Have you ever wanted to help Penn State in recruiting?

We’re guessing the answer is yes, and in many ways, alumni and fans have been doing that for years. Every time you attend a game, every time you rep Penn State gear or clothing, every time you shout “We Are” to a fellow Nittany Lion — whether in State College or across the country or someplace across the globe — you’re having an impact.

And people within the football program notice. People, for example, like Andy Frank. He’s the director of player personnel for Penn State football, which is to say he’s at the forefront of the team’s recruiting efforts, which have geographically expanded significantly since James Franklin and his staff arrived in Happy Valley.

This week’s Signing Day ceremony is a really good example of the power of the Penn State alumni network, which the team has always leveraged. Now, those efforts are increasing.

This year, the Penn State Alumni Association was the presenting sponsor for the football team’s National Signing Day, with a three-plus hour live stream celebrating the signees Wednesday morning. The live stream features an interview with Alumni Association CEO Paul Clifford (1:37:20 mark) and a pre-recorded video from Alumni Association President Randy Houston (2:00:00 mark).

Additionally, notable alumni such as Keegan-Michael Key, Lara Spencer, John Colaneri, and Ken Frazier. It was a coordinated effort to emphasize that each signees’ decision to attend Penn State doesn’t end when they graduate. That connection lasts forever, and the Alumni Association’s role as a conduit motivated the meaning behind the partnership.

“It’s really special to see how much people care about this place and what that means for people down the road, the connections, the job opportunities, just that fraternity of Penn State, and the parents gravitate to that because they understand,” Frank told reporters Wednesday, hours after the signees officially became Nittany Lions. “As a high school kid, you don’t know what it’s going to be like to be 40, you don’t know what it’s like to be 30 and looking for a job, but your parents do because they went through that.”

Frank called the Penn State Alumni Association “the largest and most powerful in the world,” which plays a role not only as players graduate, but also when they choose Penn State in the first place. “Kids that usually pick a place like Penn State, they’re looking at more than just the football field,” Frank added.

Lettermen also figured prominently in Wednesday’s ceremony, with Nittany Lions-turned NFL standouts such as Allen Robinson, KJ Hamler, Adrian Amos, and Jason Cabinda welcoming the signees. That message hits home, literally. Both Robinson and Hamler starred for the same Detroit-area high school in Michigan. They welcomed twin brothers and Penn State signees Kobe and Kalen King, who both also excelled at linebacker and defensive back, respectively, for a different prep school in Detroit.

“That’s something that we sell a lot. We talk about our alumni base, the power of our alumni base, not only in numbers but in the power of the individual as well … I know it was really special for some of our Michigan guys to have Allen Robinson and to have KJ Hamler (welcome them),” Franklin said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of resources here, and you’ve got to be willing to take advantage of them. On a year, today, where these guys were missing out on so many of their normal traditional recruiting experiences, we’re trying to be creative and think outside the box and have some fun with it. I thought it went well. I was happy to see the parents’ faces light up and the signees’ faces light up as we went through the process and tried to make it as special as we possibly could, again, under unusual circumstances.”

Alumni support will become even more critical in the future, with Frank mentioning today that the NCAA’s ruling on name, image, and likeness will impact recruiting moving forward. In short, the NCAA decided in April of this year that student-athletes can earn compensation for their name, image, and likeness, previously prohibited. You can find more info on the NCAA’s website, with the changes expected to happen no later than the 2021-22 academic year.

In short: The more powerful the connections that exist at a school, with lettermen, fans, and alumni, the more attractive that school will be for the highest-ranked recruits in the country. In some ways, that’s always been true, though the ruling brings each University’s alumni network sharper into focus.

For the Nittany Lion football program, that’s a good thing, to state it mildly. Most, if not all, Penn Staters want to help, want to give back, want to feel what they’re doing has an impact.

Now, they just need to be ready.

“In terms of our ability to recruit kids, we’ve got a great setup here for it, but at the same time, we can’t rest on our laurels (and think) just because we have this huge network, it’s just going to automatically work for us,” Frank said. “We’re going to be calling on the alumni to help us throughout this process and help us recruit kids.”

To hear more about the football team’s Signing Day event, the newest class, and the impact of alumni support in recruiting, visit the Alumni Association’s Facebook page to see this week’s episode of The Football Letter Live, which features an interview with cornerbacks coach, defensive recruiting coordinator, and Penn State alumnus Terry Smith.

—

For more on The Football Letter, including online archives (requires Alumni Association member log-in), click here.

Not yet an Alumni Association member? Click here.