was nothing to report in Franklin's case because he didn't yet have a new pact. After leading Penn State to an 11-3 finish, a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl berth in 2016, Franklin was a hot commodity, and Penn State was eager to keep him in State College for more than the six years he had signed up for when he arrived in 2014. But the two sides hadn't agreed on an extension, and once preseason practice began, Frank- lin's attention shifted. "I kind of put the blinders on and jump in the submarine," he said. "To me, ev- erything that I do is about getting the team ready to be successful. I feel good about where we're at. I don't have any concerns, but my focus is completely on this season." 10 YEARS AGO, 2012 The summer of 2012 was a dark time in Penn State history. In July, the NCAA handed down an array of sanctions in response to the Freeh report, and they included a four-year bowl ban and the seemingly devastating loss of 40 schol- arships. The NCAA also gave a transfer waiver to players who wanted to leave, and two standouts from the 2011 sea- son took advantage of that opportunity. Tailback Silas Redd went to USC, while kicker Anthony Fera headed to Texas. First-year head coach Bill O'Brien de- cried the attempts by rival coaches to raid his roster. Some of those coaches had traveled to State College and set up spots downtown where they could meet with interested players, emboldened in their efforts by the NCAA's decision to grant immediate eligibility to outgoing PSU transfers. In some respects, it was a preview of the much more freewheeling transfer environment that was to come in college football. But it was uncharted territory at the time, and it didn't sit well with O'Brien or with the many players who opted to remain at Penn State to help the program weather the sanctions. Linebacker Michael Mauti, who along with running back Michael Zordich and quarterback Matt McGloin had spear- headed efforts to hold the team together, was particularly aggrieved. "I'm a competitor," Mauti said. "If the people we're playing against want to weaken our stability, hey, we're going to have a prob- lem." 25 YEARS AGO, 1997 Was the Sports Illustrated cover jinx still in effect as of 1997? If it was, no one at Penn State seemed to care. It was always a thrill to grace SI's cover back in those days, and that's where the Nittany Lions found them- selves ahead of the '97 season. The cover shot of the magazine's college football preview issue was of wideout Joe Jurevicius brushing aside a would- be tackler. The accompanying headline declared "Penn State is No. 1". For a while, anyway. Led by running back Curtis Enis, quarterback Mike McQueary and re- ceiver Chafie Fields, the Lions were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll heading into the season, and they held onto that ranking for the season's first three weeks. Then they lost two of their last four regular-season games and ended the year by falling to Florida in the Citrus Bowl. After opening at No. 1, Penn State finished at No. 11. Maybe the SI cover jinx was still in effect after all. — Matt Herb This Month in Penn State Athletics History Bill O'Brien was preparing for his first season as Penn State's head coach in 2012 when the NCAA hit the Nittany Lions with an array of sanctions that included a four-year bowl ban and the loss of 40 scholarships. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL TixManJim@gmail.com www.TixManJim.com at