Penn State Football: Recruiting Class Finalized Under Challenging Circumstances

Stan Hixon had never recruited for Penn State until a month ago, but he’s known for years the type of football player Penn State attracts.

He's known this because he’s heard Larry Johnson’s name in coaching circles for 15 years. And he watched his prized recruit, a kid named Courtney Brown, decline an offer from Georgia Tech because his mother adored the quiet lifestyle State College provided and the way Joe Paterno preached academics.

“I never recruited a guy harder,” Hixon said of Brown, a former All-America defensive end and No. 1 overall NFL draft pick with the Browns. “Obviously, I lost him.”

Now, the wide receivers coach and the rest of Bill O’Brien’s staff don’t have to worry about losing anymore kids to Penn State.

Their issue lies in making sure they bring kids to Penn State, which officially completed its 19-member recruiting class of 2012 on Wednesday, the first day high school seniors could sign their letters of intent.

It’s been a challenging recruiting season for Penn State. A two-month coaching search on the heels of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal resulted in the dismissal of Paterno and caused disruption in the recruiting schedule.

When much of the recruiting efforts can otherwise be on adding to the current class, the staff turnover changed the recruiting strategy from addition to avoiding attrition. Penn State lost a handful of commitments because of the events of the last three months, including five of its top prospects to Big Ten rival Ohio State.

“It was very challenging, particularly in December when it was uncertain what course Penn State was going to go in,” said linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden, one of two assistants — Johnson the other — to be retained from the previous regime. “Not all of them but most of them really were in love with Penn State, Penn State football and were coming to Penn State for all the right reasons.”

O’Brien made it clear to recruits he wouldn’t kick them to the curb once he stepped in as coach Jan. 6, and he and the staff expressed appreciation for those who stuck with Penn State through turmoil.

"I told the group in our first meeting that you guys don't realize this now, how special you really are," Johnson said. "You guys are gonna look back on this class in four years and say, 'Wow, look at what these guys have done,' and that's why I told them they are special."

Penn State spokesman Jeff Nelson said each member of the class received a four-year scholarship. Traditionally, scholarships are a renewable, one-year grant, but the NCAA has started allowing schools to offer multiyear scholarships, beginning this year.

“We’re selling Penn State University and what it stands for rather than who the coach was,” Johnson said. “We weren’t selling something that wasn’t real. Penn State is still a great institution. It’s a great place to come and get your education from and so you sell those values to the family. That’s what they bought into.”

Johnson oversaw recruiting while O’Brien was coordinating the offense of the New England Patriots. O’Brien’s Patriots meet the Giants in the Super Bowl on Sunday before O’Brien heads back to State College permanently for his new job.

He communicated via email, conference call and Skype with the coaching staff and recruits as often as he could and visited with many recruits on campus last month during a major recruiting weekend.

The marching orders, according to Vanderlinden:

• Take good students

• Don’t settle — take kids who can win football games.

Charles London, the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator for O’Brien, spoke with Titans coach Mike Munchak a few times before leaving Tennessee for State College to get a feel for Penn State’s strongest qualities to help him pitch to parents in their living rooms.

“The scene will be a little different, but I can see us recruiting the same type of kids,” London said. “It’s a special type of kid that needs to come to school here, one that wants an education and one that wants to play big time college football.”

Penn State’s class finished No. 50 nationally, but these were less than ideal recruiting circumstances. And frankly, O’Brien scoffed at the idea the class can’t make an impact.

“I could care less about player rankings,” O’Brien said. “What I care about is if we found the right fit for Penn State. I’m not sure who does the rankings, all I know is I’m a part of a football team right now, the New England Patriots, if you went up and down our roster, you’d find guys that were highly ranked coming out of high school and you’d find plenty of guys that weren’t ranked at all coming out of high school.”

Related coverage

• StateCollege.com's Penn State football page