O’Brien Delivers His First Recruiting Class as Head Coach

Despite all the turmoil surrounding the Penn State football program in recent months, after national signing day on Feb. 1, Penn State fans should have room for hope.

The Nittany Lions signed a class of 19 players that helps provide depth to several need areas, such as running back and cornerback.

The Lions’ class shapes out to include five defensive lineman, three defensive backs, one quarterback, one running back, four wide receivers, two tight ends and two offensive linemen. Uncharacteristically, the Lions only signed one linebacker.

The two highest rated recruits for the Lions according to Rivals.com are four-star wide receiver Eugene Lewis from Wilkes-Barre and four-star defensive tackle Jamil Pollard from West Deptford, N.J.

Lewis is arguably the biggest playmaker in the class. Scout.com lists his strengths as a downfield threat, running ability and size. Lewis’ weakness is that he isn’t blessed with blazing speed.

The only quarterback in this class, Steven Bench from Cairo, Ga., was picked up rather late in the recruiting process after he appeared to be headed to Rice University. His commitment is vital because four-star recruit Skyler Mornhinweg decommitted from Penn State just days before signing day and chose to attend Florida instead.

There are a lot of things to like about Bench, who may see playing time sooner than many people think. He has good size at 6-3 206 lbs, and is considered a dual-threat quarterback. Bench, who is a three-star recruit according to Rivals, has made no secret about his desire to play for the Nittany Lions. Bench is already getting to know Penn State fans on Twitter through his handle (@StevenBench).

The only running back the Lions signed, Akeel Lynch, was also a late commitment after he switched from Boston College to Penn State just three weeks ago. Lynch, who is from Buffalo, was named New York’s Gatorade Player of the Year after rushing for 2,131 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior. Lynch could see some playing time next season with the departures of Stephfon Green, and Brandon Beachum. Sophomores Silas Redd and Curtis Dukes are the only running backs slated to return.

As expected with the recent uncertainty around the program, the Lions lost several very talented recruits. Notable ones include linebacker Cam Williams, cornerback Armani Reeves and defensive tackle Tommy Schutt, to Big Ten rival Ohio State. If the Lions had managed to keep those recruits, some analysts thought they could’ve had a top-ten recruiting class. Instead, Penn State’s class finished ranked 47th by Scout.com and 50th by Rivals.com. Penn State wasn’t ranked in ESPN’s rankings.

While recruiting analysts may not like this class, the Lions did well overall considering the extraordinary circumstances. Coach Bill O’Brien was in Indianapolis preparing for the Super Bowl with the Patriots during the entire week. Although he was frequently checking in on how things were going, having the new head coach somewhere else is definitely different.

The one characteristic that can measure each of these 19 future Nittany Lions is loyalty. No matter how many changes happened within the program, these players were determined to put on a Penn State uniform and that shouldn’t be ignored.

So far Bill O’Brien has proven he’s not a fan of recruiting rankings.

Bill O’Brien has said he could “care less” about where Penn State’s class is ranked. What’s important is finding committed young men willing to play and buy into the program that O’Brien is trying to build, and that’s what O’Brien seems to have accomplished.

“I'm not sure who does the rankings,” O’Brien said in a teleconference on signing day. “All I know is that I'm a part of a football team right now with the New England Patriots that if you went up and down our roster you would find guys highly ranked coming out of high school and plenty of guys not ranked at all coming out of high school.”

“All I care about is our staff, our players, what they feel about the guys that are coming in here to help us win games. That to me is the most important thing.”

Check out the full list of Penn State’s 2012 recruiting class.