Blue White Illustrated

S P R I N G P R A C T I C E R E P O R T Offensive lineman Brendan Mahon, who came to PSU in the summer of 2013, said that sort of continuity matters. He had been recruited by O'Brien, but many of the older players he was joining in University Park had signed when Paterno was still the coach, and the change had created real divisions in the meeting room. "I came in here with a lot of older guys, and it was almost like we were in differ- ent stages of our lives," Mahon said. "From then to now, as an older guy look- ing back, I think our offensive line room has just meshed so well. The older guys are joking around with the younger guys, the younger guys are joking around with the older guys, and it's a good fit. I think we're in a really good place as an offen- sive line." Many of this year's departing players described that period similarly, calling their circumstances "challenging" or simply "tough" to go through. Following the feel-good story of O'Brien's first year, a roller coaster 8-4 campaign capped by a home win against nationally ranked Wisconsin, Penn State went on to produce a combined 21-17 record over the next three seasons while never topping seven wins in any year. Given the circumstances, finishing each of those seasons above .500 was an achievement in itself. But the program's all-time winning percentage was .668, so while the Lions were happy to show that they still had plenty of fight left in them even after the NCAA levied its penalties, they weren't simply content to string to- gether seven-win seasons. Everything changed in 2016, including the hopes and aspirations of the coaches and veteran players. Penn State wasn't going to go back to those painful days. Its leaders were going to make sure of that. Last spring, Franklin talked about what would be required if the Lions wanted the success of their Rose Bowl season to carry over into the 2017 campaign. He said that coaches, players and support personnel would need to understand that past successes weren't going to dic- tate future results. The team would need to focus on the fundamentals that pro- duced an 11-3 record in 2016 while build- ing on the culture that had been developed. If the Lions could do that, Franklin insisted, a repeat performance was possible. "I think we've all seen that that's a dif- ficult thing to do," he said. "There are people who have shown success in small instances of time and brief moments of time, but the best teams and the best pro- grams are able to sustain it. And that is easier said than done, especially when maybe you play in the most difficult con- ference in all of college football, espe- cially when you talk about our side of the conference. There are big expectations at some other schools on this side of the conference." Franklin's words proved prophetic. Although the Nittany Lions climbed as high as No. 2 in the rankings after winning their first seven games last season, they were unable to reach the heights to which they had aspired. They lost to No. 6 Ohio State and to No. 24 Michigan State on consecutive weekends and needed to re- group in order to climb back into the top 10 to finish out the season. To the team's veteran players, coming up short in two critical games mattered less than having had the opportunity to compete in them in the first place. They understood what the program needed to do to earn a place on college football's biggest stage and were able to distinguish that type of losing from what they had endured previously. "The guys who just came in, they prob- ably don't understand like we do. We've been through the worst of the worst, being here for five years," defensive tackle Parker Cothren said. "I think they under- stand what the program went through. I think they've heard enough stories to know how it could have been. I don't think anyone wants to go back to how it was going 6-6. We want to be a champi- onship team. The players we've been bringing in the past couple of years are incredible athletes, so I think they'll be fine." For Penn State's newest players, who are set to arrive this summer, that process will begin immediately. The coaching staff sets the standard, and the veterans on the team reinforce it, demonstrating how practices are con- ducted, how workouts need to be exe- cuted and how players should interact with each other. Cornerback Grant Haley is convinced that this approach is what carried the Nittany Lions through the past two sea- sons. "It's all fun and games outside of the field and outside of workouts, but when it comes time to switch on and get ready for practice and workouts, I think that's what makes us a great team these last two years," he said. "We just have a great group of guys who love to have fun and love being around each other on and off the field. So I think they'll be fine in that aspect." What's left for the Nittany Lions who have graduated and now are embarking on careers, whether in the NFL or in their post-football lives, is a collective appre- ciation for their place in the program's history. They were the ones who spear- headed Penn State's transformation back into a championship contender, and there's an immense amount of pride in that realization. There's also an appreci- ation for the players who preceded them, who helped the Nittany Lions get through the hardest times and didn't get to end their careers with a thrilling bowl victory – or a postseason appearance of any kind. "It's an unbelievable and humbling ex- perience," Haley said. "It's special. To see this program and the guys who came be- fore us, I can only imagine what it was like for the guys who weren't playing in bowl games looking at Penn State now. Because that's truly what it comes down to. They were the ones who saved Penn State foot- ball and didn't let anything or anybody tell them differently. When they could have left, they stayed. "I think it's one of those things where you can look back in 20, 30 years and re- alize that we did something special now that Penn State is back on top. Guys like us and guys in the past would say, 'Yeah, we're proud of that.' It's special." ■

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