Terry Smith has two phones.
After the interim Penn State HC got his first win in the new role Saturday at Michigan State, and the dust had settled from him getting a Gatorade bath and being lifted by two offensive linemen, each one of them had roughly 500 text messages on it.
That doesn’t include direct messages, which were “another five or six hundred,” per Smith.
When Smith talked about this outpouring of support at Monday’s press conference, he broke down.
There aren’t too many people who are moe “Penn State” than Terry Smith.
By now, you probably know the story: Smith was a standout receiver for Joe Paterno in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Then, after spending much of the first two decades after his college career as a coach and athletic director in the high school ranks, he returned to his alma mater.
Smith was the only coordinator/position coach to stay with James Franklin for his entire 11.5-year tenure at Penn State, and when Franklin was fired midway through year 11, Smith was immediately named the interim coach.
After three losses– two of which by a total of four points– Smith got his first W.
It appeared that Smith was close to breaking down in his postgame press conference Saturday, when asked where the win ranked amongst the thrills he had in football.
This time, he couldn’t hold back, and nobody in the Beaver Stadium media room blamed him for it.
“I’m really happy,” Smith said Saturday. “I’m just happy for those guys in the locker room, like for all you that are parents, you understand exactly what I’m saying. These are my kids, and there’s nothing more than to make your kids happy, and the sacrifice we do as parents for our kids, that’s what I’m happy about. Obviously, this is a great moment for me, for my family. It’s just humbling to be honest.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.On Monday, the discussion was more toward the outpouring of support.
I’ve been reached out to by basically every person I’ve ever known in my entire life. People are super proud of me. It’s just, I get… It’s just very humbling for me,” Smith said, beginning to cry.
“I apologize. It’s just humbling sitting in this seat.”
“There’s so many people in my life that speak life into me, and they all reach out. And I’m just so blessed. God has been so good to me through everything in my life. I have the opportunity to be the head coach at Penn State. I don’t think anything has made me or my family happier than this opportunity. I’m thankful for all my friends, my family, my supporters. Saturday was… I can’t even tell you how I felt. I’ve never been lifted off the field in my career. It was just a great moment.”
Afterward, Smith was asked why Penn State means so much to him.
“My dad graduated in ’68,” he said. “It’s all we know.”
Smith then started to discuss his upbringing.
“I’m from a small town called Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and it’s not a very nice place,” Smith said. “My dad, through his education at Penn State, moved us to the other side of Pittsburgh, to Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and he gave us a better life because of his education here. It taught our entire family about possibilities in life, and you can be whatever you want to be. This place has done so much for me and my family.
Smith then said that he believes he has “nine or 10 family members that have Penn State degrees” and three that are current students.
“This place is special,” he said. “It’s amazing. It’s… I just want to give back to it. I just want to make sure I’m holding up my end of the bargain and putting out a team that everyone can be proud of.”
