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Going round and round in Nanticoke

Suit filed against area hospitals and doctors over child’s death last year

<p>The question was about Penn State, and Bill O&#8217;Brien quickly perked up.</p><p>&#8220;I could answer this forever,&#8221; the Houston Texans coach said recently. &#8220;In 2012, people gave up on that program.&#8221;</p><p>O&#8217;Brien would know.</p><p>In January of that year, he was in the middle of it all, replacing Joe Paterno as the Nittany Lions&#8217; head coach in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual-assault scandal. Six months later, O&#8217;Brien was blindsided by NCAA sanctions that threatened to tear down the team.</p><p>Instead, Penn State (10-2) is playing Wisconsin (10-2) Saturday night for the Big Ten championship and a potential berth in the four-team College Football Playoff.</p><p>&#8220;You can go back and look it up,&#8221; O&#8217;Brien said at his weekly press conference, his voice rising. &#8220;Numerous experts gave up on that program. And it&#8217;s a great testament to that school, that coaching staff and especially those kids.&#8221;</p><p>O&#8217;Brien recruited most of the upperclassmen who will take the field in Indianapolis. The rest were brought in by his successor, James Franklin, who led the Lions to eight consecutive wins and the Big Ten East Division title this season.</p><p>For many, it&#8217;s hard to grasp that the program already has climbed to a No. 7 national ranking.</p><p>&#8220;Did I think they&#8217;d be top 10 right now? I don&#8217;t think anybody thought they&#8217;d be top 10 right now,&#8221; said Paul Jefferson, who graduated from GAR High School before playing at Penn State from 2000-04. &#8220;I&#8217;m delighted to see them perform the way they do. They play hard, play with passion. And you could tell they play for each other.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Some dark times</strong></p><p>It all comes against the backdrop of the darkest period in school history.</p><p>Scandal and sanctions. Trials and lawsuits. Countless clashes between university leaders, alumni and students.</p><p>&#8220;This community has been through so much in the last five years, and this is a big step in the right direction in terms of healing,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;I said this very, very early on &#8211; that for us to get where we wanted to be, we need this entire community together.</p><p>&#8220;I know I&#8217;m biased,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I believe that football has the ability to bring a community together like nothing else.&#8221;</p><p>That theory certainly has been put to the test at the Penn State campus in State College. Dominoes that began to fall in November 2011 will continue to tumble for years to come.</p><p>Sandusky, the longtime Lions defensive coordinator under Paterno, was arrested and ultimately convicted on dozens of counts of sexual abuse of children. Three Penn State administrators &#8211; interim vice president Gary Schultz, athletic director Tim Curley and, later, president Graham Spanier &#8211; were charged with failing to report claims against Sandusky and lying to a grand jury.</p><p>Paterno never faced charges, but public scrutiny quickly mounted about what he knew about his former top assistant&#8217;s crimes. Four days after Sandusky was arrested, Paterno was ousted as coach by the school&#8217;s board of trustees. He died of lung cancer 2&#189; months later.</p><p>All of this was the basis for NCAA sanctions that threatened to cripple the athletic program.</p><p><strong>Dealing with sanctions</strong></p><p>On July 23, 2012, one day after Paterno&#8217;s statue at Beaver Stadium was removed by the university, the NCAA imposed a four-year postseason ban and four years of scholarship reductions that would cap Penn State at 65, down from 85.</p><p>&#8220;I remember thinking to myself how one-sided I felt everything was,&#8221; said Keith Olsommer, a North Pocono High School graduate who played on Penn State&#8217;s undefeated 1994 team and now coaches at Delaware Valley High School. &#8220;I thought the NCAA had completely overstepped their boundaries. I was very concerned.</p><p>&#8220;I think it was difficult to watch, to see what they had to go through.&#8221;</p><p>When the sanctions first hit, many Penn State fans in the area shared that sentiment.</p><p>They were dazed by the severity of the punishment, which was compared to the NCAA&#8217;s one-year shutdown of Southern Methodist&#8217;s program in 1987 for numerous rules violations.</p><p>&#8220;It was almost like Penn State was going to be the new SMU,&#8221; said GAR football coach Paul Wiedlich Jr., who has been rooting for the Lions for nearly 40 years. &#8220;It was almost like the death penalty. I don&#8217;t think anybody could expect to see a quick turnaround. To see them come from that to where they are now, a lot of people are shocked.&#8221;</p><p>It was never easy &#8211; on the team and on the staunchest Penn State supporters.</p><p>&#8220;I think the first year (after the sanctions), we still had a pretty good amount of players. But, boy, the four years after that, it was just difficult,&#8221; said Meyers High School boys basketball coach Pat Toole, a Penn State grad who began following the Lions in 1974 and attends all home games at Beaver Stadium, as well as some road games.</p><p>&#8220;I think it was just a true test of whether you were a real fan or not,&#8221; Toole added.</p><p><strong>Holding it together</strong></p><p>O&#8217;Brien and the players he inherited held the fragile program together that summer, a period when players were free to transfer to other schools without penalty.</p><p>Improbably, the Lions finished with a winning record in 2012 and 2013. That showing earned O&#8217;Brien interest from multiple NFL teams, leading to him taking the Texans&#8217; job on New Year&#8217;s Eve 2013.</p><p>Franklin, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Langhorne, took over from there. In September of his first season, 2014, the NCAA &#8211; citing Penn State&#8217;s compliance in reforming after the Sandusky scandal &#8211; rolled back most of the sanctions by restoring scholarships and lifting the postseason ban.</p><p>But damage already was done. The Lions&#8217; depth was sapped by those reduced recruiting classes, and the effects were evident in 2014 and 2015 as the team went 0-6 against Big Ten peers Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.</p><p>It was enough to start some loud grumbling from lettermen and fans.</p><p>&#8220;There are a lot of naysayers out there,&#8221; Wiedlich said. &#8220;I was on that naysayer bandwagon. There were a lot of skeptics once Bill O&#8217;Brien left. With Franklin, a lot of people compared him to a car salesman-type of guy. But you&#8217;ve got to give a guy five years, especially with the sanctions. Just, as a Penn State fan, I think the emotions were high. Everybody kind of rushes to judgment.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Frustrated fans</strong></p><p>That continued through September of this season.</p><p>Lions fans grew frustrated by the team&#8217;s 2-2 start, including a 42-39 loss to state rival Pitt and a 49-10 lashing by Michigan.</p><p>&#8220;After that Michigan game, you&#8217;re wondering if they&#8217;re going to win a game in the Big Ten,&#8221; Toole said, laughing. &#8220;I&#8217;ve learned one thing this year, from Penn State and the (Philadelphia) Eagles. Don&#8217;t base your season on the first four games.&#8221;</p><p>The groundswell to fire Franklin when things seemed shaky didn&#8217;t affect university administrators. Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour twice reaffirmed the commitment to Franklin, who also received public support from the school&#8217;s president, Eric Barron.</p><p>And as Franklin has guided the Lions on their current eight-game winning streak, highlighted by a 24-21 upset of No. 2 Ohio State in October, he has become the answer to Penn State&#8217;s return to glory in the eyes of those same fans.</p><p>&#8220;Then you kind of see the progress,&#8221; Wiedlich said. &#8220;Not only did he find the right pieces to the puzzle, he adapted. Now they&#8217;re just finding ways to win. I&#8217;m just glad to see Penn State back where it belongs.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Reminders of the past</strong></p><p>On the field, perhaps. But reminders of the recent past won&#8217;t be going away any time soon. Sandusky himself is in the middle of an appeal.</p><p>On Wednesday, former assistant coach Mike McQueary, a key witness for the prosecution in the original Sandusky trial, was awarded an additional $5 million by the courts on top of the original $7 million he won in a whistleblower lawsuit against Penn State.</p><p>Just before the Lions punched their ticket to Indianapolis last weekend, Barron announced the school would not dispute a record $2.4 million fine for violations of the Clery Act, which mandates transparency about campus crime.</p><p>None of this has sat well with Jay Paterno, son of the late coach, whose family is involved in a defamation lawsuit against the NCAA. He took to Twitter last week to blast Barron and university spokesman Lawrence Lokman.</p><p>&#8220;Fight for the truth, the school &amp; the alumni. Just once,&#8221; Paterno wrote. &#8220;(You) released statement about paying bogus fines so it runs on ESPN ticker on biggest college football day of the year all day. </p><p>&#8220;And thanks for creating another negative news cycle that takes away from the seniors &amp; this team and their big day.&#8221;</p><p>To top it off, Spanier, Schultz and Curley are still awaiting trial for charges brought four and five years ago, though several charges were dropped last winter.</p><p><strong>Keeping perspective</strong></p><p>Current players have had the difficult task of not focusing on those outside influences while trying to keep the happenings of these past five years in perspective.</p><p>&#8220;This school&#8217;s been through a lot, especially with the sanctions that were put on us,&#8221; star running back Saquon Barkley said. &#8220;No one ever thought we&#8217;d be in this position at this time. We have a great opportunity ahead of us. We&#8217;ve got to take full advantage of it.&#8221;</p><p dir="ltr">Although a cloud remains over Penn State, Franklin said he has noticed a change in the national conversation about the school.</p><p dir="ltr">&#8220;Instead of talking about what Penn State was,&#8221; Franklin said, &#8220;people are now starting to talk about what Penn State is. And that&#8217;s exciting.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Before James Franklin led Penn State to the Big Ten title game, Bill O&#8217;Brien kept the program alive through the NCAA&#8217;s severe sanctions in 2012 and 2013. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_OBrien2016121152524891-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Before James Franklin led Penn State to the Big Ten title game, Bill O&#8217;Brien kept the program alive through the NCAA&#8217;s severe sanctions in 2012 and 2013. </caption1><photoCredit1>Morry Gash | AP file photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_sandusky2016121152548635-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State is still dealing with the legal fallout from the crimes of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is appealing his convictions on child sex abuse charges. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_sandusky2016121152548635-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Penn State is still dealing with the legal fallout from the crimes of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is appealing his convictions on child sex abuse charges. </caption2><photoCredit2>John Boogert | AP photo, Centre Daily Times </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_statue2016121152554128-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Former coach Joe Paterno remains an intense topic of debate at Penn State, where some fans would like to see his statue restored after being removed in 2012. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_statue2016121152554128-3.jpg</photo3><caption3>Former coach Joe Paterno remains an intense topic of debate at Penn State, where some fans would like to see his statue restored after being removed in 2012. </caption3><photoCredit3>Gene J. Puskar | AP file photo </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_psu-crowd2016121152532717-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State might be the most surprising story in college football this year, beating out Ohio State and Michigan for the Big Ten East Division title only five years removed from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, which rocked the school. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_psu-crowd2016121152532717-3.jpg</photo4><caption4>Penn State might be the most surprising story in college football this year, beating out Ohio State and Michigan for the Big Ten East Division title only five years removed from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, which rocked the school. </caption4><photoCredit4>Abby Drey | AP photo, Centre Daily Times </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Fans revel in rapid turnaround</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse and Paul Sokoloski</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse.</p><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski.</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> UTN1taWn0Pw</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTN1taWn0Pw</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> &lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8221; height=&#8221;315&#8221; src=&#8221;https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTN1taWn0Pw&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"></p><p>Penn State history on the road to the Big Ten championship game</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Sean McKeag | Times Leader</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

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Penn State football’s turnaround season could be capped by Big Ten title