This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's October 13 Cleveland Issue. Subscribe today!
THREE HEAD COACHES in four years, unprecedented scholarships lost and a postseason ban are not the typical building blocks to success. But with NCAA sanctions suddenly lifted, Penn State is off to a 4-1 start and can make a surprise push for the Big Ten crown. We asked the team's seniors how they've adapted to the constant changing of the guards.
PRACTICE
Under Joe Paterno, practice might as well have been a game: "Hitting every day," says fifth-year senior linebacker Mike Hull. Then Bill O'Brien's NFL-like approach (lower impact equals fresher legs) became a necessity with the loss of scholarships. As for new head man James Franklin, he's only added more levity -- like the water bottle. The 42-year-old squirts senior kicker Sam Ficken while he's taking reps, then makes the team run laps based on the number of Ficken's misses. Sometimes he simply cancels practice in favor of bowling. "People respect that a lot," Hull says.
PREGAME
No names on the jerseys. No long hair. No beards. Up until his firing, Paterno made a clean-cut image as much a PSU staple as winning. (He averaged nine wins over his final five seasons.) O'Brien loosened the grooming reins, and he added jersey names to recognize those who stuck with the program when the sanctions hit. Franklin has kept it casual. "With Joe, everything was 'Be focused. Know what you have to do.' It was very schedule-based," Hull says. "O'Brien and Franklin are looser. They let you have a little fun on Friday nights before the game, more free time."
IN GAME
Paterno had two coaches calling plays, with few audibles. O'Brien never hired an offensive coordinator but gave more latitude to the players. "We'd come to the line with three or four different plays, see what the defense was doing," fifth-year senior guard Miles Dieffenbach says. "He put a lot more responsibility on the team." Franklin has an OC but runs his pro-style much the same way. But Hull credits a defensive change for the fast start. D-coordinator Bob Shoop's emphasis on pressure and "relentless pursuit" has paid dividends (11 points per game allowed, No. 6 nationally).
RECRUITING
"Because Paterno's staff had been together so long, they were set in their ways," says ESPN's national recruiting director Tom Luginbill. "With this new staff, you get fresh ideas." Exhibit A: For his first signing day in February, Franklin replicated an NFL draft war room, and as each recruit's letter of intent came in, staff members took to the podium to announce the team's "selection," complete with nameplates and highlight reels. "The 'cool factor' is huge," Luginbill says. It's a big reason PSU's 2015 class ranks sixth in the country (as of Sept. 24).