The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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“Scrap” Hired by WVU

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Tom “Scrap” Bradley, former defensive coordinator during the Paterno Era, has reached an agreement with West Virginia University and head coach Dana Holgorsen to become “senior associate head coach”. As such, he’ll work with Tony Gibson, who was recently promoted to defensive coordinator.

I’m sure the whiners will have something to say about this, like “HOW COULD HE??!?!?!” Well, hell, it’s not like Bowden or Rich Rodriguez are still coaching in Morgantown, and it’s not like they’re a regularly scheduled opponent. So, STFU! It’s not like he went to tOSU or anything!

It’s great that Bradley got a real job after languishing in the broadcast booth. He’s 57, and jobs don’t come easily for near seniors.

Said Bradley:

“I am truly excited to join the West Virginia football program. “I want to thank Coach Dana Holgorsen and Oliver Luck for this tremendous opportunity to contribute to the continued growth and success of the Mountaineer football program. Tony Gibson and I have recruited against each other in Pennsylvania for a lot of years, and it will be good to finally be on his side. I look forward to working with my friend to build a strong defensive unit at West Virginia.”

Read the article, man.

New Prexy from FSU

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Eric J. Barron
Eric J. Barron

There’s a new sheriff in town, and who can wait until Monday’s official announcement to blast out the news? Clearly, Onward State can’t, as they broke the story two days ago that was later picked up by the other scoop starved rags. Eric J. Barron, most recently president of Florida State University is to become Penn State’s new president, replacing the retiring Rod Erickson.

(I can think of three Penn State presidents who had “Eric” in their name: Eric Walker, who was president when I was there, Rod Erickson, and now Eric Barron. But I digress.)

Read some of the stories — some unremarkably derivative of the Onward State story:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Philadelphia Inquirer

Harrisburg Patriot-News

Bloomberg

Tallahassee Democrat

Centre Daily Times

The hiring comes on the heels of the report that Penn State Athletics lost almost $6 million last year. Tough job to walk into for Barron. He’ll be working on emphasizing the de-emphasis of the football culture at Penn State.

I am not smart enough to outguess the selection committee, so I can’t speculate on how good a fit Barron will be, and precisely what he will bring to the table. I cannot say how the PS4RS people will react (he hasn’t yet stated a position on their most important issue: restoring the Paterno statue and record). I can’t predict how Barron will get along with Mark Emmert. I have no idea whether he’ll keep Dave Joyner around or find a better athletic director somewhere else. I don’t know anything.

But you all do know everything among you collectively! I know that you people out there who are smarter than I am will have something to say of benefit to your astute and highly intelligent readers of The Nittany Turkey. So, please give us your comments.

Comments from haters are welcome, too. I can see the whining now: Joe’s record will never be restored now that a Bowden lover is running the show! Can anything that comes from Florida be any good? This is not me speaking, as I have been a Floridian for the past 38 years plus my high school years. Barron has a Penn State connection, having been a dean and taught there, which some of you will regard as mitigating the serious issue of his most recently being president of the much hated Semenoles [sic]. 😀

Tell me what you think!

Sudden Impact: Layin’ Low

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The high drama of replacing a hastily departing head football coach at Penn State has concluded with the hire of James Franklin for about $4.5 million per year plus or minus. So, with the winter doldrums upon us, here is a potpourri of articles that will serve to avert bore-dum.

We start with Franklin’s announcement of his full staff, which most of you probably know of by now. Here at the Turkey, we believe in not going off half-cocked, so we wait for official announcements before jumping to any half-assed conclusions. This is also known as laziness and procrastination. So, without further ado, here is the official announcement.

If you’re too lazy to click that link, here is the rundown:

– James Franklin, head coach;
– Bob Shoop, defensive coordinator/safeties coach;
– John Donovan, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach;
– Charles Huff, special teams coordinator/running backs coach;
– Brent Pry, assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach;
– Josh Gattis, offensive recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach;
– Herb Hand, run game coordinator/offensive line coach;
– Ricky Rahne, passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach;
– Terry Smith, defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks coach;
– Sean Spencer, defensive line coach.

WTF. I don’t see Vanderlinden or Bradley in there anywhere? And where’s McQueary?

Seven of these guys were on Franklin’s staff at Vandy.

Franklin also announced that Dwight Galt has been named Director of Performance Enhancement and will supervise the Nittany Lions’ strength and conditioning regimen. Barry Gant, Jr. and Chuck Losey, former members of the Vanderbilt staff, have been named assistant strength and conditioning coaches. Brian Bell and Galt’s son, Dwight Galt IV, will continue in their roles as assistant strength and conditioning coaches, having joined the Penn State staff in 2012.

Several of the coaches have Pennsylvania connections.

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At the risk of beating a dead horse, Bill O’Brien’s departure still has some people scratching their heads and some others pointing fingers. The famous “Paterno People” interview by David Jones revealed that O’Brien was conflicted about some issues within the administration and athletic programs at Penn State.

John U. Bacon, author of the college football exposé Fourth and Long, opines on reasons in his article “Penn State’s Administrative Dysfunction Pushed Coach Bill O’Brien Back to NFL.”

Bacon blames much of O’Brien’s discontent on the BoT and Dave Joyner. He even touches on the botched president hiring in November 2013.

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Another favorite topic around here is the NCAA. Any proposals regarding restructuring it are certainly welcome. And thus, it was that when reader Joe turned up some evidence of a current proposal, I took notice. If you read it with a jaundiced I (as I did), you’ll see it as a bunch of rebureaucratizing gobbledygook, but perhaps you can cut through the crap better than I. Perhaps you can find redemption somewhere.

Joe sent me a link to an article called “NCAA Proposal Focused on Short-Term Repair, Not Long-Term Improvement“, which presents its anonymous author’s opinions on the proposal.

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Last, and probably least, we whisk you away to the fantasy land of Hollywood. The film “Happy Valley”, a documentary by Amir Bar-Lev about the happenings at Penn State during and after the Sandusky Scandal, has been presented at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Entertainment Weekly interviewed Bar-Lev about the making of the film and his interpretation of the events of the time.

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We’ll be back sporadically during the off-season when we have something to say about anything.