Penn State’s five captains for the 2015 season have, for the most part, taken the road less traveled to their leadership roles.
And in that way, they may personify the current Nittany Lion squad, which has been through sanction hell. And now back.
Center Angelo Mangiro has dyslexia.
Jordan Lucas spent a year at prep school before Penn State, then three seasons at corner before moving to safety in the spring.
Von Walker was a high school quarterback who walked-on for 31.8 miles as a running back three years ago.
Anthony Zettel was a manchild from Michigan who eschewed offers to become a Michigan Man, only to redshirt as a freshman and then migrate inside from defensive end.
And Christian Hackenberg, especially, came to a fork in the road and took it – to what at the time was the unlikeliest of places for a No. 1 recruit who almost volunteered for Tennessee and took a wave at Alabama. To say nothing of the hits he took on and off the field in 2014.
Together, they personify what Penn State is all about. They are not only James Franklin’s Penn State. They’re also your dad’s. And your grandfather’s.
They’re true student-athletes, all smart kids, who go to class, and legitimately and consistently personify Joe Paterno’s Penn State as well. They stayed loyal to Penn State and chose Happy Valley – and stayed here – even when it wasn’t easy or popular.
They led in deed. Indeed.
Their teammates know that, and that’s why on Thursday the five were named captains of Penn State’s 129th football team.
THE LION LINE OF 247
They’ve been preceded by a total of 247 Penn State football captains (among them, current Nittany Lions Gregg Garrity’s grandfather and Kevin Reihner’s father). As coincidence would have it, on Thursday a member of that elite group was revisiting a team photo in Beaver Stadium and talking about the quality of young men who have been Penn State captains in the past.
Terry Smith, the Nittany Lions’ second-year cornerbacks coach after an outstanding career coaching at Gateway High School and then Temple, and I were discussing the 1991 Penn State team – an 11-2 squad that was under-rated despite only a 21-10 early-season loss at Southern Cal and a 26-20 loss at Miami (Fla.), where the Hurricanes had a 91-yard punt return for a TD and delivered eight Tony Sackas in 90-degree heat.
“We finished No 3 that season,” said Smith, PSU captain No. 169. “That was a great group. The neat thing is that all of our captains went into coaching – Al Golden, Mark D’Onofrio, Darren Perry, Sam Gash, Keith Goganious.”
That’s the legacy, that’s the importance of being a Penn State football captain. Then and now.
Now, Zettel and Mangiro and are in their fifth seasons at Penn State, having played for four head coaches – Paterno, Bradley, O’Brien and Franklin — and countless assistants. No matter. This may be corny, but they have learned that pump-up video is really true: They play for each other. And for Penn State.
The Nittany Lion captains are a geographically diverse group. They come from five states – Pennsylvania (Walker), Virginia (Hackenberg), New York (Lucas), New Jersey (Mangiro) and the aforementioned Michigan (Zettel).
And they reinforce the importance that a good team must be strong up the middle, as defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said on Thursday – and one of his predecessors, Tom Bradley, emphasized while sitting in the same seat for years.
“Here’s a baseball analogy; you guys know I like baseball,” Shoop said Thursday. “If you were going up the middle — AJ (Austin Johnson) and Zettel, Nyeem (Wartman-White), Marcus (Allen) and Jordan – we’re pretty good.”
Across the line of scrimmage, Hackenberg and Mangiro are about as center of the offense as you can get. And Walker is simply centered.
FROM WALK(ER)-ON TO CAPTAIN
Walker is from Mill Hall, a bit more than a half-hour from Beaver Stadium, but among the captains his journey may have been the longest. At Central Mountain High School, he was an all-state dual-threat quarterback and baseball outfielder. He lettered four years in basketball. He graduated with 14 school football records, over 3,600 yards rushing and 1,600 yards passing, with 179 tackles, nine sacks and three interceptions.
But at Penn State, he’s had to be the jack of all trades, master of none. In 23 games as a Nittany Lion, Walker has played running back, linebacker, safety, kickoff returner and punt returner. He’s served on all four key special teams and was named a co-captain based on his special teams prowess, although expect to also see him playing some linebacker.
After spring practice was over in May, Shoop had this to say about Walker, just two days before Walker was awarded a scholarship: “…Von Walker, who had an exceptional spring, by the way. Let me make sure that I provide that information. Von Walker is arguably the most improved player on the defensive side of the ball..”
At the 2014 Media Day – a year ago – Walker stood on Beaver Stadium’s turf, sporting a bushy beard and a big smile: “It’s been a dream of mine, playing here. When I get out here, I try not to show off. Just go after it all out. I’ve been thinking about it all these years. It’s finally happening.”
On Thursday, Walker was one of the first players on the field to meet the press. He once again wore a wide grin, as well as a big, green, floppy bushmaster hat. Walker knew he had been named captain – although the public had yet to be informed — which might have explained why he explained the goofy hat and happy countenance this way: “The sun is out today.”
Here’s another thing you need to know about the 2015 captains: They like each other. And their teammates. They hang out together. DT Zettel and QB Hackenberg golf together. Walker rags wide receiver DeSean Hamilton and linebacker Brandon Bell on Twitter. “Hack is just a regular dude,” said his back-up, Trace McSorley. Lucas spent most of spring practice with a flock of young defensive backs under his wing, despite the personal demands of learning the nuances of a position switch.
The Nittany Lions may very well start the 2015 season 5-1 or even 6-0, but the second half of the regular season (i.e., at both Ohio State and Michigan State, and against Michigan in the late November cold) is what will build – and reveal – their character. The captains will set the tone.
In 2014, Penn State started 4-0, then lost four straight, then later lost their final two regular season games, including a somewhat inexplicable loss at Illinois (made more explicable when you realize Hackenberg threw only 16 times, completing 8 for 93 yards). In other words, they weren’t the most stable group.
That won’t happen in 2015. Although Hackenberg is the only returning captain, the Nittany Lion team leaders for 2015 have already shown their mettle. And we’re not just talking about Zettel, who has already shown on the Web that he can be a tree-mendous leader.
TWO-TIMER
And in the end, then, let’s not diminish the fact that this will be Hackenberg’s second consecutive season in which he has been selected as a team captain – remarkably as a sophomore last year and again as a junior this year.
Counting the 2015 group, a total of 252 different Penn State football players have been named a team captain, beginning with George Linsz in 1887.
Before Hackenberg, only a half-dozen were a captain in more one season — Linsz (1887-88), Bob Higgins (1917, ’19), Bas Gray (1924-25), Mike Reid and Steve Smear (both in 1968-69), and Paul Posluszny (2005-06).
And now, Hackenberg makes seven. He couldn’t have picked four better guys to join him.
