Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/787374
L O O K I N G A H E A D J oe Paterno once said Leonard Humphries was one of the best cor- nerbacks to play at Penn State, and Leonard believes his son Isaiah could be- come one the best safeties, even though Isaiah is still just a high school junior. Leonard was a two-year starter for Pa- terno in 1990-91 with a reputation for breaking up passes and making big plays. His six interceptions in 1990 are still tied with nine other players for fourth in the Penn State records for most interceptions in a season, and he had another in the Blockbuster Bowl. His 74-yard touch- down on an interception at Maryland that season is among the longest in Nittany Lion history. He went on to an injury-plagued seven-year career in professional football. Whether Isaiah ever gets into the Penn State record books or plays pro ball re- mains to be seen. One of the 9rst prospects to join Penn State's 2018 recruiting class, he's been given three stars by Rivals.com and could easily move up, as the rankings tend to :uctuate in the months leading up to signing day. There weren't any sophisticated online rating entities in the mid-1980s when Isaiah's father was recruited, nor were there websites featuring video highlights of prospects or nationally televised high school games or special camps and train- ing facilities featuring former college stars and NFL players. Those all exist now, though, and Leonard has been part of that elaborate recruiting process. For seven years, he has been involved with Football University, one of three subsidiaries of the All American Game Company best known for sponsoring multiple independent football camps na- tionwide and the U.S. Army All-Ameri- can Bowl in January featur- ing 100 of the country's premier scholastic players. According to its website, "Football Uni- versity is the recognized leader in devel- oping and enhancing the ability and skill of serious football players from 6th-12th grade. The training is provided by FBU's elite faculty of NFL-experienced coaches and players, who have a passion for teaching the techniques and fundamen- tals of the game to younger players." Humphries has been a member of that elite faculty. He teaches the intricacies of being a defensive back, mostly to high school players, and he has been counting on the experience to help him land a full- time coaching position at a major college or NFL team. "Coaching is my passion," Humphries said in a recent telephone interview from his home in the Dallas area. "I've been try- ing to break in in the last several years. Ac- tually, Joe asked me to be a grad assistant in 1997. It was on the same day I was get- ting ready to go back to [the Canadian Football League] to become the highest- paid defensive back in Canada, Joe told me, 'Listen, if you have the opportunity to play, go play and get that out of you 9rst and then you can come back to coaching. I don't want your heart to be in playing, be- cause you'll always be thinking about playing football instead of coaching e;ec- tively and you won't be as good as you could be.' So I turned it down, went back to play and ended up getting hurt and missed the opportunity. Now I'm trying to make up for all those years. But I've had several guys like Jim Caldwell, one of my defensive coaches at Penn State, and Fran Ganter telling me, 'Don't do it. Your family will IMPACT PLAYERS Leonard Humphries had a knack for making big plays; his son aims to do the same | BLOCK PARTY Humphries (6) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a touchdown against Texas on a blocked punt in 1989. BWI file photo