Meet Penn State's 'Dirty Show'
There's a lot of things you can call Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, but if you're on Bill O'Brien's practice field there's one name you shouldn't use - "walk-on."
Meet Penn State's 'Dirty Show'
There’s a lot of things you can call Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, but if you’re on Bill O’Brien’s practice field there’s one name you shouldn’t use – former "walk-on."
That’s because O’Brien has erased that word from his team’s vocabulary. They’re called "run-ons" now.
"These guys don't walk, they run on the field, they sprint on the field, they bust their butt on the field," O’Brien said as a smile stretched across his face at Tuesday’s press conference. "I know that goes against everybody's term for non‑scholarship players for the last 100 years of college football, but that's just our term for them."
Another new term for O’Brien’s squad? The Dirty Show.
And who exactly makes up "The Dirty Show?" Senior quarterback Shane McGregor, senior fullback Pat Zerbe, and dozens of players most casual Penn State fans probably haven’t heard of – and probably won’t see take the field on Saturday against Virginia.
For most programs, this is the "scout team." For as long as anyone can remember they’ve been called the "foreign team" at Penn State.
But this is O’Brien’s program now, and his touches are all over the kingdom of Penn State football. He changed the uniforms, rewrote the strength and conditioning program and altered the soundtrack at practice.
So meet "The Dirty Show." It’s a term borrowed from O’Brien’s former employer, the New England Patriots.
O’Brien says one reason for the name change is because "foreign team" and "walk-on" have negative connotations.
"It makes it seem like they just came, that nobody wanted them which is far from the truth," senior fullback Mike Zordich said. "They got recruited they just couldn’t get a scholarship."
Most were standout players at their high schools. Many had other scholarship offers. All play an important role at practice in pushing the starters to work harder.
They’ve improved a lot in their time at Penn State, and that’s something to be proud of.
"High school players in the state of Pennsylvania can really look at that and say, here's a place that I've grown up loving, and I've always wanted to play at, and here's my opportunity to go play at and potentially earn a scholarship in my time there," O’Brien said. " I think there's no doubt that hopefully that resonates with kids in Pennsylvania especially.
O’Brien also changed the name because it keeps everyone involved.
"It makes it more fun for those guys," Zordich said.
If a player like Zerbe makes a play against the defense, instead of getting yelled at, he can celebrate.
Zordich says that pumps up the intensity in practice and makes it more of a game-like, competitive atmosphere. At New England, the Dirty Show often showboated in practice. They could spike balls after interceptions or dance after a touchdown.
But perhaps most importantly for O’Brien, is that the new names play into the theme for Penn State football this season: "One Team."
After the NCAA sanctions, all players were given the opportunity to transfer without any penalties. These are the ones who stayed.
Said O’Brien: "It's definitely part of the philosophy that we have here at Penn State of keeping everybody involved." -Emily Kaplan
These kids are in no way the Patriots. Lose the NFL names dip sh*t. The Dirty Show was going on in random places when Sandusky was around.— pritter- The Dirty Show. Yeah. That's brilliant.— PhilsPhan2541
- Forget football at this joint for at least seven years........— STEPHEN1988
- Couldn't O'Brien think of a more inappropriate name for the walk-ons?— Boru
- This comment has been deleted.— mrjetsondc420
- YO MORON! These kids did nothing wrong! Can you seperate the sick convicted ex-employee from the current players? No I guess not. A quarter million alunmi wish you you would learn more about the good PSU does before posting this garbage! — tomdrum7
- Yep the haters are on here today!— slade1955
This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
