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OneLegUpAlex Media and Pags' Perspective Are Joined by Jay Paterno (recorded 3/25/26) · OneLegUpAlex Sports

0:04
Speaker 1: All right, one leg up. Alex Media is back and
0:07
Speaker 1: we are back with a basically friend of the show now,
0:09
Speaker 1: Jay Paterno, son of Joe Paterno, and just a great guy,
0:14
Speaker 1: and he's running for reelection. We'll get that in a
0:16
Speaker 1: bit for Penz Border Seas. But Jay, firstly, how is
0:20
Speaker 1: your winter? You know, you and my colleague Ryan Pagano,
0:23
Speaker 1: who also pen sate Ben were in the same building
0:26
Speaker 1: for the Pinstripe Bowl, so I figure opening day, how
0:29
Speaker 1: cool was that experience at Yankee Stadium?
0:31
Speaker 2: Well, I actually missed it last minute. I had had
0:33
Speaker 2: a game time decision. My wife would had foot surgery,
0:36
Speaker 2: so my kids went. They kids took my tickets. Well,
0:40
Speaker 2: and so I actually missed it, which given the weather,
0:44
Speaker 2: it was a little bit brisk, but it was a
0:47
Speaker 2: great It's great to see that game happen, great to
0:49
Speaker 2: see Penn State clumpson square off, and great for Penn
0:51
Speaker 2: State to win the game, which was certainly the outcome
0:55
Speaker 2: at the end of a very interesting and difficult and
0:58
Speaker 2: really meaningful season.
1:00
Speaker 3: When it was all said and done, well.
1:01
Speaker 1: Look, Franklin, you know we all know the story. Aller
1:04
Speaker 1: goes down, Franklin's fired, and they still make a bowl
1:07
Speaker 1: I mean it was pretty would you say almost miraculous
1:09
Speaker 1: or do they work their ass off once that old
1:11
Speaker 1: thing went down to get through that bowl game.
1:14
Speaker 2: Well, I think Terry Smith as the interim coach, did
1:16
Speaker 2: an incredible job.
1:17
Speaker 3: He really re focused that group.
1:20
Speaker 2: I mean they you know, people forget they were a
1:23
Speaker 2: miracle catch at the end of the game against Indiana
1:26
Speaker 2: from beating them.
1:27
Speaker 3: You know, he had to go on you know, Terry
1:29
Speaker 3: takes over.
1:29
Speaker 2: He had to go on the road and play Iowa
1:31
Speaker 2: who had a great season, went on the road and
1:33
Speaker 2: played at Ohio State who was number one, and then
1:36
Speaker 2: you know, lost to Indiana, but then finished out with
1:38
Speaker 2: three really good wins and a good winnever clumps to.
1:41
Speaker 3: The bowl game.
1:41
Speaker 2: So they really that team really coalesced nicely around Terry.
1:46
Speaker 2: He sets some standards for accountability that I think were
1:50
Speaker 2: the team responded to. I've known Terry, Terry and I
1:53
Speaker 2: were teammates back in the eighties. So you know what
1:56
Speaker 2: didn't surprise me what he was able to do with that.
1:58
Speaker 3: With that group.
1:59
Speaker 1: Right when you were at that game at the Pindroy
2:01
Speaker 1: both I'm not mistaken, right.
2:02
Speaker 4: No, I was indeed And now Jay you were not
2:07
Speaker 4: kidding with the weather earlier. It was brutal out there
2:11
Speaker 4: sitting in the nose fleets at Yankee Stadium. But I
2:14
Speaker 4: mean also seeing the Nittany Lions playing a bowl game
2:17
Speaker 4: with the season that they had, I mean, it was
2:19
Speaker 4: just incredible all around, the fact that they were able
2:23
Speaker 4: to even make it to that point under Terry Smith.
2:25
Speaker 4: But he was able to do with his team get
2:29
Speaker 4: them to where they were. I mean, that's you know,
2:32
Speaker 4: successful given the circumstances as it stands. And look, I
2:36
Speaker 4: was also at the Northwestern game back in October, Franklin's
2:40
Speaker 4: last and hours last with the program as well, and
2:43
Speaker 4: I mean it was to say it was one of
2:46
Speaker 4: those games where he could sear the energy being sucked
2:49
Speaker 4: out of Beaver Stadium was a massive understatement. But then
2:52
Speaker 4: to come back two months later is looking like a
2:53
Speaker 4: whole new program. Was this pretty crazy? But now, Jay,
2:58
Speaker 4: especially with the new era being ushered in with Matt
3:03
Speaker 4: Campbell and also with Rockebeck to transferring to Penn State,
3:07
Speaker 4: I'm sure there's definitely a lot to look forward to
3:09
Speaker 4: an happy Valley.
3:10
Speaker 3: There no question about it, you know.
3:13
Speaker 2: And by the way, in terms of freezing, I will
3:15
Speaker 2: give myself one bit of credit. I did sit outside
3:19
Speaker 2: for the entire outdoor hockey game, which was about twelve
3:22
Speaker 2: degrees when they played in Michigan State and seventy five
3:25
Speaker 2: thousand people in Beaver Stadium, So I did tough one out.
3:28
Speaker 2: But when you talk about you talk about the new era,
3:33
Speaker 2: I think Matt Campbell.
3:34
Speaker 3: You know, so many people get caught.
3:36
Speaker 2: Up and you got to chase this guy, gotta get
3:37
Speaker 2: that guy, and you hire guys that don't necessarily fit
3:41
Speaker 2: the history of the program or the tradition of the program.
3:43
Speaker 2: Matt Campbell I think is a great fit in terms
3:46
Speaker 2: of what he brings here, in terms of his focus
3:49
Speaker 2: on the academic side, his focus on developing young people
3:53
Speaker 2: to become better people, better students, and better football players
3:58
Speaker 2: and building teams.
4:00
Speaker 3: So I think he's a great fit.
4:02
Speaker 2: Rock O Beck I've seen I've not seen doing in
4:05
Speaker 2: person yet, but I'm gonna get over to practice here
4:08
Speaker 2: this spring. But I've looked at him on certainly on
4:13
Speaker 2: tape and stuff, and he's got a lot of ability.
4:16
Speaker 3: He's got family.
4:17
Speaker 2: I think his dad was a versially from Philly, so
4:20
Speaker 2: he's got a lot of ties. He understands the history
4:22
Speaker 2: here as well. But I think you know, Matt's put
4:26
Speaker 2: together a really really good staff.
4:28
Speaker 3: He's put together a lot of a culture.
4:32
Speaker 2: I think that will be really really beneficial to the
4:35
Speaker 2: programming the long run, and one that kind of fits.
4:37
Speaker 3: With what we've always done here at Penn State, No,
4:40
Speaker 3: for sure.
4:40
Speaker 4: And I'm glad you also highlighted the other staff higher
4:44
Speaker 4: Shay bringing that up. So, I know one of the
4:46
Speaker 4: weak spots, especially with this football program in recent years,
4:50
Speaker 4: has been the wide receiver room. That's been a problem
4:52
Speaker 4: for a good bit now. And what Campbell specifically highlighted
4:57
Speaker 4: was his hiring of what ex Yukon wide receiver coach
5:02
Speaker 4: Kashif Moore and really highlighting that higher. So, just to
5:07
Speaker 4: pick your brain a little bit, do you see that
5:09
Speaker 4: higher perhaps helping to transform the wide receiver room as
5:13
Speaker 4: the twenty twenty six season is looming soon?
5:17
Speaker 3: I think so.
5:18
Speaker 2: And Matt brought two wide receivers with him from Iowa State.
5:23
Speaker 2: I can see that there was a number zero and
5:25
Speaker 2: I think number one. The names escape me right now,
5:28
Speaker 2: but having watched them on tape, they're both really talented
5:31
Speaker 2: kids that give Penn State, you know we're better for
5:35
Speaker 2: them being here, So I think there's gonna be some
5:37
Speaker 2: more excitement right off the bat. I think the fact
5:39
Speaker 2: that rock Obeck is gonna have a couple of receivers
5:42
Speaker 2: that he's familiar with. They brought it a big six
5:44
Speaker 2: to seven tight end who's a legitimate, big, big pro prospect,
5:49
Speaker 2: So the pieces are gonna be in place.
5:51
Speaker 3: For them to be successful. I think that's gonna be important.
5:54
Speaker 2: And I think right now one of the things every
5:57
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator looks at when they line up again is
6:01
Speaker 2: there can their best wide receiver beat our best corner
6:05
Speaker 2: in one on one over the top consistently? Because if
6:08
Speaker 2: they can, that changes the calculus of how you defend somebody.
6:12
Speaker 3: The other aspect is, you know, can the quarterback run?
6:15
Speaker 3: And that gives you that.
6:16
Speaker 2: So there's a couple of things that are new will
6:18
Speaker 2: be new for people playing Penn State this year that
6:20
Speaker 2: they haven't had to deal with the last couple of.
6:22
Speaker 4: Years, oh for sure, And especially with Beck and having
6:26
Speaker 4: the familiarity with some of his wide receiver room already,
6:29
Speaker 4: it's gonna help, especially coming off of that season ending
6:31
Speaker 4: injury he had in twenty five to his non throwing shoulder.
6:35
Speaker 4: Having that familiarity and really just being introduced to a
6:39
Speaker 4: new system over in Penn State. I think that's definitely
6:43
Speaker 4: gonna help a lot now. Campbell also, if I recall,
6:46
Speaker 4: he mentioned that Roco was going to be a bit
6:49
Speaker 4: of head, a bit ahead of schedules. So yeah, surely
6:54
Speaker 4: got to be very important day, especially with.
6:58
Speaker 5: Getting in shape for the season at all.
7:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think the other thing people underestimate is
7:04
Speaker 2: h Taylor Mouser, the offensive coordinator, came with Matt from
7:08
Speaker 2: Iowa State, and Rocos familiar with that system. So the
7:11
Speaker 2: learning curve, you know, when you switch coordinators, uh not
7:15
Speaker 2: every coordinator, you know, everybody has their own terminology, and
7:19
Speaker 2: so a cornerback in the players have to really learn
7:22
Speaker 2: almost like a new language. And there's a time where
7:24
Speaker 2: you're you know, if you're learning Italian, you know this
7:27
Speaker 2: word means this an Italian.
7:29
Speaker 3: If you spoke English.
7:30
Speaker 2: Your whole life, You're for a while you're taking that
7:33
Speaker 2: word an Italian and saying this means that or that
7:36
Speaker 2: means this. And then you reach a point where you
7:38
Speaker 2: become fluent. You just speak in a new language. I
7:41
Speaker 2: think a Roco bec's already going to be fluent in
7:43
Speaker 2: that language. Some of the key players you brought it
7:45
Speaker 2: canna be fluent.
7:46
Speaker 3: In that language.
7:46
Speaker 2: So I think you're gonna benefit from having those guys
7:49
Speaker 2: that can come in right off the bat, that know
7:51
Speaker 2: are already already speaking that same terminology.
7:56
Speaker 1: You know, I gotta say that the Penn State gave
7:58
Speaker 1: Indiana run for their money, but we're respective. I mean Indiana,
8:02
Speaker 1: that was one of your perspective. Indiana won a great run.
8:05
Speaker 1: Did you get to see that game in person at all?
8:07
Speaker 3: Did you see that?
8:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, they make a run.
8:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, when he made you know, that last drive, we
8:13
Speaker 2: sacked them, so you know they're they're looking at second
8:16
Speaker 2: eighteen or whatever it was, and we had a linebacker
8:19
Speaker 2: come run up and dance with the defensive end to
8:23
Speaker 2: celebrate the sack. Meanwhile Indiana was getting back up on
8:26
Speaker 2: the line. That same linebacker did not quite get aligned
8:30
Speaker 2: like he should have. The next play that that very
8:34
Speaker 2: next play, guy went down the team over the top
8:36
Speaker 2: of that linebacker, who probably didn't get to signal was
8:39
Speaker 2: not aligned, makes the first down and I went, oh gosh,
8:42
Speaker 2: here we go, because that you know, he's just he
8:45
Speaker 2: had just made that quarterback and made so many really
8:47
Speaker 2: great plays and you know the throw he made the
8:51
Speaker 2: end of win. It was an unbelievable catch, but it
8:54
Speaker 2: was third down, so he who had had another shot.
8:56
Speaker 2: But I mean, you just got to tip your hat
8:59
Speaker 2: and say, our defender was in the right place. We
9:03
Speaker 2: hit the quarterback as he threw it. Their player just
9:05
Speaker 2: made unbelievable play. And sometimes that's that's what you need,
9:09
Speaker 2: and sometimes you have one of those special seasons.
9:11
Speaker 1: You know, we're almost a draft time, so I gotta
9:13
Speaker 1: ask you this as we're talking about the new coaching
9:14
Speaker 1: person and all that, what who could be drafted this
9:18
Speaker 1: season from Penn State? What we were looking at here?
9:21
Speaker 2: Oh geez, I've been I've been so focused on what's
9:24
Speaker 2: coming up next that I haven't really looked at the
9:26
Speaker 2: draft that much. I think one of the things gonna
9:29
Speaker 2: jump out for me was denied Dennis Sutton playing the
9:32
Speaker 2: bowl game.
9:33
Speaker 3: You know, he was a.
9:34
Speaker 2: Guy that started out the year a little slow, didn't
9:37
Speaker 2: quite have the numbers he should have maybe or the
9:39
Speaker 2: production he should have had.
9:41
Speaker 3: And one of the things that you know that I
9:43
Speaker 3: taught in talking to people with the program, Terry Smith
9:46
Speaker 3: made that very clear to.
9:47
Speaker 2: Him that he did not he was not producing like
9:50
Speaker 2: he should have, and if you look down the stretch,
9:52
Speaker 2: he played a lot better over the last six seven
9:54
Speaker 2: games this season and even stayed to play in the
9:57
Speaker 2: Bowl game because it meant.
9:58
Speaker 3: Something to him.
10:00
Speaker 2: Durant, the defensive tackle had some great numbers in the
10:04
Speaker 2: wait whom I thinking of the defensive tackle had great
10:08
Speaker 2: numbers to combine. I think I think I mixed mixed
10:13
Speaker 2: up his name with our guy that used to wrestle here.
10:15
Speaker 2: But anyway, well wrestling, he was one of our thirteenth
10:20
Speaker 2: national title in fifteen years.
10:22
Speaker 3: We got a little bit of wrestling on the brain.
10:24
Speaker 2: But I mean there's some guys that are gonna and
10:26
Speaker 2: Al will be interesting because you know, he's he's been
10:29
Speaker 2: a little bit up and down. Times He's been really good,
10:31
Speaker 2: sometimes he's been not so good. I think, you know,
10:34
Speaker 2: it'll be I'll be curious to see him. I think
10:36
Speaker 2: Singleton Allen are both backs that can play at that level.
10:41
Speaker 2: So I think it's gonna be. It's gonna be a
10:42
Speaker 2: good draft for Penn State. You just would have liked
10:45
Speaker 2: to have seen some of that talent, do you know,
10:47
Speaker 2: perform little better last fall, But you know, sometimes those
10:50
Speaker 2: things happen anybody can assemble a roster of great talent,
10:54
Speaker 2: the question is can you form them into a team.
10:56
Speaker 2: And I think that's kind of what was missing the
10:58
Speaker 2: first six games of the season.
11:00
Speaker 1: All right, now, let me ask you this because you're
11:01
Speaker 1: in the NIL world as well. So new coach comes in.
11:05
Speaker 1: Is there some sort of training that he does with
11:07
Speaker 1: you or anything like that with the NIL or how's
11:10
Speaker 1: that going to be sorted out? As they get Accliman
11:12
Speaker 1: at to Penn State.
11:14
Speaker 2: Well, I think he's got Matt had an operation that
11:18
Speaker 2: he kind of had in place at Iowa State, and
11:21
Speaker 2: you know, some of that translates.
11:23
Speaker 3: Over he'll left.
11:24
Speaker 2: Obviously, it's he's dealing with different people, different companies and
11:28
Speaker 2: things here. But he's got some people in place. He's
11:30
Speaker 2: got a general manager in places going to help with
11:32
Speaker 2: that the NIL stuff. I think one thing is really
11:36
Speaker 2: really interesting to hear Matt talk in his press conference.
11:39
Speaker 2: He said, you know, if the only reason you're coming
11:41
Speaker 2: to Penn State is because we offer you the most money,
11:44
Speaker 2: this may not be.
11:44
Speaker 3: The place for you.
11:46
Speaker 2: And one things he has stressed is he's going to
11:48
Speaker 2: reward revenue share money with guys that produce on and
11:53
Speaker 2: off the field. You know, he's not going to give it.
11:55
Speaker 2: He's not going to reward potential alone. He's going to
11:58
Speaker 2: reward production and the NIL stuff will come along as well.
12:03
Speaker 2: It's really again, this is another thing that's really in
12:06
Speaker 2: flux because you have the Collegiate Sports Commission that's supposed
12:10
Speaker 2: to have a clearinghouse for all these NIL deals and
12:14
Speaker 2: they turned down eighteen deals in Nebraska, and now Nebraska's players.
12:17
Speaker 3: Along with the school are spiling suit against that.
12:21
Speaker 2: So whether or not there's enforcement mechanism for that is
12:25
Speaker 2: going to be really interesting as we go forward.
12:29
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we'll have to see. Now, Ryan, I know you're
12:32
Speaker 1: tuned into this the NIL from your perspective, and Jay
12:35
Speaker 1: actually helps run and ou ap probed on that. What
12:38
Speaker 1: are your thoughts though on the NIL, Ryan, because I've
12:40
Speaker 1: never really asked you that.
12:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, you never really have asked me that.
12:45
Speaker 4: And I guess this is probably a very good time too,
12:49
Speaker 4: just because I guess, really the best way I can
12:51
Speaker 4: compare this is kind of the ongoing question too with
12:55
Speaker 4: the salary cap in baseball, right and of course NAL
12:58
Speaker 4: still very much being a new thing at this point
13:02
Speaker 4: in time, and a lot more questions more than at
13:07
Speaker 4: the beginning of this about what exactly this could look
13:11
Speaker 4: like in the next five or so years. And the
13:13
Speaker 4: reason I kind of equate this to a baseball salary
13:16
Speaker 4: cap is because there was a time for that to
13:20
Speaker 4: be implemented, at least in my opinion. But now with
13:23
Speaker 4: potential emobis lockout coming, who knows if that's ever going
13:28
Speaker 4: to be approved. Like the time for that was way
13:31
Speaker 4: back before the salaries just started exploding and all that,
13:36
Speaker 4: And I could see something similar happening to nil perhaps
13:40
Speaker 4: if something isn't addressed too quick, I mean, the salaries
13:45
Speaker 4: rise for these college athletes, these college stars too quick,
13:49
Speaker 4: and next thing you know, you got a huge problem
13:51
Speaker 4: on your hands. So now you really have to wonder,
13:55
Speaker 4: especially with the FED stepping in to try to mitigate
13:59
Speaker 4: this problem so soon into and how's existence in the
14:03
Speaker 4: first place, is this the right time to implement these
14:08
Speaker 4: financial restrictions, if you will? And I could very much
14:12
Speaker 4: see that, especially with how much it's already begun to
14:15
Speaker 4: affect tons of college programs across a ton of college sports.
14:20
Speaker 4: And also seeing is all these athletes are transferring out
14:24
Speaker 4: of their schools. The one that actually came to mind
14:27
Speaker 4: for me Ethan Grunkameyer of course transferring to Virginia Tech,
14:31
Speaker 4: and with Drew Aller going down last season, kind of
14:35
Speaker 4: making a name for himself as the starting QB of
14:38
Speaker 4: course leading and stay to the Pinstripe Bowl win and
14:42
Speaker 4: Alex I've said this on my podcast too, that I
14:46
Speaker 4: felt letting go of Grunkkemeyer, letting him transfer.
14:49
Speaker 5: To Virginia Tech.
14:51
Speaker 4: Could that have been a mistake, But also now the
14:55
Speaker 4: question of whether or not anil may have had something
14:57
Speaker 4: to do with that. Could you perhaps se that come
15:00
Speaker 4: into play a little bit.
15:01
Speaker 1: Here, Jayi Nasi Moore. I'm sure you might have seen
15:04
Speaker 1: the interworction of that.
15:05
Speaker 3: Jay Or I didn't see the interworking zone.
15:08
Speaker 2: But I think it's one of those things that the
15:11
Speaker 2: NIL stuff right now is are still a wild card.
15:14
Speaker 2: I mean, the rules on it are still there are
15:17
Speaker 2: some rules, but the enforcement mechanism is now up in
15:20
Speaker 2: the air.
15:21
Speaker 3: What's really NIL, what's not NL was supposed to be.
15:25
Speaker 2: You know, Joe Smith is the best quarterback in the country.
15:31
Speaker 2: Doctor Pepper wants to put Joe Smith in an AD.
15:33
Speaker 2: They think there's a return on investment. That's what NL
15:35
Speaker 2: is supposed to be a lot of these collectives have
15:39
Speaker 2: turned it into pay to play on top of the
15:42
Speaker 2: revenue sharing.
15:43
Speaker 3: So now we're not even you.
15:44
Speaker 2: Know, the last NCIA and federal government report on athletic
15:51
Speaker 2: finances is from last June thirtieth of twenty twenty five,
15:56
Speaker 2: before revenue sharing really started.
15:57
Speaker 3: So we'll see how that all kicks in as we got.
16:00
Speaker 2: Oh, it's gonna be interesting to see what those numbers
16:03
Speaker 2: look like now a year into it. So I think
16:06
Speaker 2: that's that's the thing it's going to be, you know,
16:08
Speaker 2: really interesting to see is how that all unfolds.
16:11
Speaker 1: All right, JAB have to say this because I'm sure
16:13
Speaker 1: when their coaching changes, what does Ja Paternal the son
16:16
Speaker 1: Joe Paternal think, you know, head coaching obviously prestigious there. Hey,
16:21
Speaker 1: we know you don't have a say in that because
16:22
Speaker 1: that would become as correct. I want to just get
16:24
Speaker 1: that ane. Yeah, clearly are But b do people come
16:27
Speaker 1: for you on the side.
16:28
Speaker 6: And say, hey, what do you think? I mean, who
16:30
Speaker 6: could you know be the next coach? Do people come
16:32
Speaker 6: to you for those for those opinions?
16:34
Speaker 2: Well, I made a point to stay away from it,
16:36
Speaker 2: and then I said, you know, if you guys need
16:37
Speaker 2: any advice.
16:38
Speaker 3: You want to ask me about anybody, let me know.
16:41
Speaker 3: But you know it's not you know.
16:42
Speaker 2: As a trustee, the last thing you want to do
16:44
Speaker 2: is start looking over everybody's shoulder and saying, hire this person,
16:48
Speaker 2: hire that person. I stayed away from the coaching search,
16:51
Speaker 2: let them do their own thing. I made one call,
16:54
Speaker 2: you know.
16:55
Speaker 7: We had uh uh, the head coach of b YU,
16:59
Speaker 7: whose name now is scared me, had basically been you know,
17:03
Speaker 7: on there on Penn State's radar and then turned it down.
17:05
Speaker 2: And that was fifty something days in the search. And
17:08
Speaker 2: that's the one time I called the chair of the
17:10
Speaker 2: board of trustees and said, look, if it's anything I
17:12
Speaker 2: could do to help you, let me know.
17:14
Speaker 3: Otherwise, you know, you know, I'll stay out of it.
17:17
Speaker 2: And but I had people call me about Matt Campbell
17:20
Speaker 2: when his name surfaced, some pretty prominent guys that know
17:25
Speaker 2: everything Penn State is about, as well as guys.
17:28
Speaker 3: That have known Matt Campbell a long time.
17:30
Speaker 2: And they said, if you guys can get this guy,
17:31
Speaker 2: get them, And I said, well, if they get him,
17:34
Speaker 2: they get him. I'm keeping I'm staying out of it.
17:36
Speaker 2: So I mean, it's you know, I think that's the
17:38
Speaker 2: way it should be. Certainly, I've had a lot of
17:41
Speaker 2: conversations with Matt since he got here, a number of conversations.
17:44
Speaker 3: That have been really, really good and productive.
17:47
Speaker 2: And he's a guy that's intensely interested in the history
17:51
Speaker 2: of the place, so he's been more than happy to ask,
17:54
Speaker 2: you know, questions about you know, things that were done
17:57
Speaker 2: here and that kind of stuff. But you know, I've
17:59
Speaker 2: let him to initiate those conversations rather than get into
18:03
Speaker 2: where I'm calling them and saying, you know, i'll do this,
18:04
Speaker 2: you do that, because I don't think that does anybody
18:07
Speaker 2: any good.
18:08
Speaker 1: All Right, I got to ask you both this actually
18:12
Speaker 1: fourteen game playoff, team playoff? Fourteen team playoff?
18:16
Speaker 5: Is that happening?
18:17
Speaker 1: Where are we going.
18:17
Speaker 6: Next, Jay and Ryan with this? With this playoff system here? Well,
18:21
Speaker 6: for the media future, it's going to be twelve. The
18:24
Speaker 6: SEC I know is pushing for sixteen. The big tim
18:27
Speaker 6: would like C twenty four. I think that I think
18:30
Speaker 6: both of those numbers are too big.
18:32
Speaker 2: I mean, if you said to Fernando Mendoza after the beating,
18:35
Speaker 2: he took in three straight games and by the way,
18:38
Speaker 2: you got one more game left, even he might look
18:40
Speaker 2: at you and go, hey, look, I love Indiana all
18:43
Speaker 2: that that stuff. But you know, and if you go
18:44
Speaker 2: to a twenty fourteen playoff, a team could have two
18:47
Speaker 2: more games left. So I think we gotta be careful
18:50
Speaker 2: of what we're asking people to do physically. You know,
18:53
Speaker 2: this is this is not you know, no disrespect to
18:57
Speaker 2: the FCS football, but you know, there aren't the same
19:00
Speaker 2: we pros in that in that level, and the collisions
19:04
Speaker 2: are not quite as as fast and furious on every
19:07
Speaker 2: play as they are in the you know, the the
19:09
Speaker 2: level where you have.
19:10
Speaker 3: Hio State and Penn State in Texas and those kind
19:12
Speaker 3: of people.
19:12
Speaker 2: So I think it's probably gonna happen before you know,
19:16
Speaker 2: I think they'll try and expand it before there's any
19:19
Speaker 2: kind of collective bargaining with the players, because I think
19:21
Speaker 2: the minute you have collected bargaining, which I think will
19:23
Speaker 2: happen at some point because it has to, the players
19:26
Speaker 2: are gonna want chunk of that money, and I you know,
19:28
Speaker 2: as much money as and look, there's a there's a
19:31
Speaker 2: legitimate financial crisis in college athletics right now.
19:35
Speaker 1: Well you know, I think you wrote about that in
19:36
Speaker 1: the book Blitz. The all out pressure of a college
19:38
Speaker 1: balls New Year.
19:39
Speaker 3: I'm sure.
19:39
Speaker 1: I know that's highlighted in there, right.
19:41
Speaker 3: What's going on so absolutely, and the pressures are real.
19:44
Speaker 2: I mean it's very real, and there's so much money
19:47
Speaker 2: and the kids are grabbing it.
19:48
Speaker 3: But people aren't realizing that.
19:50
Speaker 2: They think all this money, that all these programs are
19:53
Speaker 2: making tons and tons of money, they're spending tons and
19:56
Speaker 2: tons of money.
19:57
Speaker 3: So we don't see.
19:58
Speaker 2: You know, we're seeing a lot of debt taken on
20:00
Speaker 2: by athletic departments. University Kentucky just asked for one hundred
20:03
Speaker 2: and ten million dollar bridge loan to cover some things
20:06
Speaker 2: they need to do. The University of Wisconsin is now
20:09
Speaker 2: going to the state and asking for state money, which
20:12
Speaker 2: is taxpayer money, to help pay for their athletic programs.
20:16
Speaker 2: That's not a good sign. I don't think that's sustainable.
20:19
Speaker 1: All right, Ryan, I want to ask you this too.
20:22
Speaker 1: For a sixteen game playoff, that sounds crazy, doesn't it.
20:26
Speaker 5: It does.
20:26
Speaker 4: I mean even suggesting a twenty four team field.
20:30
Speaker 5: And look, I get it.
20:31
Speaker 4: You can say what you want about controversies with a
20:36
Speaker 4: twelve team selection as it stands. There's been a fair
20:39
Speaker 4: enough of that as it stands.
20:41
Speaker 5: But I don't know. I'm just very skeptical myself.
20:44
Speaker 4: About expanding this to sixteen or twenty four because isn't
20:49
Speaker 4: that only going to lead to more controversial selections and
20:53
Speaker 4: say a sixteen or a twenty fourteen playoff field. But
20:57
Speaker 4: now you also have a little bit of uncertain need
21:00
Speaker 4: to in regards to the college football Playoff because one
21:03
Speaker 4: of the other big things in the news has been
21:06
Speaker 4: President Trump and him signing an executive order to give
21:10
Speaker 4: the Army Navy game a standalone four hour time slot,
21:13
Speaker 4: with no other college football playoff game allowed to be
21:17
Speaker 4: played during that set time frame. So, and this is
21:23
Speaker 4: going to be a question for both Alex and Jay,
21:26
Speaker 4: But could that perhaps have an impact as far as
21:30
Speaker 4: expanding the College Bowl Because I mean I definitely could
21:34
Speaker 4: see it, especially if that game alone is going to
21:38
Speaker 4: be having its own dedicated four hours and one of
21:43
Speaker 4: the most uncertain times for college sports yet.
21:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we'll see if the executive order stands
21:49
Speaker 2: up to you to legally. I mean, it's one thing
21:53
Speaker 2: to sign an executive order, doesn't mean has a force
21:55
Speaker 2: of law, especially when you're talking about something like that.
21:59
Speaker 2: I think some of that's formative art, you know, look
22:01
Speaker 2: at me. I'm gonna, you know, sign this executive order
22:04
Speaker 2: so no one can play during the Army Navy game.
22:07
Speaker 2: You know, networks have a lot more to say about
22:09
Speaker 2: that than than the President does. And scheduling, and you know,
22:13
Speaker 2: I think if you see the playoff move, I mean.
22:15
Speaker 3: Right now, you look at this year coming up.
22:18
Speaker 2: The National Championship game is on the twenty fifth of January.
22:22
Speaker 3: If you're gonna expand the playoff, you're going have to
22:24
Speaker 3: move something up.
22:24
Speaker 2: And now you run into some things that conflict with
22:28
Speaker 2: the Army Navy game. And you know arm uh, you know,
22:31
Speaker 2: Navy wins their conference or Army wins their conference and
22:34
Speaker 2: they're one of the top one of the top five
22:37
Speaker 2: conference champions, they're gonna be in the playoffs, so they
22:40
Speaker 2: may have to move the game up a week. And
22:42
Speaker 2: now if they move the game up a week, that's
22:44
Speaker 2: gonna butt into conference championship games. So I think it's
22:48
Speaker 2: hard to even determine where you're gonna find that window.
22:51
Speaker 1: Anyway, Oh yeah, and I always thought it was a
22:53
Speaker 1: standalone day, but maybe it's not. But anyway, I want
22:57
Speaker 1: to ask you about Tyler Warren. I feel like he was
22:59
Speaker 1: the different maker last year to this year. And have
23:02
Speaker 1: you watched him in the pros? I mean, have you
23:03
Speaker 1: watched his games?
23:05
Speaker 3: I saw, I saw him play.
23:06
Speaker 2: We don't get a lot of coach games here because
23:09
Speaker 2: of where we're at.
23:09
Speaker 3: You know, we get an AFC game, it's the Steelers or.
23:11
Speaker 2: It's one of the AFC North teams, which is frustrating
23:15
Speaker 2: when there's really good teams playing.
23:16
Speaker 3: Elsewhere and you can't get them. But you know that's
23:18
Speaker 3: I'm not giving them any more money for the you know,
23:21
Speaker 3: the extra games, you know that stuff.
23:22
Speaker 2: But but you know, he is one of things. Last
23:27
Speaker 2: offseason when people thought Penn State was a number two
23:30
Speaker 2: or three team in the country, I told people repeatedly,
23:34
Speaker 2: I said, you guys don't understand how good Tyler Warren was.
23:37
Speaker 2: Without Tyler Warren that team may have been. You know,
23:39
Speaker 2: the team in twenty twenty four may have lost three
23:42
Speaker 2: or four games. He was that good of a football player.
23:44
Speaker 2: Because he's one of those guys you had to know
23:46
Speaker 2: where he was all the time. So it was not
23:48
Speaker 2: surprised to see him have the kind of success he
23:50
Speaker 2: did in the NFL. And I think when people don't
23:52
Speaker 2: under maybe underestimated about Tyler Warren is not the physical skills,
23:56
Speaker 2: but the metal skills. He was able to handle and
23:59
Speaker 2: process a lot of difficult roles that have cried a
24:02
Speaker 2: lot of thinking while at Penn State. And that's you know,
24:04
Speaker 2: that's why it's gonna be a great pro And if
24:06
Speaker 2: he stays healthy, that's a guy that's gonna play certainly
24:09
Speaker 2: double digit years in the league.
24:11
Speaker 1: And I think I'll do a carter on this end.
24:13
Speaker 1: In the in the in the Giants world, is gonna
24:14
Speaker 1: straighten up a little bit. I think his second half
24:16
Speaker 1: of the year was pretty was was good. You know,
24:18
Speaker 1: once he got disciplined for getting the meetings and all that,
24:21
Speaker 1: he shaved up a bit more. I think during the
24:23
Speaker 1: rest of that season.
24:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, you gotta be careful what he's watching during the meetings,
24:26
Speaker 3: I guess.
24:27
Speaker 2: I mean, if that story is true, I mean it
24:30
Speaker 2: sounds like it's true, But no, I think I think
24:32
Speaker 2: he's a guy. You know, people forget he was a linebacker,
24:37
Speaker 2: and you know, when he was coming out in the
24:38
Speaker 2: draft last year, I said his upside as an edge
24:41
Speaker 2: is you know, he's still learned the position. So I
24:43
Speaker 2: think as this goes on and you know, he's gotten
24:47
Speaker 2: used to the speed of the game.
24:49
Speaker 3: I think he's got a great future at him.
24:51
Speaker 1: I think that dependsive linell shape up. But I remember
24:53
Speaker 1: you talking about him in an excited way last year
24:55
Speaker 1: when we talked about the post drafts. So all right,
24:58
Speaker 1: I think the million dollar question here is you're running
25:01
Speaker 1: for reelection and why is it important to have not
25:06
Speaker 1: only j paternal but the.
25:07
Speaker 6: Paternal name on the board of trustees. I mean, there
25:10
Speaker 6: is an importance to that, isn't there.
25:12
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's necessarily importance of having that
25:15
Speaker 2: name on there, but I think one thing that's important is,
25:19
Speaker 2: you know, on a board of trustees, institutional memory is
25:22
Speaker 2: really really important, especially given not just here but around
25:26
Speaker 2: the country.
25:26
Speaker 3: Presidents are moving from school to school much.
25:30
Speaker 2: Quicker than they have so the longevity of presidents, the
25:32
Speaker 2: longevity of administrators.
25:35
Speaker 3: I mean, there are a.
25:35
Speaker 2: Number of times when we'll be in a board meeting
25:37
Speaker 2: and they'll say, well, we're not sure why this is
25:40
Speaker 2: set up a certain way of Penn State, and I'll say, well.
25:42
Speaker 3: I remember why and how it happened because I was here.
25:45
Speaker 2: So in a number of different things, you know, we
25:48
Speaker 2: have we had you know, we we added a law
25:51
Speaker 2: school back in the nineties, there was some it was
25:54
Speaker 2: not an easy thing to do, and there was some
25:56
Speaker 2: discussion as to how we reshaped some of those things,
25:59
Speaker 2: and people weren't sure we did the way we did it.
26:01
Speaker 2: But institutional memory is really important because look, universities have
26:05
Speaker 2: been here long for a long time before any of
26:08
Speaker 2: us got here, and hopefully Penn, say, will continue to
26:10
Speaker 2: be a really, really prestigious university for.
26:12
Speaker 3: A long time after I'm gone and we're all gone.
26:15
Speaker 2: So I think it's important to have that connection between
26:17
Speaker 2: the past and the future and people that are thinking
26:20
Speaker 2: about it and a whole range of things from our
26:23
Speaker 2: research enterprise which is a billion two billion three dollars
26:27
Speaker 2: a year to certainly right now in terms of athletics,
26:33
Speaker 2: the business model of college athletics is one that I
26:37
Speaker 2: bring a certain level of expertise to the board that
26:39
Speaker 2: is not there because of my history and what also
26:43
Speaker 2: what I also I do in terms of my own
26:45
Speaker 2: personal life. So I think there's a lot of different
26:48
Speaker 2: reasons for that, but I think most importantly we need
26:53
Speaker 2: people going to advocate for students, for the affordability, for
26:57
Speaker 2: the accessibility to get the education that's going to.
27:01
Speaker 3: Be an ongoing battle.
27:03
Speaker 2: We need to continue to make sure Penn State is
27:06
Speaker 2: a place that everyone feels a home here. And I
27:10
Speaker 2: know that, you know, people don't want to talk about
27:12
Speaker 2: DEI and those kind of things, and you can get
27:14
Speaker 2: in all those discussions, but I think what is important
27:16
Speaker 2: is anybody that comes to Penn State, no matter where
27:19
Speaker 2: they come from, no matter how much money they have,
27:21
Speaker 2: no matter what they want to study, feels like gets
27:24
Speaker 2: the same feeling from Penn State that so many of
27:27
Speaker 2: us had where they come back years from now and
27:29
Speaker 2: it felt like home when they were here, and it
27:31
Speaker 2: continues to feel like home, and we give opportunities to
27:34
Speaker 2: as many outstanding students as we can.
27:36
Speaker 3: I think those are things that are important.
27:39
Speaker 1: All Right, we are in and I love all that
27:41
Speaker 1: what we are in March madness. So I got to
27:43
Speaker 1: ask you this Penn Sate basketball. Maybe they are fans
27:45
Speaker 1: of the Penn s basketball program. Could we see them
27:47
Speaker 1: back in the in the dance one of these years?
27:49
Speaker 6: You think?
27:51
Speaker 3: I hope.
27:51
Speaker 2: I think it's going to take some resources. I think
27:53
Speaker 2: Mike Rhodes is a really, really outstanding basketball coach. I
27:57
Speaker 2: think he needs some resources that we've got to make
27:59
Speaker 2: sure he has to compete because so much of what's
28:03
Speaker 2: going on now.
28:03
Speaker 3: I mean, but all that being said.
28:06
Speaker 2: Nobody spent more money on basketball last year than Indiana did,
28:09
Speaker 2: and they to make the tournament. You know, and here
28:12
Speaker 2: we are talking about Indiana National champions football. In Indiana's
28:15
Speaker 2: basketball isn't even a tournament. So and here's Nebraska, you know,
28:19
Speaker 2: still in it. And it's almost like bizarre world. But
28:23
Speaker 2: I think, you know, we can do that. I think
28:25
Speaker 2: it's going to take some concerted effort. It's going to
28:27
Speaker 2: take resources. It's going to take for us to make
28:30
Speaker 2: a real commitment to Mike Rhodes and our women's coach.
28:34
Speaker 2: We just hired Tanisha Wright, who played her back was
28:37
Speaker 2: an outstanding player back in the late nineties.
28:40
Speaker 3: I think so.
28:40
Speaker 2: Both of those programs I think have the right people
28:43
Speaker 2: in place. The question is can we give them the
28:45
Speaker 2: right resources to be successful.
28:47
Speaker 1: No, I see your on Instagram. You have your own
28:49
Speaker 1: pot or vlog about it about Penn State.
28:52
Speaker 3: Is that right, Jake? Yeah, I do a blog called
28:54
Speaker 3: pigskin Stew. I'm still writing.
28:57
Speaker 1: You know.
28:58
Speaker 3: I may get to the podcast world eventually, but we'll see.
29:01
Speaker 3: But I'm still one of those guys that likes to write.
29:03
Speaker 2: So I write a lot of things, and a lot
29:06
Speaker 2: of during the football season, I'm writing about the biggest
29:09
Speaker 2: games of the week.
29:10
Speaker 3: During the offseason, right now, I'm writing a lot about.
29:12
Speaker 2: Penn State history because you know, Matt Campbell has made
29:15
Speaker 2: a real, real concerted effort to engage with the former players.
29:19
Speaker 3: It's been authentic.
29:20
Speaker 2: It's been very, very inspiring to a lot of our
29:23
Speaker 2: former players who maybe felt they weren't as connected the
29:26
Speaker 2: last ten to twelve years.
29:27
Speaker 3: So I've started a series.
29:29
Speaker 2: Of blogs on that that are going to cover the
29:31
Speaker 2: history of Penn State and maybe some players people haven't
29:33
Speaker 2: thought about in a long time. And so you know,
29:37
Speaker 2: that'll be fun for people to read, fun for the
29:38
Speaker 2: new coaches to read, to have that kind of sense
29:40
Speaker 2: of history as well.
29:42
Speaker 1: Now, Ryan, I'm sure you knew this. Jay was actually
29:43
Speaker 1: on the lines with when his dad coaches that, right, Jay.
29:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a long time ago, yes, so more
29:51
Speaker 2: years than I would admit to.
29:54
Speaker 1: So when he says a memory, he was there from
29:56
Speaker 1: almost I was almost from the beginning of that whole ynasty, right,
30:00
Speaker 1: So we Yeah, I.
30:01
Speaker 3: Mean my dad came the coach before I was born.
30:04
Speaker 2: But I mean from the time I was five years old,
30:06
Speaker 2: I was at every home game until I left to
30:09
Speaker 2: coach elsewhere.
30:10
Speaker 3: But I mean, so you know, I spent a lot
30:12
Speaker 3: of great days.
30:14
Speaker 2: In Beaver Stadium, a lot of cold November days in
30:17
Speaker 2: Beaver Stadium because you know, contrary to what people think,
30:21
Speaker 2: you know, back then, there were no there were no.
30:23
Speaker 3: Suites up until the until two thousand, we didn't have suites.
30:27
Speaker 2: And you know, there was a kid section, which is
30:31
Speaker 2: where I mean, all my friends, my mom, my dad,
30:33
Speaker 2: got no free tickets, so we did the kids section,
30:37
Speaker 2: which was like think six bucks a game.
30:39
Speaker 3: So we sat out there.
30:40
Speaker 2: And then when I finally turned fifteen, sixteen years old,
30:43
Speaker 2: I did stats in the stadium during the games and
30:45
Speaker 2: that was that was the first time I ever sat inside.
30:47
Speaker 3: But great, great memories along all those years.
30:54
Speaker 4: Especially to seeing the ongoing Beaver Stadium renovations as well.
30:59
Speaker 4: And I mean, look, I'm I'm a little too young
31:01
Speaker 4: to recall those days before all the suites were put
31:07
Speaker 4: in all that. I mean, it's just so easy for
31:08
Speaker 4: me to go looking old pictures and all that. But no,
31:13
Speaker 4: I mean I can only imagine just how incredible the
31:16
Speaker 4: state atmosphere was, you know back when you were on
31:20
Speaker 4: the staff day with the Midney Lyons.
31:23
Speaker 3: Well, you know, our fans have always been great.
31:26
Speaker 2: And the thing about our fans, it's really interesting, is
31:29
Speaker 2: we don't have a corporate fan base. You know, you
31:31
Speaker 2: go to NFL games and there's a lot of fans
31:34
Speaker 2: that you know, their companies have tickets or they're really
31:37
Speaker 2: wealthy or whatever it may be.
31:39
Speaker 3: If you go to you know, if you go to
31:41
Speaker 3: some other schools, there's.
31:42
Speaker 2: A lot of corporate but our fan base, many of
31:46
Speaker 2: them are generation after generation of people who have come
31:51
Speaker 2: from small towns all over Pennsylvania and they've been there
31:54
Speaker 2: when we were good, and they've been there we.
31:56
Speaker 3: Were not so good, and they've been loyal.
31:58
Speaker 2: And I hope that as we continue to evolve the
32:01
Speaker 2: stadium and the fan experience, we're gonna price those people
32:03
Speaker 2: out of the market, because when we've been down, they've
32:06
Speaker 2: been the ones that have been there, that have been loud,
32:09
Speaker 2: and they've been boisterous, and they've really helped us through
32:12
Speaker 2: tough times.
32:13
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely for sure.
32:15
Speaker 4: And I guess that's probably why it's just easy, at
32:18
Speaker 4: least in my opinion, to just become attracted to this
32:21
Speaker 4: program too, and that's obviously not taken into account my
32:24
Speaker 4: family history with it. Two, because because Jay I was
32:27
Speaker 4: pretty much just born into a Penn State family, my cousin, well,
32:31
Speaker 4: I actually have two cousins in Penn State. One of
32:34
Speaker 4: them graduated actually in twenty twelve. The other currently goes
32:37
Speaker 4: there right now. I believe he is about to go
32:42
Speaker 4: into his senior year, if I'm not mistaken, So shout
32:45
Speaker 4: out to Tristan. But no, I went to the Northwestern
32:50
Speaker 4: game back in October. That was actually my first time
32:53
Speaker 4: at Beaver Stadium. I'd never been beforehand up to the
32:58
Speaker 4: up until them. But to be able to to share
33:01
Speaker 4: that passion with him, and you know, really also to
33:04
Speaker 4: feel that passion as well throughout Beaver Stadium, even with
33:08
Speaker 4: the tailgates before the game, just seeing that whole blue
33:12
Speaker 4: collar experience of just that's the word, fully appreciating not
33:16
Speaker 4: just the history of the program, but also just this
33:19
Speaker 4: current roster right now, as especially in the last days
33:23
Speaker 4: under Franklin and the last days although we didn't know
33:27
Speaker 4: it at the time of a you know, Drew Awler's
33:29
Speaker 4: college playing career, I mean, you can definitely see why
33:33
Speaker 4: now it's just so easy to become attracted to this team,
33:37
Speaker 4: this program.
33:38
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's the one of the things I love about
33:40
Speaker 5: it really.
33:41
Speaker 3: And you mentioned a tailgate. You know, so many, so
33:43
Speaker 3: many schools now and everybody.
33:45
Speaker 2: They're all bringing these outside consultants and they're talking about
33:48
Speaker 2: the fan experience and comm in early, and he you
33:51
Speaker 2: guys don't get it. Offense state, nobody wants to commit
33:54
Speaker 2: to the game that early. They tailgate. They eat the
33:58
Speaker 2: same food their grandmother, you know, or their uncle is
34:01
Speaker 2: cooking on the grill or whatever it may be. And
34:04
Speaker 2: you know, and it's a thirty five hundred calorie pregame meal,
34:09
Speaker 2: I mean every week, Yeah, at a minimum.
34:12
Speaker 3: I mean you're looking at you know, everything.
34:13
Speaker 2: From Parogi's to brats to hamburgers, hot dogs, Italian sausage.
34:18
Speaker 3: So it means it. I mean you go around and
34:21
Speaker 3: you see what these people are eating.
34:22
Speaker 2: And the great thing was, you know, my first couple
34:25
Speaker 2: of years after I was done coaching, if I went
34:28
Speaker 2: to tailgates, people would grab, hey, you want this.
34:30
Speaker 3: You want that.
34:31
Speaker 8: I'm like, oh my god, I realize, you know, at
34:33
Speaker 8: the end of the season, like I'm gonna get my
34:35
Speaker 8: big rear end off the couch and go get do
34:38
Speaker 8: some exercise because I ate way too much tailgating this fall.
34:42
Speaker 8: But that's part of the whole experience, since we that's
34:45
Speaker 8: what professional consultants don't get about the college game day
34:49
Speaker 8: experience when they come in and they sell you on
34:51
Speaker 8: all these special access.
34:53
Speaker 3: Points and beer guard.
34:55
Speaker 2: It's like, guys, you gotta understand, these families have been
34:58
Speaker 2: doing this for decades and this is what they know,
35:01
Speaker 2: this is what they want, and they're not really interested
35:03
Speaker 2: in all the bells and whistles.
35:06
Speaker 4: Like sometimes you really just have to keep it simple.
35:09
Speaker 5: I guess it's really the best way you can put
35:11
Speaker 5: it there.
35:12
Speaker 4: And it's what so many just aren't understanding about the
35:16
Speaker 4: sports fan experience to this day. And I mean that's
35:19
Speaker 4: especially prevalent at Penn State too, with everybody just keeping
35:22
Speaker 4: it simple, and you know that side of the family,
35:26
Speaker 4: my mother's side, tailgating a lot of the games, and
35:31
Speaker 4: especially with a cousin of mine going to Penn State
35:34
Speaker 4: right now, going to all the football games. I mean,
35:37
Speaker 4: that experience has just never been more important, especially now
35:41
Speaker 4: in this evolving landscape, not just with a lot of
35:45
Speaker 4: these professional franchises, even these college programs too, dedicating themselves
35:52
Speaker 4: to corporatize the corporatization of their programs and all, but
35:58
Speaker 4: then also.
35:59
Speaker 5: Wanting to just price the common man out. And I
36:01
Speaker 5: mean that's just.
36:04
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I think as you look at just get.
36:06
Speaker 5: An icky feeling just.
36:08
Speaker 3: Right.
36:10
Speaker 2: And I think that's the thing that people realize is
36:12
Speaker 2: as players are jumping every year, the connection is no longer.
36:16
Speaker 3: Going to be with the players.
36:18
Speaker 2: It's going to the real connective tissue is going to
36:21
Speaker 2: be amongst fans who tailgate together every week. So they're
36:26
Speaker 2: gonna come back to Penn State every week to see
36:28
Speaker 2: the people they tailgate with, people they've known for years,
36:31
Speaker 2: people they sat next two for years.
36:33
Speaker 3: Those that's gonna be your connective tissue as you look
36:36
Speaker 3: forward into this.
36:38
Speaker 2: And it's not gonna be oh, I paid four hundred
36:41
Speaker 2: bucks a game and I can go into this lounge
36:43
Speaker 2: and get a stake between quarters or whatever it is
36:46
Speaker 2: or pregame. It's gonna be those things where they you know,
36:50
Speaker 2: I don't people that are worth boatloads of money and
36:53
Speaker 2: they they are retailgate this. They tailgate the same place,
36:57
Speaker 2: they eat the same stuff, and they are not interesting
37:00
Speaker 2: and anything other than doing.
37:01
Speaker 3: What they've always done. I think that's that's what colleg
37:06
Speaker 3: today right there, that's college football. That's exactly right.
37:10
Speaker 1: Jay. Let me ask you this one. One. One of
37:12
Speaker 1: the things you mentioned how Matt's reaching out to alumni,
37:15
Speaker 1: so kem Penn State fans look forward to a Saquon return, like,
37:20
Speaker 1: will he make a guest appearance?
37:21
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, well, I think it depends on
37:23
Speaker 2: his schedule. I think the Giants would like to see
37:26
Speaker 2: him back in the Giants because for a Penn State game.
37:32
Speaker 3: I mean, that's one of those ones you go.
37:34
Speaker 2: Oh, they might have gotten that one wrong, might have
37:37
Speaker 2: I would say they did well.
37:38
Speaker 1: He goes on to do the rushing record a year later,
37:40
Speaker 1: and he wins a ring the same year.
37:42
Speaker 2: I know. I mean, but you talk about a guy
37:45
Speaker 2: who is really you know, he's everything you want, you know.
37:49
Speaker 2: I mean, he's just the way he's carried himself and
37:51
Speaker 2: conducted his personal life and everything he's He's a guy
37:54
Speaker 2: that's a tremendous example of what Penn.
37:56
Speaker 3: State's all about.
37:57
Speaker 2: And you know, I saw an interview with him years
37:59
Speaker 2: ago and he talked about you know, growing up you know,
38:01
Speaker 2: originally from New York, but you know, grew up at
38:03
Speaker 2: Allen but to high school in Allentown, and you know,
38:05
Speaker 2: he talked about always wanting to be a part of
38:06
Speaker 2: Penn State and when the opportunity came, he did he
38:09
Speaker 2: made the.
38:10
Speaker 3: Most of it.
38:10
Speaker 2: And I think that's he really reflects the kind of
38:13
Speaker 2: things that you know, one of the biggest compliments I
38:16
Speaker 2: can give guys to play the Penn State was, you know,
38:18
Speaker 2: Joe would have loved coaching when Joe would have loved
38:19
Speaker 2: coaching Saquon Barkley.
38:22
Speaker 1: That's a huge compliment and wow, but well deserved.
38:26
Speaker 2: I mean, the way he plays, the heart, the way
38:29
Speaker 2: he works in the offseason, and me just the way
38:32
Speaker 2: he cares.
38:33
Speaker 1: I can never bw the guy because actually he did
38:34
Speaker 1: what he needed to do for himself. That was the
38:36
Speaker 1: bottom line with all that, you know, and he goes
38:39
Speaker 1: out with the ring and.
38:40
Speaker 3: That's saying something coming from New York. Yeah, if you're
38:43
Speaker 3: not going to boo an eagle, he must have been.
38:45
Speaker 3: He must be doing something right.
38:48
Speaker 1: Yeah.
38:48
Speaker 4: Well, actually with the whole issues with that front office,
38:53
Speaker 4: you know, as it stands, especially as it pertained to
38:57
Speaker 4: whether to bring him back or not. So I mean, look,
39:01
Speaker 4: in the end, can't really fault him for leaving New York.
39:04
Speaker 4: But you know, it definitely also says something winning a
39:07
Speaker 4: ring for a team based in Pennsylvania.
39:11
Speaker 5: So I'm sure a lot of the Pennsylvanians.
39:15
Speaker 1: State was going crazy, weren't they. Penn Sate was going crazy.
39:18
Speaker 2: You couldn't walk any you know, It's funny the jerseys
39:23
Speaker 2: you see around this campus more than any.
39:25
Speaker 3: Saquon Barkley's one of them. The other one is Gavin.
39:28
Speaker 2: McKenna of the hockey player at Penn State is going
39:32
Speaker 2: to be probably be the first pick in the NHL
39:33
Speaker 2: Draft in a couple of in two months.
39:36
Speaker 3: Or whatever it is. Those are two jerseys you see
39:38
Speaker 3: around campus more than any.
39:40
Speaker 2: It's really funny because we've evolved and there's this this
39:43
Speaker 2: hockey thing going on now, which has been great.
39:45
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, it's built to do a really
39:47
Speaker 3: good thing.
39:48
Speaker 2: But te Kwan is one of those guys, no matter
39:50
Speaker 2: how long he lives, when he comes back to Penn
39:54
Speaker 2: State will always get an ovation.
39:55
Speaker 3: I mean, he really has represented the school in such
39:57
Speaker 3: a great way.
39:59
Speaker 1: Well, Jay, this been a great time. Ryan, any final
40:01
Speaker 1: thoughts before we part ways today with with Jay pa Turno.
40:05
Speaker 4: Well, we definitely had a lot to talk about today,
40:08
Speaker 4: that is for sure, but no, definitely great to highlight
40:11
Speaker 4: an interesting crossroads as far as the Penn State football
40:14
Speaker 4: program is concerned as they go into the new era
40:17
Speaker 4: with Matt Campbell. But also really talk about the hype
40:21
Speaker 4: with the hockey team as well. Of course, they just
40:23
Speaker 4: had their outdoor game a couple of months ago, a
40:26
Speaker 4: lot of hype for that. My cousin actually at the
40:28
Speaker 4: game as well, sending me a lot of pictures.
40:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's just such a fun time.
40:33
Speaker 2: Were shocked, they were in shock about like, oh my god,
40:39
Speaker 2: this place is unbelievable. It was just but I mean,
40:42
Speaker 2: you know, in the hockey team, they you know, the
40:44
Speaker 2: women's hockey team just made the Frozen Four. You know,
40:47
Speaker 2: just lost in semi finals in overtime to the eventual champion.
40:50
Speaker 2: The men's team starts in the tournament coming up now,
40:53
Speaker 2: So I mean, it's it's it's it's in the wrestling team.
40:56
Speaker 2: It's just a good time to be a Penn State
40:57
Speaker 2: sports fan right now.
40:59
Speaker 4: It's never a better time for sure, and especially because
41:04
Speaker 4: I know we were talking a bit about the basketball
41:05
Speaker 4: program earlier in the prospects of them potentially getting back
41:10
Speaker 4: into the big dance. I mean, look, if Penn State
41:13
Speaker 4: hockey could become insanely relevant in hockey culture right now,
41:20
Speaker 4: to the point where we're talking about one of Happy
41:23
Speaker 4: Valley's own becoming the first overall pick in the NHL draft,
41:26
Speaker 4: and surely it's possible that sooner or later Penn State
41:30
Speaker 4: can get back into the big dance, and that is
41:31
Speaker 4: something I'm sure we all would love to.
41:33
Speaker 3: See absolutely well.
41:35
Speaker 1: Jay On then note, thanks for your time as always,
41:37
Speaker 1: and we got to reconnect soon, but good luck on
41:39
Speaker 1: your reelection. Get bid and and we're rooting for you
41:41
Speaker 1: here at one we got Alex Media and Fag's perspective.
41:44
Speaker 3: Appreciate it, guys. Thanks