Penn State coach Matt Campbell has made it clear that he wants to embrace the program’s history.
He showed that at his introductory press conference, when he mentioned program greats Todd Blackledge and Kyle Brady.
He showed it throughout spring practice, when he had more than 450 lettermen back to campus.
This past Tuesday, the university announced the “Paterno Family Football Experience Room,”
WHAT CAMPBELL SAID
“What makes Penn State special is the history of this place, and there are so many key figures from coaches and players that have made up the last 100+ years of Penn State football.
“And I just feel like to me, coming in here, understanding that is the superpower of Penn State. It’s who’s come before us, what they’ve done to allow us to have a platform to play in front of this unbelievable crowd and this unbelievable fan base. Those are the people with – a lot of them – their blood, their sweat, their tears, their time, their effort. They built this opportunity for us to be able to grow forward.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“So I think from my end of it, it means the world to me to understand our history, to understand our past, and to make sure our young men in our program understand the history and past of Penn State football.”
TRAITS OF JOE
Nittany Sports Now talked with two Penn State lettermen over the offseason who said Campbell reminded them of Paterno.
“He’s got that Joe thing going,” Matt Millen told NSN. “He’s big on the academics. He’s big on, you know, being smart and playing smart, and so I think all those things are good factors, and I think that I think I think (athletic director) Pat Kraft hit a home run when he got this guy.”
“Coach (Paterno) was tough,” Ki-Jana Carter told NSN in an exclusive interview at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago Tuesday, “but also fair, and he cared about the team. And I think that’s the thing. “I’m not at the facility every day. I’m not at practice or meetings, but when you talk to him, he was just talking to me now. He was like, ‘man, I really, really appreciate you coming and talking to the team… You have no idea what that meant. That’s coming from the heart.’”
“I think sincerity in his voice and his demeanor that one thing that comes off. That with Coach (Paterno), it was the same thing.”
