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goals is extremely challenging, but we'll do our best to commit to that endeavor, and also to be defensively aggressive." Before accepting Penn State's head coaching position, Cook had been help- ing run the youth development program for the Philadelphia Union while also serving as an assistant coach with Beth- lehem Steel. A native of Springfield, Mass., and graduate of Bates College, he previously spent 12 years as head coach at Dartmouth, where he won five Ivy League titles and led the Big Green to seven NCAA tournament appearances. Before that, he was head coach at Cincin- nati, leading the Bearcats to their first NCAA berth. Penn State finished 5-10-2 last season, its worst showing since 2008. The Nit- tany Lions haven't had a winning season since 2014, when they went 13-6-1 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. But before their re- cent downturn, they were one of the Big Ten's more successful programs, winning back-to-back conference titles in 2012 and '13. The Lions reached the NCAA Sweet 16 the latter year. Despite the program's struggles, Cook is feeling hopeful about both the short- and long-term future. He said that while he has a plan for installing his system and creating the kind of recruiting base that will enable the Nittany Lions to compete at a championship level, he doesn't want the current team to get lost in the transi- tional shuffle. "We want to be good now," he said. "It's not going to be easy, and we're not going to make any promises about what we'll do next season resultswise. But my commit- ment, to the older players especially, is that we're going to try and be successful as soon as possible. It's no good for me to say, 'We've got this great plan, and we're going to recruit, and we're going to do A, B and C, and in four years we'll be good, don't worry about it.' We want to be as prepared and as successful as we can be next fall. It starts immediately." At his new office in Rec Hall, Cook is surrounded by coaches who have had ex- actly the sort of success that he aspires to bring to the men's soccer program. Be- tween them, wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, women's volleyball coach Russ Rose and women's soccer coach Erica Dambach have won 14 national ti- tles. "Pretty intimidating," Cook said. But also pretty helpful, as the univer- sity's contingent of highly successful coaches gives Cook a resource to turn to as he familiarizes himself with the uni- versity. And for the time being, at least, he has a credential that even they don't have. "Right now, I'm the only undefeated coach at Penn State," he said. "We'll see how that goes next fall." ■ visit, it was clear to many close to Par- sons that he would end up staying close to home. The 6-foot-3, 245- pound prospect made it o6cial on Dec. 20, when he announced his deci- sion in front of hundreds of friends and family members at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. Parsons then sent his letter of intent to Franklin and his sta5 a few hours later. According to rankings, Parsons is Pennsylvania's most-coveted prospect since defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd came out of Philadelphia in 2010. However, if you ask those who live in the greater Harrisburg region, includ- ing Harrisburg head coach Cal Everett, Parsons is the best player since running back LeSean McCoy came out of rival school Bishop McDevitt in 2006. In fact, he may even be better. "He's a once-in-a-generation type of athlete," Everett told GoPSU- Sports.com. "There are very few things he cannot do well on a football 4eld. He's extremely athletic. I think Penn State will be getting a young man who they can use in multiple places on the football 4eld, he's just that talented. Micah is just a great young man, very kindhearted, very passionate about the game. He brings a lot to Penn State." ■ PARSONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

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