Penn State Thursday Three: A throwback to a Lions great, plus a thought and a take
Penn State is rolling through another offseason week.
It’s time for a Thursday three-pack of thoughts and insight.
In this edition, we look back at a Lions great and then offer a thought and a take related to the current version of head coach James Franklin’s program.
Let’s get to it.
Penn State Throwback Thursday
This week, we take it back to Trace McSorley on throwback Thursday.
With apologies for being a day early, Jan. 21 will mark eight years since McSorley flipped his verbal commitment from Vanderbilt to Penn State on Jan. 21, 2014. That happened in the earliest days of the James Franklin era in State College, of course.
And, yes, that is McSorley pictured above. It’s a Getty Images shot from one of his final postseason appearances at Briar Woods High in Ashburn, Va.
The story is well known by now, of course. Few colleges thought McSorley could be a college quarterback. Franklin and his staff at Vanderbilt did, however. They made quick work of flipping him from the Commodores to the Lions.
By the time McSorley completed his Penn State career, he had won a conference title, became a three-time All-Big Ten pick, set 11 Nittany Lions career marks, including wins (31) and passing touchdowns (77), seven single-season records, and three single-game records. Spend some downtime reading his official PSU bio this weekend. It’s even more impressive to relive it than when you witnessed it. And, we guarantee there is some splendid stat you forgot.
Currently, McSorley is a member of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. He started his pro career with the Baltimore Ravens.
Thursday Lions thought
You need to have many qualities to be a successful college football coach. One of them is a willingness to travel.
Penn State’s staff, including head coach James Franklin, was allowed to hit the road starting last Friday when the first contact period of 2022 kicked off. Coaches can travel, and also host prospects, for 16 days during that stretch.
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Outside of a few Saturdays when underclassmen visit, the assistants will spend most of those days on the road. BWI’s Ryan Snyder has been tracking their daily stops for On3 subscribers. By the way, it’s just $1 for one year of access to that info and so much more. Click here to learn more.
One thing you quickly realize is that multi-state stops are part of the norm. So, the Thursday thought it this: Do you like business travel enough to check that box on a hypothetical college football coaching resume?
Discuss it with us inside The Lions Den forum. My answer would be yes, as all jobs have things we tolerate at times for the ones we enjoy more. But, make no mistake: Doing what these guys do is a grueling task.
Thursday take
As we wrote last Saturday, January does not typically treat Penn State well on the recruiting front in terms of commitments. In fact, if they don’t happen on New Year’s Day, they usually don’t happen at all.
But what’s a take without a little bit of risk? Here’s today’s: The Lions will land a commitment by the time the calendar flips to February. Obviously, the next question is ‘who,’ but there is no clear possibility. However, with a couple more visit weekends to go, we’ll say that Franklin and co., buck their usual trend and land one in the year’s first month.
