That’s five different decades of Penn State football in the photo you see above, and one great reminder of what’s become an annual highlight of the Coaches Caravan.
Tuesday night in Lancaster gave James Franklin another chance Continue reading
Sandy Barbour Meets the Fans
We’re back on the bus for the Penn State Coaches Caravan, the fourth year of this very cool road trip, and the second with James Franklin leading the way. And it is about the coaches, of course—this week, Franklin is joined by women’s golf coach Denise St. Pierre and men’s hockey coach Guy Gadowsky, while Russ Rose, Cael Sanderson, and Patrick Chambers are set to join in Week 2. But this year, the Caravan is a chance for one former coach to share the spotlight.
Sandy Barbour was a field hockey and lacrosse assistant Continue reading
Exclusive Q+A: James Franklin
In the midst of his second spring practice, James Franklin reflects on the progress the Nittany Lions have made since his arrival, and ponders how much farther they still have to go.
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It was an overcast day in Dublin, a few hours before kickoff, and James Franklin had the lush green surface of Croke Park almost to himself. Clad in a navy suit and royal blue tie, he walked the field inside the historic Irish stadium, soaking up the relative quiet, stopping now and again to appreciate the view. A few noisy, frantic hours later, on this very same turf, he would celebrate his first victory as Penn State head coach.
Seven wins and seven months later, Franklin is in his Lasch Building office early on a Monday morning, starting with coffee and conversation before diving into another busy day. Spring practice is underway, and Continue reading
The Marshall Plan
For Marshall Lefferts, cancer is a detour, not a roadblock. The story of the Nittany Lion football player you never got a chance to know.
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Five days a week, Marshall Lefferts repeats an offseason routine that is unique among college football players. He starts each day with a strenuous morning workout. In the afternoon, he goes for chemotherapy.
The workouts are voluntary, a statement of resilience from a young man refusing to see his dream derailed. As for the chemo, well, he doesn’t have much choice.
Lefferts is the sort of player Penn State fans would love to root for, if only they’d had the chance. Continue reading
Getting Back in the Game
In his recovery from a freak injury and a harrowing hospital stay, former Nittany Lion captain Ryan Keiser is buoyed by faith and family as he slowly works his way back to normal.
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They’re working on basketball fundamentals this week at Easterly Parkway Elementary. As soon as the fourth graders file into the all-purpose room, they grab a ball, spread out, and start dribbling. The phys-ed teacher is a young, rangy guy in head-to-toe Penn State blue; he’s not loud, but he commands the room, making the rounds, focused on the kids. Mostly, he looks comfortable, an appearance that belies his inexperience: Ryan Keiser is a 23-year-old student-teacher working toward his state certification. It’s his second week on the job. Continue reading
The Penn State Players’ Tribune
Current and former Lions worked on and off the field to maximize the impact of Sam Ficken’s final college kick. By John Patishnock ’05
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Call it fate, or coincidence, or something else. Whatever the term, when Sam Ficken was assigned Derek Jeter’s locker for the Pinstripe Bowl, forces came together and produced something no one could have seen coming. Or perhaps it was karma coming back around to Ficken, the once-embattled kicker who transformed through tireless work into one of the most clutch players in the country. Continue reading
Snapshots From Signing Day
It’s all a bit meta, this Signing Day business.
That’s James Franklin, above, seen in the reflection of a computer monitor while dialing up a FaceTime call on his phone. On the other end of the line was Garrett Taylor (seen below on Franklin’s iPhone), one of the 25 future Nittany Lions who made their college choice official on Wednesday morning. Continue reading
A Determined Duo Takes on ALS
When we caught up with Tim Shaw in December, he was in Boston to fulfill a specific—and rather unusual—task.
“I’m giving them my skin cells,” Shaw ’06 said. “I was at the ALS Therapy Development Institute, where they do this awesome ALS research. I’m taking part in a big project: They’re going to grow my cell, and it’ll be tested against 50,000 drugs.”
To hear the excitement in Shaw’s voice as he explained his role in the project was to hear a man enthused at the chance to make a difference. Continue reading
Spider Caldwell, Back Where He Belongs
Last fall, he went to his first tailgate. Brad Caldwell was back in town for the Ohio State game, and there he was in the Medlar Field parking lot, soaking up the pregame scene. “Thirty-one years, my first tailgate!” Caldwell says now, the enthusiasm in his voice familiar to anyone who knows him.
Caldwell’s schedule for the previous 31 years didn’t allow much time for tailgating. Continue reading
A Tale of Two Kicks
Four months ago, I was thrilled to go to Dublin for the Croke Park Classic. It was a fun trip for those of us who got to cover the game; for a young Penn State team still saddled with scholarship limitations, it was both a great experience, and a chance to prove themselves.
You know how that turned out. Continue reading
The Football Letter Blog 