Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/260491
Penn State and Vanderbilt, he received serious interest from Boston College, Illi- nois, Maryland, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech. WHO OPENED THE DOOR In the wake of James Franklin's appointment as head coach at Penn State, there were no guarantees that Brosnan, a member of Vanderbilt's 2014 recruiting class, would be able to follow the coach to his new school. But it turned out that the Lions did have room for him in their class, and Brosnan jumped at the chance to sign with Penn State. He was joined by four additional members of Vanderbilt's 2014 recruiting class. QUOTABLE Park Ridge coach Dave Inserra: "The combination of what Penn State has to o:er, both academically and as a football program, was just too good for him to pass up." PHIL'S TAKE Like Noah Beh, Brosnan is a tall o:ensive line prospect with the kind of frame that should allow him to add signi9cant weight at Penn State. It's in- teresting to note that all four of the Nittany Lions' o:ensive line recruits stand 6-6 or taller, and that all four are projected to play at either right tackle or le< tackle. I expect Brosnan to redshirt this fall as he bulks up in anticipation of his playing de- but in 2015. TORRENCE BROWN DE, 6-4, 240 Tuscaloosa, Ala. Tuscaloosa Academy WHAT HE DID Brown played four positions as a senior: defensive end, linebacker, running back and tight end. He 9nished the year with 105 tackles and three sacks while also rushing for 746 yards and nine touchdowns. It was a strong comeback from a knee injury that cut short his junior season – a season in which Tuscaloosa Academy won the Alabama Independent School Association's Class AAA state championship. WHAT HE WON Brown received three stars from Rivals.com and was an All-Area choice his senior year. WHERE HE VISITED Before Penn State entered the picture, Brown had received o:ers from Arizona State, Connecticut, Mem- phis, North Carolina, Southern Mississippi and West Virginia, among others. He had committed to Southern Miss on Jan. 19 and was reluctant to visit Penn State during the 9nal weekend of January with- out having an o:er in hand. The Nittany Lions eventually extended that o:er, but A one-time Division I football re- cruit himself, Gardner Sorrell played center at Kentucky in the mid-1980s before 3nishing his ca- reer as a Division III Academic All- American at Thomas More. He went through the recruiting process and played under a variety of coaches at a couple of colleges. He knows the ropes. So once his son Chance became a three-star recruit at Middletown (Ohio) High and started collecting nearly a dozen scholarship o5ers, he gave Chance a piece of advice. "Find the best 3t for you," Gardner told him. "Don't follow the coach, because the coach may not stay around." Then, as he recounted the story, he paused, laughed and said, "Ironically." In the end, Chance and his family still found what they consider to be the best 3t for him – despite follow- ing James Franklin to Penn State. In June, Chance Sorrell committed to Vanderbilt because of the school's academic reputation and his family's tight bond with the head coach. Then, as the story goes, Franklin took his dream job at Penn State in January and Sorrell, an o5ensive tackle prospect, became one of the 3rst recruits to follow suit. "Getting to go with Coach Franklin was a blessing," Sorrell said follow- ing his commitment. "It's just great to be a part of Penn State." It wasn't as if they were disregard- ing Gardner's initial advice, blindly following Franklin to an unfamiliar school – although it might appear that way from the outside. Gardner used to work in the steel industry, and his boss was a Penn State grad. He attended a few games at Beaver Stadium, and Chance visit- ed as a basketball recruit a few years ago, an experience he described as "incredible." In addition, Penn State brie4y re- cruited Sorrell before his commit- ment to Vanderbilt. The family thought highly of the university then, but Chance didn't earn an o5er from Bill O'Brien. Because he had missed all but four games of his jun- | TAKING A CHANCE James Franklin reaches out to Chance Sorrell and receives an enthusiastic response U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 4