That’s a Wrap!

End of Season Thoughts from the Turkey

I’m a few days late with my 2025 swan song, but I didn’t have a lot to say about the Pinstripe Bowl that you hadn’t already read somewhere else.

Also, I know it is considered sacrilege among the Sanguinarians, but I’m not all ga-ga about Terry Smith and I don’t feel that Pat Kraft missed the boat by not hiring him for the permanent job. I’m confident that Matt Campbell is the right guy for the job.

Why? Because he’s the guy who got it. Frankly, we do not know how anyone will do until they’ve been in the job for a cycle or two, and until then, one’s as good as the other. And fans, particularly those who never played or coached the game, but only know how to bet on it, are idiots, so the first false step by Campbell will make him the target of vacuous, unfounded Facebook scorn.

He made the right move keeping Terry around to ease his transition. Cheap insurance against a fan and player revolt. (Fans and players are such insecure critters — take away their security blankie and they crumble into a paranoid mound of Jell-o). Associate Head Coach? WTF does that mean? Amorphous duties no doubt. Stick around, Terry, and we’ll find something for you to do. Four years? We’ll see.

Oh, yeah, the Pinstripe Bowl. Penn State won 22-10. Grunkemeyer performed well, prompting many Sanguinarians to anoint Grunk as the starter right here and now before someone else snatches him up. Meanwhile, surprise, surprise, Dani Dennis-Sutton surprised us all by opting-IN. In this day of “I don’t give a shit bout no bowl game”, that’s a mark of character. Clemson looked like shit, as their receivers dropped almost as many passes as they caught.

So, the transfer portal opens on January 2. Chinese checkers ahead. Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows. Sanguinarians want Beau Pribula to come back to Penn State. Lemme ask you — how the hell do you complete your plan of study when you transfer to a new school every year? (That was tongue-in-cheek; to quote the inimitable ex-Buckeye Cardale Jones, “I don’t come here to play classes.”)

But the big, big news, especially for Sanguinarians, is D’anton Lynn’s projected hire as Matt Campbell’s Defensive Coordinator. Lynn, an ex-Nittany Lion cornerback currently coaching at USC, meets the Sanguinarian Seal of Approval. After coaching in the NFL, Lynn moved to UCLA in 2023, then moved on to USC for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Seems to hop around a lot. Will he stick around at Penn State for any length of time? Penn Stater or no, Lynn is likely to stick around until a better offer comes along. That’s they way of college football these days.

We don’t know nothin! We don’t know who will be playing next year and I won’t be speculating about it here.

So, I’ll wish you all a Happy New Year!