Blue White Illustrated

the fifth uncommitted player to arrive on campus for an official visit Dec. 7-9. When the two-star prospect flew back to Lawrenceville, Ga., he was feeling good about the future of the program. But after talking things over with his family, he decided to take official visits to Duke and Appalachian State in January before making a final decision. Despite having three commitments from linebackers, Penn State also decided to extend an offer to Garret Dooley of Rochester, Ill., who previously had committed to Wisconsin. The threestar inside linebacker was the first player to join the Badgers' 2013 recruiting class, but he was also extremely close with defensive coordinator Chris Ash, who has left to join Bret Bielema's staff at Arkansas. Penn State will be working on getting him to visit this January. He'll decide on his future once he's able to meet the next coaching staff at Wisconsin. Three additional prospects – athlete Tyler Boyd of Clairton, Pa., running back David Williams of Philadelphia and linebacker Trey Johnson of Lawrenceville, Ga. – are also still being recruited by the staff. At one point, Penn State looked to be the leader for both Boyd and Williams, but now, in the wake of the NCAA sanctions, the staff is working on earning an official visit from either one. Williams may take an official visit on Jan. 11. Boyd was set to make a decision Jan. 5 at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but he may put it on hold, as he claims to not have a favorite school at the moment. Johnson, meanwhile, will make a decision Jan. 4 at the Under Armour AllAmerican Game. The nation's fourthranked linebacker, he is still considering Auburn despite having backed away from his previous commitment to the school. He's also looking at Tennessee, Florida, Penn State and Ohio State. Most recruiting analysts expect him to choose the Buckeyes, as he recently visited Columbus and gave Urban Meyer's staff glowing reviews. If the staff is unable to land any of the top five prospects it is still pursuing, it can elect to save its two remaining scholarships and award them to early enrollees in the 2014 class. IN THE HOUSE Bill O'Brien dropped in on the Brenemans. Here's how it went ave you ever wondered what it's like? Penn State head football coach Bill O'Brien sitting in your living room, trying his hardest to persuade you to attend his university. Are you the nervous one? Is he the nervous one? Is it all football talk, or can you sit back and share a laugh? Do you offer him dinner? What do you serve? What if he's allergic? OK, we're getting carried away. We don't have every detail, but we've got most of them. To help explain what takes place during an in-home recruiting visit, Blue White Illustrated's Ryan Snyder recently caught up with Brian Breneman, the father of Nittany Lion prospect Adam Breneman. What follows is a Q&A with the father of the four-star tight end after a recent in-home visit from O'Brien and assistant coach Larry Johnson. H Q&A Can you just give us a quick overview of the meeting? How long did it last? Is this an event the entire family is there for, or is it just you, your wife and Adam? Also, was there any special food involved? Everyone wants to know if Mrs. Breneman made a special dish for Coach O'Brien. Well, basically, it lasted about two hours. Maybe a little over two hours. It was Coach O'Brien and Larry Johnson. We were also able to get [Adam's younger brother] Grant out of basketball practice, and [younger sister] Julia was here, so it was a family thing. The whole family was here. It was really just a great feeling overall. Meetings like that just reassure everything – reassure why Adam and our entire family stuck by Penn State throughout all of this. We kept food casual. Sherri makes this mixture of Cheerios, chocolate, M&Ms, a bunch of different snack foods. We all call it Sherri's Delight. It's basically just Chex Mix. We had some other snacks there. Grant's friend shot a deer and had some deer bologna out. I'm not sure if Coach O'Brien had a piece of the deer bologna or not. I'm not sure if he likes that or not. So, what's Bill O'Brien like when he's sitting with you in your living room? He's been great with the media. He seems like a genuine guy. Is he any different sitting face-to-face with you or is he the same person that fans and media see during news conferences and other engagements? What's great about Coach O'Brien is that he really is the same person everyone sees at the press conferences. He's a real down-to-earth guy. What you see is what you get. He's a real genuine guy, and Larry Johnson, I mean, wow, he's one of the best men we've ever met. We're really happy Coach Johnson has come into our lives. Coach Johnson is just great with everyone – from adults to kids. My daughter absolutely loves Larry. She gets so excited every time she sees him. Just spending time with both of these guys, it leaves you with no doubt that Penn State got the right men for the job. Not only does [O'Brien] say all the right things, but he has surrounded himself with great people, great leaders, great coaches. That's just one of the big things we really learned throughout all of this. What's his personality like with the family? Is he a jokester, a SEE BRENEMAN NEXT PAGE

• Cover