Blue White Illustrated

empty nest, she adopts all of them every week," McWhorter laughed. "She makes special Hog Treats, which I mandate that they eat before the night games. She puts magic ingredients in those. We eat those things and move right along. She loves those kids." So whenever the time comes to retire again, the student-athletes will be what the McWhorters miss most. They'll also miss parts of central Pennsylvania, an area they have grown extremely fond of. The two Georgia natives have developed a hobby since they've been here. When Mac gets a day off – which isn't nearly as common as it was a couple years ago, or will be in the near future – he and Rebecca joyride through the Alleghenies until they stop to sightsee or enjoy a meal at an offthe-path restaurant. "We call it 'road-dayin''" McWhorter , said. "We ride around until we find some place to stop and eat at and we just enjoy the scenery here. " The scenery of northern Georgia will come calling again, though, and road dayin' will consist of drives through Clarke County instead of Centre County. That day grows closer by the minute. For as much as he loves them, he'll soon trade those angry wrasslin' 300-pounders at Penn State for some family time in the Peach State. And life won't be so bad. I MEAN STREAK 'Nasty' disposition helps earn Howle a place on starting offensive line | Mac McWhorter cherishes the relationships he built with his players at each of his 12 previous coaching stops. But at Penn State – his final stop – there's one offensive lineman with whom he's formed an especially strong bond, and that is starting center Ty Howle. Maybe it's because McWhorter sees a little bit of himself in the fifth-year senior from Wake Forest, N.C. They both were raised south of the Mason-Dixon Line by well-known sports figures. (Howle's father is a longtime varsity coach who built Bunn High into a regional power, while McWhorter's dad played professional baseball.) McWhorter describes Howle's style HOWLE of play as "nasty, which one would " only assume was a good way of describing McWhorter's style during his Southeastern Conference playing days. And he especially appreciates how Howle understands his quips, wisecracks and "down home" sayings better than some of the Pennsylvania boys on his squad. "He's a little more down home, McWhorter laughed. " "One of the few who can understand my dialect through and through. " They both are regular viewers of the television program "Swamp People, a History Channel reality series " that documents a group of Cajun alligator hunters as they tramp through the river basins of Louisiana. Many of the characters wear long, scraggly beards and American flag do-rags, and some of them remind McWhorter of his starting center. So much that he no longer calls him Ty. Now his name – at least as far as McWhorter is concerned – is Swamp Man. Said Howle, "We both watch it, so that's where that nickname came from." While McWhorter certainly admires Howle and the leadership and intelligence that he brings to the offensive line, Howle has even more admiration for the veteran coach. Howle entered the 2013 season as the only first-team offensive lineman who hadn't started at least three games the previous season. Although he had been around the program for four years, he battled a string of injuries, most recently a torn pectoral muscle, which caused him to miss the first half of the 2012 season. It put him a little bit behind the curve. But he gives credit to McWhorter for helping him regain his stride. A former National Old Spice High School Red Zone Player of the Year, Howle had a tremendous spring session, after which he received the Red Worrell Award, presented annually to an offensive player who shows "exemplary conduct, loyalty, interest, attitude and improvement" during spring practice. He's a quick learner, and that might be what impresses McWhorter most. He has a cumulative grade point average of 3.57, he's an academic All-America candidate and he earned a degree in kinesiology in three and a half years. Now he's working on a second degree in health policy and administration. "I've been working on this major for about a year now," Howle said. "I'm just basically focused on my classes and staying on top of my assignments and stuff." Same goes for when he's playing center in Beaver Stadium. Although McWhorter describes his demeanor as nasty and nicknamed him Swamp Man, to him, he couldn't think of a better combination for a student-athlete.

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