Blue White Illustrated

was still able to take in the Beaver Stadium atmosphere. The fifth-ranked Nittany Lions were hosting Iowa that day, and while they lost, 21-10, Sorrell was impressed with what he saw. "We watched some of the basketball practice and then we actually got to see 'College Gameday, " he recalled. "It was ' incredible walking into the stadium and seeing that atmosphere. " On Jan. 14, Franklin added his third recruit since his arrival when Brosnan flipped from the Commodores to Penn State. For Brosnan, a native of Park Ridge, Ill., it was a more difficult decision to back away from his commitment. But as his coach at Maine South, Dave Inserra, pointed out, "Brendan and his family believe in what James Franklin is doing. "Brendan did struggle with the decision, " Inserra added. "Academically, he's a great student, so it was a tough decision to leave After coaching change, two prospects choose to leave Penn State's class Due to its quick hire of a charismatic and well-known coach, Penn State's recent coaching transition was nowhere near as damaging from a recruiting standpoint as the previous one. In 2012, five verbally committed prospects jumped ship before signing day, four of whom joined Urban Meyer at Ohio State. As of this writing, James Franklin and his staff had lost only two prospects who had committed to join the Class of 2014. However, one of those prospects was Thomas Holley, one of the most highly regarded players in Penn State's class. A four-star defensive tackle, Holley was one of the former staff's top targets. But on Jan. 15, he revealed that he plans to sign with Florida. "I committed to Penn State because of the relationship I had with Bill O'Brien and Larry Johnson, Holley " told Rivals.com's Mike Farrell. "It was difficult to think about building a new relationship with the new staff in just CHANGE OF HEART A four-star defensive tackle, Holley decided to commit to Florida after Larry Johnson left PSU's staff. a couple of weeks compared to the relationship I have built over a year with Florida. " such a great school like Vanderbilt. But the combination of what Penn State has to offer – both academically and as a football program – was just too good for him to pass up." Following the departure of defensive tackle Thomas Holley and defensive back Troy Vincent Jr., Penn State had 20 verbally committed players in its class. BWI expects Franklin to sign either 23 or 24 players in I 2014. Holley, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., added that his original decision "was a tight one between [Penn State] and Florida, and the only factor was distance and relationship with the coaches. I love the Florida coaches, and I'm not worried about the distance now. I feel at home there and think that's the best opportunity for me." There was speculation that if Johnson had stayed on as part of Franklin's staff, Holley would have followed through with his original commitment. In fact, many national analysts believed the Buckeyes had an excellent chance of signing Holley when Johnson was named to Meyer's staff. The second prospect to exit was defensive back Troy Vincent Jr., son of former NFL All-Pro Troy Vincent. The exact details surrounding the Baltimore native's decision to flip to North Carolina State will most likely never be made public, but it does appear that the decision to part ways was mutual. There had been reports that Vincent wanted to take an official visit to Georgia Tech in November, but the trip never materialized. Once O'Brien departed, rumors of Vincent's interest in the Yellow Jackets and Wolfpack resurfaced, but the family said he was firmly committed to Penn State. A few days later, he made the decision to switch his commitment. – R.S.

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