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possibly see myself coaching ball [someday]. As I recall, coming out of high school, you visited Penn State but didn't get an offer. Tell me about that recruiting process and how you se- lected Stanford. Then how have the last few years gone out there? The high school stuff is ancient histo- ry. It actually was made clear to me later in the recruiting process – post-com- mitment to Stanford – that there would have been a spot at Penn State for me, but I wasn't going to publicize that just to boost my rankings or anything. I did- n't want to publicly spurn Penn State or anything like that. That was a long, long time ago. Obviously I loved Penn State out of high school. But it's fair to say Stanford came on earlier and harder. It was a really, really interesting time for Stanford football. When I was being re- cruited, it was after Toby Gerhart's fifth year. There was a lot of promise that went into what ended up being an Or- ange Bowl season, which was my senior year of high school. And then obviously the academics. Regardless of how any- thing worked out, I don't think there's ever a way to regret getting an engineer- ing degree from Stanford. As for football, I learned so much. Our defenses have been so good. Over the past four years, as a whole, we've had the best defense in college football. Every day in practice I've learned so much. Our scheme offensively is as in- tense, if not more intense, than NFL systems. I feel like I really learned a lot about the game of football, learned just how much I love the game of football even from the X's and O's standpoint. It kind of cultivated my desire to coach. The only thing that was missing was the playing-time aspect. Part of the reason I went there was because I knew the offensive line was going to be good. I went there to com- pete. I went there to be on the best team in the nation and I was just behind two-time All-Americans, multiple first-rounders, multiple All-Confer- ence guys. And I don't think there was ever a team over a four-year stretch that was healthier than we were. Just by the nature of college sports, that's how a lot of [players] get their chance. For my last four years, the same people started all 13 or 14 games at center or guard. That's got to be some kind of record. I'm happy for those guys. I love those guys, but I was kind of right there on the outside looking in for a long time. I had some not-serious but un- timely injuries that knocked me out of some competitions. It was more luck. I was never fully beaten out in that sense. I just kind of knocked myself out of some competitions with the little things. The [starter] I'm behind now is returning, and it's a bigger deal to de- throne the incumbent because he's had that experience gelling with the offense as a whole. I just thought it would be best for my- self to go get a fresh start. I didn't want go anywhere where they said the job was mine – that's not what I wanted. I want- ed to go somewhere where they said you can come in and day one be on the radar to compete for it. I told [Herb Hand], give me that chance and I'll take care of the rest. Your dad played at Penn State, your uncle played at Penn State, but when did it come back on the radar for you? To me, a lot of it was when the scandal and the sanctions came down. There was a lot of national negativity toward Penn State. It wasn't until then when I WHAT HE DID Reihner was a four-year starter at Scranton Prep and also lettered in basketball. Following his standout prep career, he moved on to Stanford. He redshirt- ed as a freshman and played in four games his 5rst two seasons. Listed as a backup center last fall, he played in six games for the Cardinal. He's set to graduate this spring with a degree in management science and engineering, and with that diploma in hand, he'll be eligible to suit up for the Nittany Lions in 2015. It will be his 5nal season of eligibility. WHAT HE WON Reihner was given three stars by Rivals.com in 2010 and was ranked 34th nationally at o6ensive guard and 15th among all senior prospects in Pennsylva- nia. He was a second-team Class AAA All-State pick by the Pennsylvania Sports- writers and a Scranton Times All-Region selection. WHO HE VISITED Reihner visited Penn State coming out of high school. His father, George Reihner, had played for Joe Paterno from 1974-77 before spending six years with the Houston Oilers, and his uncle John Reihner also was a Nittany Lion player in the early 1970s. But Stanford came on stronger than Penn State, so Reihner headed to the West Coast. He spent four years in Palo Alto and had one more season of eligibili- ty remaining, but he decided to seek a transfer. He visited Penn State on Jan. 16 and enjoyed the experience, saying he was "truly impressed with Coach [James] Franklin and his sta6, as well as the select group of players that I was able to spend time with." He committed to the Nittany Lions on Feb. 3. PHIL GROSZ'S TAKE Reihner was one of two o6ensive line recruits in the Cardinal's 19-member recruiting class of 2011. He was recruited by Stanford as an o6ensive guard but ended up playing center, ranking second on the depth chart last year. He's expected to compete for playing time at the center position in preseason practice. THE REIHNER FILE POS OL HT 6-4 WT 295 HOME Scranton, Pa. SCHOOL Scranton Prep/Stanford

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