Penn State Will Need Giants To Reach It's Goals

Penn State's most visible team, and what has become its most visible season, ended January 1st in perhaps the most unceremonious way possible.  In the face of opt-outs and injuries, a depleted Penn State roster was relatively game for the contest, but to think that the bowl carried any real fervor would be a disservice to what I watched last Saturday.

While the team had some sparks, including what seemed like a more effective running attack, miscues in the passing game led to an underwhelming offensive performance, and ultimately, the inability to comeback against a quality Arkansas team.

I won't bother with the numbers and specifics of the game, but I do think we need to address what I found a bit lacking in that moment, and what I think needs to be the focal point going forward.

Leadership.

It felt like the team felt rudderless, that it didn't have a full sense of identity or collectiveness.  Instead it was an assortment of individuals trying to do their best to push forward to next year. 

I don't think anything I watched left me feeling bad, but it did leave me wanting more.

College Football is going through its biggest changes in years, and maybe ever.  As players attain more autonomy over their decisions, there appears to be a growing sentiment that leaving current situations for something else is going to be the new norm.

Penn State is no stranger to opt-outs and transfers.  They've had their fair share over the past decade or so, beginning with an unprecedented sanctions against the team stemming from the Sandusky scandal.
They then had to build itself up again by selling its culture as being one of family and of growth, and while it has been largely successful in delivering on those promises, we are now at the point where people around the program feel they are capable of more. 

There isn't a shortage of talent or effort from my point of view.  I think James Franklin has done one of the best coaching jobs in the country over the past 8 years at  Penn State.  The number of players Penn State is preparing and sending to the NFL appears to be increasing, all the while maintaining the high academic and character standards that have long been a staple for the program.

So what is missing, as Franklin once alluded to, is the next steps made within a program to take it to one more level.  Can the team become closer?  Can they drive each other even further?  Can they hold each other accountable while still maintaining a love for one another?

Over the past Summer, I had the pleasure of listening to John Amechi's audiobook "The Promises Of Giants", a book specifically addressing the lack of leadership overall in society and how to become a leader yourself.

One of the things that sticks out like a sore thumb to me as much now as it did then, is John's acute insight into the psyche of the mind which reveals how difficult it can be to move from a status quo to a different state.

Penn State needs to evolve from its status quo, and it will need leadership from every class, from every position group, every coach, and yes, even every fan.

If we are honest about it, we all believe we are capable of more.  We have been talking about doing more for years, and while I understand that the past two years have had some pretty extreme mitigating circumstances, we are at the point where the players that are here, came AFTER the Big Ten championship and were expecting to get one of their own.  That they might one day hold that National Championship and be responsible for transformative change within the hierarchy of the sport.

That is the goal.

To get there will require the will of Giants.