Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703041
P R E V I E W A new Penn State football book by Lou Prato with a forward by Adam Taliaferro The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions Price: $14.95 plus shipping Published by Triumph Books (soft cover) Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171 Autographed copies of Lou's book We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions are still available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171. Price: $19.95 plus tax where applicable and shipping "I think [at Penn State] we were the best-tackling unit maybe in college foot- ball. We missed very few tackles and we gave up very little post-contact yardage. When we made contact with a ball-carrier, we were disciplined enough to maintain good body position and we were tough and we stressed that day to day. If you asked me what I do best as a coach, I think it would be coaching fundamentals and technique. I think the players from the Air Force Academy all the way down to the players at Northwestern would tell you that. "I've also tried to coach a player when a guy wanted to be coached. I have always told our guys, 'We're a partnership. My job is to help you become the best player you can be, that the good Lord gave you the ability to be. And I want you to be perfect.' I tell them there is only one perfect man who walked the earth, and he probably would have been a linebacker if they had football back in the day. But I want to coach these guys so that they enjoy coming every day. So, very seldom am I going to raise my voice or be negative. Very, very rare, so that when I do it, it has an effect. They're also never going to hear a curse word, and I've been very fortunate to coach with head coaches like Joe Paterno and Bill McCartney where there were never curse words on the field, and yet we were able to win at very high levels. I think it's something a young guy can feel positive about, his experience playing for me." It's no secret that his soft-spoken style and abhorrence of profanity clashed with the ebullient and often irreverent flair of coach Bill O'Brien and led to Vanderlin- den's surprise departure from Penn State at the end of the 2013 season. He doesn't want to talk about that part of his Penn State experience. Vanderlinden has moved on and thoroughly enjoys being on the staff of the Air Force Academy. "I love coaching out here," he said. "Coach [Troy] Calhoun has an outstand- ing program. We've been to eight bowl games in the last nine years. My first year here we were 10-3 and last year 8- 6, so we've had a good measure of suc- cess. And the young men that I coach are very similar to the young men at Penn State. They're passionate and just great young men who give you everything they've got. I enjoy the process of coach- ing and recruiting and building and being part of this program. Colorado Springs is a beautiful place. We sit at the base of the Rocky Mountains. So what's not to like?" Vanderlinden and his wife, Lisa, like State College even more, having made it their permanent home. When they moved to State College, their daughter Chelsea was going into ninth grade and son Reid into fifth grade, and this now seems more like the Vanderlinden family home than anywhere else they have lived. Chelsea went on to attend Indiana Uni- versity, became a teacher and now lives in Indianapolis with the Vanderlindens' 1-year-old granddaughter Lucy. Reid played football for Johns Hopkins, then received his master's degree from Penn State and began working in the football program's academic affairs office. Last year he joined Temple's academic support office. "Lisa and I go back to State College for a week or so after bowl games and a little bit during the spring break," Vanderlinden said. "During recruiting, I'm away from Colorado Springs for a month. So rather than sitting here, Lisa goes back to State College for more than a month and instead of coming back to Colorado on the week- ends I'll join her once or twice. Lisa will go back during the fall and see friends and a couple of Penn State games. This year she'll be there for the Temple game because of Reid." Vanderlinden turned 60 in January and has no immediate plans to retire. "I feel good," he said. "I don't feel like I've changed much through the years physi- cally, and that's a blessing. If you look at my track record, I've not been a guy who jumps around from job to job. I find a great place and I enjoy the place." Yes, Ron Vanderlinden is doing some- thing right in coaching linebackers. Penn State fans and NFL teams can be thankful for that. ■