What happens tomorrow for the Penn State football team?
Here's what the upcoming week looks like for Penn State coaches and players:
What happens tomorrow for the Penn State football team?
The past three months have looked like this for the Penn State football team: Early morning (5:30 a.m.) runs, early morning lifts, practice in the rain, practice in the cold, practice in the sun, media obligations, travel to the Midwest, travel home from the Midwest, emotional wins, emotional losses. Oh, and school work.
At about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, the last group of Nittany Lions trickled out of the interview at Beaver Stadium and walked out into the chilly State College night. The 2012 season is over. So what happens now?
Here's what the upcoming week looks like for Penn State coaches and players:
Sophomore kicker Sam Ficken: "Not wake up at 5:30 a.m.," the Indiana native said, with a laugh. "I'll get a lift and run in here and there. But not on schedule. I'll just go to class, focus on grades a bit."
Senior cornerback Stephon Morris: "First off, I'm going to get my degree," he said. The senior is a telecommunications major and is scheduled to gradauate this May. But in the meantime, he'll be training with Penn State strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald for the 2012 NFL Draft. "Hopefully my future is bright and the NFL will give me a chance," Morris said. "But if not, I'm going to keep moving on."
Senior safety Jake Fagnano: He plans on hanging out with his brother, lay low and relax. "I also want to kick back and do a lot of thinking," the former walk-on said. "I want to think about the last five years and soak it all in."
Senior right guard John Urschel (who has one of year of eligibiliy left): Urschel plans on taking Monday off. "You will not see me in the football building on Monday," he said. "I'm relaxing." What does relaxing mean to the graduate student who graduated with a 4.0 GPA in math? Let's just say it's not the same relaxing as most of us. "I'm going to do some research," he said. Urschel recently found out one of his papers will be published in the journal, "Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy."
Linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden: "Tomorrow I'm going to grade my tape and go to church," he said. "I haven't gone to church in a while so I'm looking forward to that." Vanderlinen has a few meetings on Monday and Tuesday, then will hit the road recuiting on Wednesday.
Senior fullback Mike Zordich: "Just enjoy my friends," he said. "Last couple weeks together, we're all going to be headed off in different directions. So we're just going to have a good time with eachother." Zordich also has his eyes on the long term. "Obviously I'd like to take a shot at the [NFL]," Zordich said. "We'll go from there."
Head coach Bill O'Brien: He'll be recruiting again, starting Wednesday.
-Emily Kaplan
what now, nothing? The NCAA has destroyed them for at least nine years.
But Cam Newton's father who cleary violated NCAA policy and Auburn get a passadena. What hyporacy.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Report-Newtons-father-admits-discussing-cash.html
Then, the vauted NCAA allows teams with a 5-7 record to go to bowl games. What pure toxic, garbage.— STEPHEN1988- Stephen don't worry so much about the future and recruits. Yes we won't go to a bowl game for three more year if the unlawful NCAA sanctions hold up but I know the alumni with deep pockets will fund an education for the right student athlete.— delcodanno
- The NCAA has cherry blush on their faces. It will be even worse for them when the administrators and former college president are acquitted of the charges or have them dismissed by a judge. Then they will have no choice but to restore Joe Paterno's career wins back to 409.— Aces high
- I speak as an alumni - the NCAA will never give Joe Paterno his wins back. Ever.— MDefl
- They won't because they made it personal.— bk3131
- That's because it WAS PERSONAL! Nobody will be admonished, nobody will be red in the face, The administration at PSU was as guilty as Paterno! As guilty as anyone on the coaching staff who had knowldege & chose to say nothing! PSU was not nothing more than a pedaphile's playground. Allowing Sandusky's "slime" to smear his way anywhere he wanted on that campus plus take young people to away games & stay in hotel's is inexcusable! It is time for anyone connected to this school, to get a attitude adjustment, deal with the reality & the severity of the tragedy and move on! To think, all of you on this thread are concerned with is recruits & the football program! When in actuality, your lucky to have one !— frank castle
- It sounds to me like you are the one who needs to move on. Obviously, you do not have the ability to distinguish between the criminal actions of a few and the illegitimacy (and hypocrisy) of sanctions against a team that had nothing to do with the scandal. Your hate-filled diatribe and biased agenda are clearly directed toward the wrong people. — Penfold18
- delco, while the case can be made for the NCAA over stepping it's bounds with the current sanction, I beleive what you suggest would be a violation of NCAA rules and could put the program in even further jeapordy— jd587
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.
