We Are Penn State by Lou Prato

We Are Penn State by Lou Prato

No college football program has ever had to deal with the obstacles, hostility, and challenges encountered by the players and coaches of the 2012 Penn State Nittany Lions, and this book is an account of that unforgettable season in which the team rebounded from a disillusioning 0-2 start to surprise everyone and finish with an 8-4 record, third best in the Big Ten Conference. The turmoil at Penn State began in early November 2011 with the shocking arrest of retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for multiple charges of sexual child abuse, and within days legendary head coach Joe Paterno was fired in what would be termed the biggest scandal in college football history. By the end of January, Paterno was dead from lung cancer and a new head coach without any Penn State connections, Bill O'Brien, began putting together his staff while finishing up his job as offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl bound New England Patriots. We Are Penn State tells the story of how this team overcame unprecedented NCA sanctions, including a four-year bowl ban and the loss of 45 scholarships over the same period, the transfer of several of its star players, and overwhelming predictions that the 2012 season would be a disaster to put together a successful season and restore some dignity to what was once considered one of the elite programs in college football.

Lou Prato is a veteran print and broadcast journalist who covers Nittany Lions sports for various magazines, including two publications dedicated to Penn State football fans, Blue White Illustrated and Fight On State magazine. He is the author or coauthorof several other books about Penn State football,including Game Changers: Penn State,The Penn State Football Encyclopedia, The Penn State Football Vault, and What It Means to Be a Nittany Lion. He was hired by Penn State to help organize and start the Penn State All-Sports Museum and became the museum's first director.He lives in Centennial Hills, Pennsylvania. Bill O'Brien is the head football coach at Penn State University. He led the 2012 Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record and was named ESPN's National Coach of the Year. He was formerly a New England Patriots assistant under Bill Belichick for five seasons. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania.