Penn State’s second leg of the Coaches Caravan rolled along Tuesday afternoon to its second stop in the Philadelphia region - this time just a few miles from Nittany Lion head coach James Franklin’s Neshaminy High School.
With Franklin taking the podium to answer questions, along with separate sessions for both athletic director Sandy Barbour and men’s basketball coach Patrick Chambers, there were plenty of news and notes items worth passing along.
Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting ones, here:
1) Press box upgrades just the beginning at Beaver Stadium:
Maybe more so than I’ve heard her say otherwise, Barbour was forthcoming in citing the many, many areas she sees as possible improvements for Beaver Stadium.
“It's pretty clear to me that we need to put together a plan to address a whole lot of issues in Beaver Stadium,” she said. “Obviously Beaver Stadium is historic, it's a wonderful place, it's a place where the Penn State family gather 107k strong on Saturday afternoons. But, whether it be for working aspects of what we do on a Saturday afternoon like the press box, or for fan amenities and the fan experience, there's lots that we need to address. And the only way to do that is systematically and is to develop a master plan.
“Most of you all have heard me talk about the facilities master plan that we are under taking. Beaver Stadium will be a big, big portion of that.”
From wifi to concession stand upgrades, including concession offerings, the concourse and actual seating, Barbour said that the different things fans are looking for will all be thoroughly considered in the areas that could potentially be upgraded in the future.
“Both the master plan process and some other things we are putting in place, listening to our fans and listening to our stakeholders is something I think is very, very important,” she continued. “And I think there are a number of ways for us to get that input, and it will be about Beaver Stadium and game day and lots of other things that as an athletic department we're about.”
2) Franklin discusses Reihner’s role:
Though the university released a press release with some quotes from Franklin regarding its summer transfer, former Stanford center Kevin Reihner, the Nittany Lions’ head coach offered a few more insights on what to potentially expect once the fall rolls around.
Stating that Reihner will begin his Penn State career battling for the starting center spot alongside Angelo Mangiro, Franklin said the key is simply to find the best five guys on the field that give the Nittany Lions a chance to win. Reihner providing some flexibility for any of the inside spots could help do so, he said.
“We'd like for him to compete for the starting center job. Depending on how that plays itself out, he could either slide and compete for a guard job, or Mang could move to multiple spots,” Franklin said. “He's an older guy, he's a mature guy, he's a smart guy. That's valuable alone.
“But to me, I look at him as a bonus. Right now, I look at Mang as our starting center and if Reihner is able to come in and help us, great, but right now he's a bonus and anything he gives us more than what we already have, great.”
3) As for Chambers and the Penn State men’s basketball program, he offered a few insights into why his program has started to put together some real success in the Philadelphia region in recruiting, and what to look for moving forward.
“It's relationships. I grew up here, I lived here, I went to Episcopal Academy which was on City Line Avenue. I played for a legend in Herb McGee, who won 1,000 games,” Chambers said. “Yeah we got D.J. right away and I would consider Brandon Taylor right away and John Johnson, but now we're starting to really get going here and work on some of the fights that maybe prior coaches didn't want to get in those battles.
“We're going to lose a lot of those. We get more nos than yeses, trust me. But I'm not afraid to get in those brawls and back yard fights to get a kid, especially if I think a kid is the right fit for us, and I get it if he's not.
“But we can't fear that anymore. We can't. So we gotta get in it versus Maryland and Villanova and Georgetown and Pitt and St. John's and Ohio State. It's what we gotta do. For us to be successful on a consistent basis, that's the type of talent we need. The Big Ten is not going anywhere. The Hall of Fame coaches, they're not going anywhere. Every year, they just get better and better players. We have to recruit those type of kids to be able to compete against those guys.”
With Franklin taking the podium to answer questions, along with separate sessions for both athletic director Sandy Barbour and men’s basketball coach Patrick Chambers, there were plenty of news and notes items worth passing along.
Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting ones, here:
1) Press box upgrades just the beginning at Beaver Stadium:
Maybe more so than I’ve heard her say otherwise, Barbour was forthcoming in citing the many, many areas she sees as possible improvements for Beaver Stadium.
“It's pretty clear to me that we need to put together a plan to address a whole lot of issues in Beaver Stadium,” she said. “Obviously Beaver Stadium is historic, it's a wonderful place, it's a place where the Penn State family gather 107k strong on Saturday afternoons. But, whether it be for working aspects of what we do on a Saturday afternoon like the press box, or for fan amenities and the fan experience, there's lots that we need to address. And the only way to do that is systematically and is to develop a master plan.
“Most of you all have heard me talk about the facilities master plan that we are under taking. Beaver Stadium will be a big, big portion of that.”
From wifi to concession stand upgrades, including concession offerings, the concourse and actual seating, Barbour said that the different things fans are looking for will all be thoroughly considered in the areas that could potentially be upgraded in the future.
“Both the master plan process and some other things we are putting in place, listening to our fans and listening to our stakeholders is something I think is very, very important,” she continued. “And I think there are a number of ways for us to get that input, and it will be about Beaver Stadium and game day and lots of other things that as an athletic department we're about.”
2) Franklin discusses Reihner’s role:
Though the university released a press release with some quotes from Franklin regarding its summer transfer, former Stanford center Kevin Reihner, the Nittany Lions’ head coach offered a few more insights on what to potentially expect once the fall rolls around.
Stating that Reihner will begin his Penn State career battling for the starting center spot alongside Angelo Mangiro, Franklin said the key is simply to find the best five guys on the field that give the Nittany Lions a chance to win. Reihner providing some flexibility for any of the inside spots could help do so, he said.
“We'd like for him to compete for the starting center job. Depending on how that plays itself out, he could either slide and compete for a guard job, or Mang could move to multiple spots,” Franklin said. “He's an older guy, he's a mature guy, he's a smart guy. That's valuable alone.
“But to me, I look at him as a bonus. Right now, I look at Mang as our starting center and if Reihner is able to come in and help us, great, but right now he's a bonus and anything he gives us more than what we already have, great.”
3) As for Chambers and the Penn State men’s basketball program, he offered a few insights into why his program has started to put together some real success in the Philadelphia region in recruiting, and what to look for moving forward.
“It's relationships. I grew up here, I lived here, I went to Episcopal Academy which was on City Line Avenue. I played for a legend in Herb McGee, who won 1,000 games,” Chambers said. “Yeah we got D.J. right away and I would consider Brandon Taylor right away and John Johnson, but now we're starting to really get going here and work on some of the fights that maybe prior coaches didn't want to get in those battles.
“We're going to lose a lot of those. We get more nos than yeses, trust me. But I'm not afraid to get in those brawls and back yard fights to get a kid, especially if I think a kid is the right fit for us, and I get it if he's not.
“But we can't fear that anymore. We can't. So we gotta get in it versus Maryland and Villanova and Georgetown and Pitt and St. John's and Ohio State. It's what we gotta do. For us to be successful on a consistent basis, that's the type of talent we need. The Big Ten is not going anywhere. The Hall of Fame coaches, they're not going anywhere. Every year, they just get better and better players. We have to recruit those type of kids to be able to compete against those guys.”
