Penn State Football: The Hard Truth About Recruiting to Penn State

For the 2012 season, the big question for Penn State is going to be, "who leaves the program?"

As it stands now, schools are getting their paperwork in order and reaching out to grab some of the interested players who are free to transfer from the program.

Bill O'Brien has his hands full as he has to do his best job of recruiting his own players to the program they are already a part of.

Seniors who want to go to a bowl in their last season, backups who may want to go look for playing time somewhere that is not covered by a black cloud of scandal and incoming freshmen who may view the situation as one they have no interest in undertaking; there's no bowl game opportunity and no legitimate shot to compete in the Big Ten.

O'Brien has his work cut out for him through the 2012-13 academic calendar. Players who can't get their ducks in a row now have to wait until December to make a move. There could be more defections to come in the spring as well. As far as immediacy goes, the current players are the point of impact, as they are critical to the first season's success.

However, in the grand scheme of things, the kids yet to decide on college are the true issue for Bill O'Brien. It is not just that is it going to become difficult for Bill O'Brien to sell Penn State to kids because of the scandal or the sanctions. Rather, it is going to become detrimental for quality ball players with options to select Penn State as their option for school.

Unlike USC, the only true "football school" on the West Coast, Penn State is nestled in a highly competitive area. Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pitt, West Virginia, Maryland and other schools will all be fighting to grab the handful of elite ball players Penn State aimed to get in the boat.

The fact of the matter is, there are so many things that going to Penn State will prevent you from doing. Winning games. Going to a bowl. Competing at the highest level in your conference. 

All things that the best recruits want to do.

While the postseason awards such as the Davey O'Brien and Heisman should not do anything beyond honor the best players; the cold hard truth is it will be tough to rise to the top on a team with Villanova's level of scholarships and depth.

Yes, the NFL will find the deserving players at Penn State. The league always has, and always will find the talent. However, it is a lot harder to develop as a player and showcase skills on a depleted roster. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported after talking to Central Gwinnett head coach Todd Wofford about four-star linebacker Trey Johnson:

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"After he got finished with our workouts this morning, he came in and saw what the NCAA announced ... and he just shook his head," Central Gwinnett coach Todd Wofford said. "That pretty much takes them out of it, because I don't know how they'll even have a team."

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Pretty strong words as the coach continued:

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"He was going to take his official visit up there and you don't ever know what a kid will do after an official visit," Wofford said. "He was going to give Coach Roof the respect to go up there and give them a good look. But that won't be an option now after all the NCAA stuff."

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That's a relatively solid sentiment about the program from the high school side of things. The issue is not solely a kid going up there to play, but rather why would a kid go up there to play when no one else is going up to play.

Football is not basketball; one player is not changing the complexion of things for a 65-man roster. Especially a 65-man roster playing against a conference full of 85-man rosters.

Bill O'Brien cannot sell winning. He cannot sell bowl trips. He cannot sell competing for a Big Ten title. He has facilities and opportunity as his key selling points. Facilities will not go anywhere as far as the Nittany Lions are concerned, but they mean a bit less as everyone around the nation is upgrading.

Opportunity is a great selling point; if the player is purely driven by early playing time. When it comes to play early vs. going elsewhere and playing to win; the water gets muddied to say the least. 

To say that recruiting got difficult for the Nittany Lions is a bit of an understatement. Recruiting got next to impossible from both a numbers and selling standpoint.

Bill O'Brien won't be able to get enough kids to build anything around and the kids he does land are not going to be the infusion of talent the roster needs. O'Brien has opportunity to sell, that's his only chip against the likes of every other coach in the nation.