Read everything Penn State AD Pat Kraft had to say during Monday press conference

Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft met with the media Monday to discuss a variety of topics surrounding Penn State’s athletic program. Nittany Lion fans can read everything he had to say below.

Opening Statement

It’s good to see everybody. A lot going on since we last met. I think it was in Indianapolis.

First, I want to commend the THON students who put that incredible event on. Every time I go in there, it’s been my third year; it’s actually quite overwhelming, to be honest with you. $17.7 million is like, what are we talking about? That’s amazing. Being on the fundraising trail, to see what they do in a year and the dancers, I just want to make sure that I thank them for what they do for so many people. It kind of puts what we do in perspective, really. That was awesome.  

And then the other thing is, everybody talks about Beaver Stadium and football and all that, but I just want everyone to be aware of what’s happening outside of our football program and the success. Obviously, women’s volleyball and their success.  

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As of last week, we had 10 teams ranked in the top 25. Obviously, with our wrestling team, which is the best in the world. But here are sports that I don’t think get any TLC. Men’s fencing ranked seventh. Our men’s gymnastics program ranked seventh. I think both those programs are poised to win national championships. Women’s hockey has been awesome. They won the regular season and are going for a third-straight conference championship in the tournament. The men’s lacrosse team this weekend against Navy was great.

The men’s and women’s fencing teams are 15th. [Men’s hockey] took down No. 1 Michigan State. I don’t think Michigan State lost a Saturday game. I’m so proud of them to battle back to where they are. They’re ranked 18th. [Mark Pavlik] and men’s volleyball are 19th. Men’s indoor track, keep an eye on that program, please. They’re ranked 20th in the country. Women’s gymnastics is 25th. They beat the Buckeyes this [past] weekend.

I think it’s important that everyone understands what’s going on. I know it’s hard to look at all of those programs, but I think we’re like 11 or 10 every week ranked in the top 25, which is pretty awesome, and we’re poised for even more success. We’re not satisfied with that, but I think that’s important to notice.

Q: How do you think Penn State football is positioned with regard to NIL money and outside contributions and donations compared to the other top programs in the country? 

Kraft: So, how about we change the narrative of NIL? It’s marketing now. It’s marketing dollars, I think, with the new rev-share and the 20.5 [million]. Obviously, we’re going to invest the 20.5 and then it increases four percent every single year after that. We’re doing that. 

I think, when people think of the traditional NIL piece, we’re where we need to be. You have to keep looking and you’ve got to continue to do what you got to do. But in this new system, you’re going to have to show fair market value and this is where the power of Penn State is a huge asset. Fair market value for the starting quarterback at Penn State is pretty good. We’ve got to lean into that with our business partners.

So, that’s kind of the new world of name, image and likeness. That’s what we met a little bit about at the Big Ten and the SEC meetings: understanding how this new world is going to live.

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I will say everyone is discussing the 20.5 and the rev-share, but one of the biggest pieces to the house case is pulling the restriction of scholarships off. That’s huge. That allows us to offer scholarships to all of our athletes if we can afford it. As we’re out there raising money, we’re trying to let people know that as important as the 20.5 is, and that gets all the headlines, I get it.

But do you know that the greatest wrestling program in the world has 9.9 scholarships as we sit here today? Let that sink in for a minute. We have the ability now to not only help our teams in the space of rev-share, but also put a lot more of our student-athletes – if we do it right and we raise the right amount of money – on scholarship. That is a huge advantage for us.  

So, I feel really good where we’re at. We can always be better. I’m a competitor. I want to be the best in the country, but I think the new landscape is changing the way that that’s going to play out.

Q: I wanted to ask about the 20.5 with regard to wrestling. I was talking to Cael [Sanderson] last week and he said that he’s pretty sure that they’re not going to have 30 scholarships and across the sport, obviously. How do you kind of envision working with wrestling specifically? Where do you try and distribute the money? Do you think this is going to make an elite program even stronger?

Kraft: So no, we’re not going to have 30 scholarships [for wrestling]. We’re working through the scholarship number right now, but Cael will have more scholarships to invest in the program. I think another piece of the 20.5 and other follow-up questions are, how are you spending that money? Cael will be part of our rev-share world.  

Football, men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, obviously. Then you get into the space of women’s soccer, women’s volleyball. We’re trying to be able to manage the money so that if we need to move on someone, no matter what the sport is, we have the ability to say, “Hey, there’s the number one fencer in the world and we need to go use rev-share to maybe tilt it our way.” We’re going to be able to do that.  

But in relation to Cael and wrestling, I always tell Cael, “Hey Cael, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to give you all you need and the resources you need.” 

I don’t envision any, and maybe I’ll be wrong on this, but any program doing 30 scholarships for wrestling. We’re going to give Cael what he needs, and we have. I can tell you that we’ve added scholarships for him in the future.

Q: Last November, you told Yahoo Sports right around the playoff that “I think it’s our time” regarding Penn State football. There’s been conversation about Penn State since the Orange Bowl being all in on football. What does that mean to you? What is Penn State willing to do and spend to win a national championship in football?

Kraft: Yeah, I’ve heard that too. I’ve been all in on football. I’ve been all in on basketball, baseball, field hockey. I think if you’ve gotten to know me, I’m here to win. It’s not always about money. It’s how you’re investing your money, and I think we’ve shown that we’re committed.  

I’m committed to working with whether it’s James Franklin or Cael Sanderson or Erica Dambach, whoever the coach is, to win. Different programs are at different parts of their growth, but you don’t come to Penn State and just willy-nilly, let’s see what happens.  

I’m here to win a national championship. We’re here to win national championships and we’re here to do it the right way. So yeah, I’m committed to whatever you want to call it. We’re committed to it. It takes everybody.  

When it comes to football, we’re close. We’re going to keep going and keep going and keep going until we get to where we want to be and it’s working together with James and all of my coaches.

Q: What are your thoughts on the future of the College Football Playoff and the model that’s been floated around recently about expanding to 14 or 16 with automatic qualifiers for the Big Ten and SEC and other conferences? 

Kraft: I’m not against it, but I think there’s a lot of things that have to come before that. We have to look at the football calendar.  

If you look at recruiting and everything, it’s like Frankenstein. It’s bits and pieces from years of putting this here, putting that there, and we’re in a totally new world.  

So, first and foremost, that does relate to the CFP. If you’re going to add two games, per se, and go to 16, no one really gets a bye. I’ve got to be honest; I don’t know if that’s good, bad or indifferent. Right now, you look at what happened; I’d like to keep our team moving and not take those two or three weeks off.  

But I also think we have to look at, well, when do you start the season to do that? And then, how do you not have a Beau [Pribula] situation? We got a look at the portal. We’re all evaluating spring football right now. That’s a question we’re going to walk up to. I don’t know what next year’s spring football is going to look like, but that’s in the context of the whole 12-month calendar.

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So, I’m open to anything. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to go to 14 or 16. The more teams in and the more kind of tournament you have, I think it’s great. But, we’ve got to continue to look at all the other aspects of that. If you have 16, what are we going to play into? March? Are we going into February? My football players do go to class. They’ve got to go to school. So, what are we doing? I think we have to understand the bigger impact to that.  

I think looking and evaluating, do you move it up to week zero, maybe? Do you start playing there? Do you do an OTA style [practice schedule]? I don’t have the answer, but I do know it’s being discussed and looked at. I think we have to look at it.  

But I’m not opposed to 14 or 16. I just want to know more about what that whole calendar looks like. I mean, it was a grind for you all, I bet. And I give our fans a ton of credit. You go out to the Big Ten championship, [then] you come home for a playoff game. Then, you got to go out to the Fiesta Bowl and then you got to go out to Miami.

You’re booking flights one week out. I just think there are a lot of things and nuances that may not be getting the attention, but for us as practitioners and trying to operate this world, we need to better understand how that will work.

Q: We’re at the point now where football coordinators are making as much as head coaches were making a few years ago. You’re a numbers guy. You just don’t throw money to spend money. Can you explain the value? People see some of these numbers and they’re like, ‘Wow, this is kind of eye-opening.‘

Kraft: Yeah, I get it. I actually went back and looked at what the coaches who were coaching me were making. We’re in a different world now.  

I know everyone’s got the loaded Jim Knowles question. Look, you go get the best. I’m going to go get the best coordinators we can because you need to understand the coordinators set the tone. It’s James’ team. James is the CEO, and I think James has done a masterful job of building the best staff in the country.

You got to pay market, right?  

I think when we get down and look at the numbers, we can afford it. We can go and do what we’re going to do. Why would I short-change it? You’ve got a chance to go get the best coordinator. I think we have two of the best coordinators in the country. 

The way this world is now, the head coach truly is [the CEO]. I mean, James has to deal with so many new things in the last three years. You’ve got the portal and you’ve got players dealing with so many different elements of life now, real money. I believe you have to have strong leaders in the offensive and the defensive room to help give you the best chance to succeed. We don’t take those decisions lightly, but for me, it was a no-brainer with Jim Knowles. I think he’s already had dividends and it’s paid off in this way.  

We’re going to give ourselves the best chance to win, and we’re going to do it by any means necessary to do that. We’re going to do it the right way.

Q: You mentioned twice the best wrestling program in the world. I wanted to ask you about  Cael [Sanderson]. You’ve had a chance to watch him now for a couple of years. You can barely contain yourself at matches. I think it’s kind of fun watching you watch him and the wrestlers. But I wanted to get your opinion on what do you think separates this guy from everyone else? Because not only are they winning, they’re taking teams apart.

Kraft: Yeah, that’s a great question. I get asked that by everybody and I get asked that by not just alums, but like elite football coaches, basketball coaches. He is one of one. He’s a unicorn in our world.  

But it’s Cael, it’s Casey [Cunningham], it’s Cody [Sanderson], it’s that entire organization and how they run it. Everyone hits us up when our athletes speak after they win and say, “This is just one of the things I do.” That’s real. He recruits amazing young men who understand and are fully committed to being the best. Cael does it in a way that is so special and unique.  

You would think when you come into a wrestling program, it’s like fire and brimstone. No, take care of your person first. Take care of who you are and bring people who understand that and who love to wrestle. And then we’re just going to get better and better and better along the way.

It sounds simple, but the culture that he builds in that building, that Casey builds and Cody, that unit builds, there’s nothing like it. I’m the worst to have around them because I’ll go to [the Big Ten wrestling tournament] at Northwestern, and I’ll be nervous. I’m already nervous. But what I learned from him is you do the best you can in everything you do. At the end of the day, [whatever] happens, happens, and you move on. And they are all like that.  

He’s done more, I think, for me, and I’m not just saying this. But like, just watching them, and to take a deep breath and understand [how] he keeps the main thing, the main thing, man, that’s special. I try to tell our coaches all the time, go talk to him because you think it’s something different than what it is, but it really isn’t. You guys watch him, but it’s that whole group. Let’s just get it to the core.

Amazing people, great fathers, great leaders, and they get that culture to buy in and be exactly who they emulate. They don’t complain about a thing.  

If Cael walked in here and wanted $100 million, “I will find you $100 million Cael.” But the reality is, it’s the opposite of that. “I’m good. Pat, don’t worry.” We talk about what Audrey asked about, scholarships, and whatever we need to do to get better. He’s never asked for anything more than what he believes it takes to just win. 

I think my takeaway in three years is, I was sitting with someone, they’re like, “Yeah, I didn’t go because they were just going to bury these guys,” and “It wasn’t fun.”

Like, that’s not fun for you? I don’t know. I live on a different planet. The American University AD is a dear friend of mine who worked for me at BC. I love pinning and tech falling them and, like, I don’t know, in competition, it’s great. They don’t take it for granted.  

But I think we all have to understand what we are watching. It is the greatest. It’s not even a dynasty. It’s better than what anyone has done in college sports and maybe in all sports because the Big Ten is loaded. We’re going to continue to do that as long as we can. I’m sorry, long-winded, but he’s just one of those people that thinks at a different level, in in all the right ways.

Q: We’ve talked about the men’s basketball program in the past with you, and I think you said back in July at Big Ten media days that the expectation was to make the NCAA  Tournament. Can you evaluate the job Mike Rhodes has done and the struggles of the team this season? 

Kraft: You giving up on them? I mean, come on, we still got the Big Ten Tournament. We can win these games. I’m proud of them in the last two games.  

Look, Mike’s done a remarkable job. I told him the other day, after a tough loss, I went in to talk to him more as a therapist, and said, “Mike, look at the expectations that you have built to go to the tournament every year, is a step forward.” I don’t know if that was the case all the time for Penn State basketball. You guys have seen him. No one’s more frustrated and bottled up like Mike is right now. I’m not making excuses, and he wouldn’t either. We got to get better, but I’m not looking for a quick fix. I’m looking to do this the right way.  

We’ve got to build depth. You’re playing in the Big Ten. It is physical. It’s a tough conference and guys can’t play 40 minutes a game. You get hit a little bit with the injuries. I’m not making an excuse. That’s part of it, part of the game, but you’ve got to find a way to get through that. I think if you’re going to build a roster in this day and age, it’s hard. You got to find the right people and I love our kids. He’s understanding that and growing.  

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I had a meeting, I remember, the year before at Michigan State, where they blew the doors off us. I was like, “Welcome to the Big Ten.” What I love about Mike is he’s learning and he’s asking questions. You have to keep evaluating yourself and looking at it. We got everything in front of us still. That’s what’s crazy about basketball, right? 

The year we went to the tournament, you get two buzzer-beaters and it shifts everything for you. We didn’t win. We haven’t won those close games this year, and I think it’s still a work in progress. Like I just tell everybody, stick with us. Sweat with us. I’m more than ever confident in what he can do here, but we’re not looking short-term. I want to build this so that it is consistent. Make no bones about it.  

The NCAA tournament [is] the objective, and he knows that I would worry if he was was talking to me about something else other than that, like guys talking about winning the Big Ten championship. 

Hey, man, how about we just get in the tournament?

But you want your coaches looking at that that way and that’s where we’ve got to continue to help them. But we’ll get there. We’ll go steal one from my alma mater [Indiana] this week. That would be nice on many levels.

Q: You touched on women’s volleyball. You signed Coach [Katie] Schumacher-Cawley to an extension. How important was that? And if you can, I don’t know if you’ve seen any kind of comparably season to what she was able to accomplish with the team, given her health situation, given the whole thing. I’m sure in the AD world, I don’t know if you’ve gotten any feedback from that world on what she was able to do, to guide the team while dealing with everything she was dealing with.

Kraft: Yeah, that was a hard extension, right? I don’t think anyone’s ever earned an extension more than her.

I just remember her coming in and telling me early, far earlier than anyone knew, what she was about to begin. That’s pretty remarkable. You know, any of our staff and anyone that goes through life’s trials, we’re going to be there for them any way we can.  

It’s a little bit like the THON piece, right? Like so much bigger than what we’re talking about NIL, and I’m not saying anything – you have to ask the questions. I’m not dismissing that, but, like, just watching it from afar, I don’t know if you all can understand how difficult that was for her. And, her fight’s not over, and we’re going to continue.  

I told her actually the other day we’re going to keep fighting and keep fighting and keep fighting. But no, I have never seen anything like that. The team, I remember being in the locker room after the Pitt loss early [in the season]. This is before all this. They were like, “Alright, let’s get back up. Let’s keep competing, competing, competing and competing.”

They never flinched. They never flinched. Nobody gave that team a shot at Nebraska when they had that. I don’t care what you say. I mean, I was like sweating bullets. Holy cow. Go rewatch that game. 

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Never did that team waver. When you have someone like Katie who’s not flinching one bit about what was put in front of her and her family, there should be a Netflix movie about it. I’m just so proud of those women and that staff never made it about anything other than themselves and the family. We talked about Mike and the excuses. There was never an excuse. We’re going to go and we’re going to set the tone, and we’re going to just feed off each other. And so, yeah, it’s what she did. I’ll never forget it.  

And then, her at THON this weekend was just emotional. Thinking through it puts into perspective everything that all of us, I know, have been walked up to it. My grandmother had breast cancer. It’s all around us, right? So I think [she] shed a little bit of light on it. You can compete tough and that’s why I tell her after she’s got to be tough. That’s the model right there.  

She’s got a little bit of Cael tendency to her, “Don’t talk to me about it.” She’s got that Chicago. Shocker, we’re both from Chicago, but she’s got that like, “No, no, no, let’s just stay focused on the main thing.” Like, no, we’re going to stay the course no matter what’s going on. So long-winded, but her and her whole staff, Jess [Mruzik] and [Caroline] Jurevicius, the whole group, just relentless. It’s pretty awesome.

Q: I want to get into the method that James has implemented in NIL. I think some people may be [critical] because they don’t see Penn State bringing in a bunch of high-dollar free agents out there, but then you look at the guys who decided not to go to the NFL Draft, the guys who decided not to go in the portal and clearly NIL is making an impact in roster retention. Can you kind of speak to striking that balance where you’re not poisoning the well of your team culture, but you need some pieces, and you’ve got to be able to afford those pieces while taking care of who’s already here?

Kraft: Yeah, I think it’s a really good question, and James would probably laugh if I said this because he and I have friendly banter about this new world since I’ve been here for NIL and the portal. 

I think he has done it absolutely the right way. I thought Ryan [Day] did a really good job at Ohio State, right? We’re a little bit going back in time. Trust your evaluation. Recruit the kids you want to recruit that fit your program and hold on to them. I mean, that’s why Ohio State won the national championship because those were their own kids. Their culture was there. Now, they had some nice additions, and I think we did the same.  

But that’s the model because your kids are your culture. Our football locker room, that group of young men in that locker room, are phenomenal. I think the way James has done it, where to your point, yeah, we want to hold on to our own. The good, the bad, the ugly, we know what motivates them. They are passionate about playing for Penn State. They’re passionate about it. They tasted it. So when they all came back, when we got over that [loss], all of us are like, we’re coming back and we’re going to win this thing. A transfer [player] necessarily doesn’t always feel that way.

I think what you need to believe here at Penn State, and it goes for any sport, this goes back to the basketball question: if you think you’re going to win a national championship and sustain the model by living in the portal, you’re flatly wrong. You have to have the patience to stick with it, and that is something I give James all the credit in the world. He is under enormous pressure, but he stuck with his kids, the guys that he knew and that he trusted. Cael Sanderson sticks with the guys that he knows.  

And yes, I think you got to be in a world where, when you lose someone to the NFL, you lose someone as dynamic as Abdul Carter, that’s really hard to replace. You’ve got to go back and fill that [spot] that you lose. You know, you got injuries, you have different things. So that’s where the portal, I think, comes into play, but you really got to evaluate that. We all know we need wide receiver help, so we have to go find one. I think we have some really good ones in the building, but everyone draws that process. If you can come and help us win and do great things and bring that and maintain the culture here, then great.  

But that’s football, and every program is in different spots, right? But I think James has done an absolutely masterful job, and I think it’s a testament, going back to the staff, to what he’s done to build a culture in that building of like, “We’re all in this together and family.” I mean, look at how many people have left. It’s truly remarkable. So that’s why we’re excited for next year. We have a lot of work to do before Nevada, but we’re excited.

Q: My question is about the transfer portal, and it’s beyond football. The portal existed before the marketing money, as we’re now calling it. There are a lot of people who want to see a change in how the portal operates. Are there conversations among the leaders of sports on how to change the portal to make it work for everybody? 

Kraft: There is. I mean, I can just tell you we’re all trying to figure out the timing of it. You don’t want a Beau situation. No one has free agency in the middle of their championship run. Like, what are we talking about?  

The Eagles did not have to deal with Saquon [Barkely] or someone going away on their run to winning the Super Bowl. So, that is where we have to look at it. It’s not as easy as moving the portal window. That’s oversimplifying it. I think you’re absolutely right, and we’re all trying to figure out where that is. Football, in particular, we’ve got to look at the calendar, but in all sports, we have to look at what’s the best.  

The opportunity is [about] giving the student-athlete the opportunity to be successful, both academically and competitively. In football, the thought [of enrolling] mid-year is a new thing. That’s changed coming in as a high school student-athlete. That was never a thing when I was playing 20-plus years ago. And so once again, I go back to this Frankenstein. All these things have evolved and changed, and all of a sudden, you just throw this portal in and now you have to make a life decision when the people you love and you are a part of are competing for something that you had a hand in doing. That’s a really tough place to put someone in.  

Q: Has there been a discussion about signing athletes to contracts? 

Kraft: Yeah, I think that’s a harder conversation because if you put them on contracts, which scholarships are, what am I going to do? Go sue the kid for leaving?

I mean, there’s a myriad of reasons why they would leave, right? It’s not necessary. It’s always been one year you could leave, but then all the rules have just changed.  

So now you do have to look at it as a one-year window. Do I want all of our young men and women to be here for a long time? Yeah, [but] there’s just so many factors now at play. I do hope this new world maybe can slow that down. We’ll see.  

But okay, [say] I put a buyout [into the contract], who’s going to sign that? You’re competing. Remember, it’s not the pros. We have to recruit against Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia. If they choose not to do it, well, [recruits are] not coming here just for the ‘Oh man, I love you.’ That’s polyynic. So, we in college sports all have to come together and try to fix this I really do believe, for the better of a student-athlete and the program.

Q: A while back, James said that he would like to hire a general manager for football with an eye toward revenue sharing. Is there alignment among the whole gang about the idea of doing that? If so, has there been any practical progress toward that happening?  

Kraft: I totally agree with him. You know, James and I, if we found the right person that could fit and do [the job], I’m 100% supportive. Let me say that. We have people in the building that are doing that job right now. 

A lot of these general managers that you’re seeing hired have full roster discretion. I’ll leave that out there. You know that’s hard in college sports, meaning they’re choosing the players much like the pros. I don’t agree with that. I do not think that’s right. They’re coming here because they’re going to play for the coaches and James Franklin’s football program.  

So, there are different ways to look at a general manager. Handling the cap, handling how we handle scholarships, because now you can give 105 scholarships. You don’t have to give full rides.

So, like I told you, [the revenue sharing cap] goes up four percent every year, right? So you got to know if you’re going to offer someone two years, how much money do I have in year two or three to go? That number on the cap keeps going. So yes, 100 percent. It’s not like we just actively have not hired one.  

We continue to talk to a lot of people, but as this is evolving, a lot of work in the building has been done really well. But I would not put it past James and us to have a  GM at some point. We’re hiring more data analytics folks in the office because we’ve got to. I have to manage the entire 20.5 [million] and the fair market value NIL. We’ve got to make sure that we’re all aligned because you have to balance all of these things to make sure that you’re doing the right thing. So, it’s really [about] data now for us. Some would argue that would be a GM [job]. It’s not. It’s more of a data job.  

But I honestly think we’re going to have to find a space for all of our Olympic sports to have someone that’s helping them manage the different areas because this is now going all the way down. I mean, it’s coming into hockey. It’s everywhere. And so, trying to give our coaches across the board the resources and help is going to be an issue.  

But once again, yes, if James texted me today and we talked about it and he found someone, that’s great.

Q: How do you feel about the progress of the Beaver Stadium renovation plan now that you released the renderings and you knocked the press box down? What do you envision it looking like as a whole when Nevada gets there in August for the start of the 2025 season?  

Kraft: You know, it’s funny you say that. This is a testament to Penn State.  

We were at the [Chicago outdoor game] in hockey. I flew back, got back at two in the morning. I’m going to get home and we’ve got that blizzard. I was like, man, I bet there’s going to be nobody here to watch [the press box demolition], and sure as heck, there’s 400 people there. That’s why I love this place. The fans are so passionate. Then when it fell down, I’m like, oh boy, this is real.  

I feel really good, though, where we are. We put out the renderings, we showed you kind of where we are in the process. Fundraising has been awesome.  

It shows that, when Penn Staters get behind something, I feel really excited about that.  What will it look like? So, we’ll have temp seating [ine 2025]. If I were to give you an example, think of Northwestern a little bit, how they built that stadium on the lake, or if you go to the Waste Management Open, they built that stadium around [hole] 16. Those are the folks that are doing the production. You’ll see.  

How do I best describe it? There’s that lip that we took the top part off. There will be bleachers; I think it’s 7,400 or so in that space. We’re looking to even see if we can add more seats to that. It’ll look very temporary. It won’t impact us; we’re working really hard.  

Another follow-up question is, what’s the capacity? We should be at full capacity with the [temporary seating]. It will be really, really close and you’ll see a little bit of the construction footprint, but you should be able to get in still. 

Parking won’t have any issues, but they’re going to keep working throughout the year, so it’s going to be an active site. Honestly, I think the temp seating may have a better seat than they had in the old west side bleachers.

Really happy about where it’s going. You know, I really believe it’s going to be something fans are going to be proud of. We’re trying to make it so that it’s as loud as humanly possible and continue to keep this as the greatest home-field advantage in all of sports.  

We’ll continue to give you all updates. I’ve learned I don’t give an update unless it’s exactly what it’s going to be. So, you’ll start seeing more and more information come out on that over time as we start to really put this together.  

But I’m really, really happy with where we are from a philanthropic and suite sales perspective, and all that stuff will start coming through the year.  

I’ll just give everyone a heads-up. The spring game is going to be a little interesting. And by interesting, I really don’t know what it’s going to look like. We’re expanding the east side concourse, so we’re doubling the east main concourse, and I got to hit a mark by that Nevada game.  

So, you know, look for our information on how to get in the building and get around the building. I understand. You’ve got the best football team in the country, and everybody wants to get in, so we’re going to try. We’re going to really work on some things to figure out nuances to that. But the west is going to be under construction and so it’s going to be a bit of an interesting Blue-White Game. We’ll make sure we get everyone information on how to enjoy it.  

But yeah, I’m happy. I’m excited about where it’s going [and] the direction we’re headed with it.