What about Penn State news? Bill O'Brien on tears, corporate logos on the field at Beaver Stadium, academic advances in football, and kudos to the sprinters who brought a big win to the Penn State athletics department?
Let’s take a look at Penn State’s headlines this week.
Bill O'Brien interview: Former Penn State teammates Adam Brenneman and Christian Hackenberg have transitioned into the media industry (welcome!) and have been publishing some interesting articles. Their latest interview may be the most interesting. Brenneman and Hackenberg sat down with former Penn State coach Bill O'Brien in the Boston College team room. O'Brien is now the head coach at Boston College. Any Penn State fans should put this on their watch list.
It's an interesting dynamic: O'Brien recruited both players to Penn State (he sold Hackenberg hard), then spent two years yelling at them (especially Hackenberg). Now the former Nittany Lion is (gently) letting his former coach recount (gently) his time at Penn State, his time as coach at Houston and his time as head coach at Boston College. The interview is insightful, nostalgic and, to O'Brien's credit, a little touching. Have a look at this.
Paint the Beaver Stadium turf with money: Penn State replaced the turf at Beaver Stadium this spring. The new turf could be painted this fall. The NCAA announced last week that the athletics department Add corporate advertising on the stadium field It starts this fall. The reason is revenue. With revenue sharing in place, universities need every source of revenue they can find.
For Penn State, it's a question of who will spend and how much. Penn State would be a big draw for on-field advertising, given that it's one of college football's top TV teams. Three of the Nittany Lions' 2023 games finished with broadcasts that ranked in the top 25 for viewership of the season. According to Sports Media WatchSince teams can add three logos to the field, Penn State will surely strike a deal with at least one company. What are the options? Sheetz and Wawa are obvious front-runners. Next up would be a jersey patch, if the NCAA approves it.
Is Penn State a Big Ten “sleeper” candidate? Josh Pate of CBS Sports is one of the most thoughtful, non-screaming voices in college football today.Penn State could be the Big Ten's hidden powerhouse It's unclear whether the new offensive line led by coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is the real deal.
Behind the scenes of the hiring process: PEn State coach James Franklin Recruitment Process One of his last two defensive coordinators. Manny Diaz arrived after the short run, and Tom Allen after the mid-range run.
APR Progress: According to the latest NCAA data, Penn State football's academic progress rate has increased. The program The one-year APR was recorded at 959. The 2022-23 school year marked a new all-time high after posting a score of 914 the year before. Penn State's APR ranked 13th in the new Big Ten. Three conference teams posted a perfect APR of 1,000 in the 2022-23 school year: Ohio State, Michigan State and Minnesota.
Another love letter from FPI: ESPN's College Football Power Index ranked the Nittany Lions highly last season, ranking them No. 4 after the regular season and No. 5 after bowl season, ahead of Alabama and Texas on both lists, and the FPI has continued the love this year. Penn State was recently ranked 6th.
Track Achievements: In her final race at Penn State, sprinter Cheikna Traore led the track and field program. First NCAA title in the 200 metersTraore, who transferred to Penn State from Division III Ramapo College, also became Penn State's first NCAA outdoor sprint champion since Bernie Ewell won two events at the 1941 championships.
AllPennState is the home for Penn State news, opinions and views on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years and has followed three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and countless great stories. Follow @MarkWogenrich on Twitter.
