A Personal Appeal for Leadership, Culture, and the Future of Penn State
By Greg Woodman
It wasn’t a championship game. In fact, we’d lost four in a row. I had purposely chosen to work instead of going to the game. I was in my office when I finally checked the score in the third quarter. Oh my.
We were in a tight game against Indiana. I called my son in San Diego and asked, “Did you sell your ticket?” “Nope,” he said. And just like that, he texted it to me.
Despite being a sudden cardiac arrest survivor, I threw on a white jacket and ran a nine-minute mile toward Beaver Stadium. My children were texting me, “Go Dad! Get in there!” while also tracking me on their phones and pleading, “Slow down. You might die running.”
On the way, I picked up a pack of students also hoping to get in. But gate after gate, we were all turned away. The policy was clear: no one gets in after halftime, even with a fresh ticket. The students gave up after the first rejection. Not me. I was going to get in that stadium.
Eventually, a kind woman working the suite blue tunnel entranceway listened to my plea tossing every story I could at her on why I needed in there and let me through. I made it just in time. We didn’t win that day. But what I felt running, waiting, pleading to be let in was real. That was Penn State.
And that’s why I’m writing this.
Since 2007, I’ve had the privilege of teaching leadership and entrepreneurship here. And at age 67, I’ll graduate this December 21 with a master’s in Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Across every case study, every classroom discussion, and every real-world application, the most consistent truth is this:
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
And when it comes to leadership that builds lasting culture, one name stands out. Not because he talks about it, but because he lives it.
Terry Smith.
What the Best Organizations Have Already Figured Out
The corporate world figured it out first. Look at Apple under Tim Cook. Microsoft under Satya Nadella. Progressive under Tricia Griffith. They chose humility, consistency, and empowerment over ego and charisma.
They’re winning, not by shouting, but by serving.
College football is now in the same inflection. NIL, the transfer portal, and revenue sharing have made players the center of the equation. Just like in the NFL, where head coaches earn 2 to 4 percent of revenue. Some college coaches are earning 12 percent, with less to show for it.
The old model is broken. The numbers say so. The locker rooms know it.
Corporate innovation is always backed by earnings and results. The NFL offers a clear model of financial discipline and cultural alignment. Terry Smith isn’t just the emotional choice. He’s the economic one. Love wins over fear, and that’s good business.
The programs that will win next won’t be built on bravado. They’ll be built on trust, alignment, and servant leadership.
The Right Leader at the Right Time
Terry Smith has lived the chaos and culture shifts of this past season. He didn’t watch from the sideline. He helped hold it together. When money and ego fractured the locker room, Terry stood firm. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t flee. He led.
And he led like the greats.
Penn State has a proud tradition of builders:
- Cael Sanderson
- Erica Dambach
- Char Morett-Curtiss
- Katie Schumacher-Cawley
- Guy Gadowsky
- Harry Groves
- Russ Rose
These coaches weren’t headlines. They were heartlines. Their greatness wasn’t shouted. It was lived. Terry Smith belongs among them.
This Isn’t Just About Football
This is about what kind of institution we want to be.
We’re navigating:
- A demographic cliff
- The impact of AI and the shifting demand for trade skills
- Rising financial strain
- A 700 million dollar stadium investment
- The evolving value proposition of higher education
In moments like these, fear screams for flash. But leaders choose substance.
Hiring a big-name coach because “that’s what’s expected” is not a strategy. It’s a reaction. And higher ed has been played by agents, PR machines, and headline-chasers for too long.
It’s time to choose differently.
Why Love Wins
Love in leadership is not softness. It’s strength. It’s holding players to a standard that respects them as people, not just as performers.
- Love creates culture
- Culture creates alignment
- Alignment creates wins
Fear builds silos and buyouts. Love builds unity and belief.
The choice in front of us is simple: repeat the cycle or reshape the future.
Terry Smith Has Already Started Building the Future
Lane Kiffin. Other hot names. They have résumés. But they don’t have the locker room. They don’t have the trust. They don’t have the lived experience of leading this team through one of its most turbulent seasons.
They also come from a model that no longer works. The one with private jets on standby and agents who renegotiate contracts five times before one is even finished. It’s an ego-driven cycle that benefits a few and drains institutions. The smell of fraud is getting stronger by the minute. And the fact that sportswriters and podcasters can’t see it is truly shocking.
Terry does.
He’s not a substitute. He’s not a fallback. He’s the one who stayed when others watched. He’s not just present. He’s foundational.
And in today’s environment, that matters more than ever.
The Heartbeat of Penn State
In 1978, I walked the tailgates selling T-shirts. That’s where I first felt it, that spark in the eyes of fans, the warmth in their stories, the pride in their voices. I didn’t just sell shirts. I listened.
That was the beginning of a journey that led me to teach, build businesses, and create for the Penn State community for nearly five decades. That same desire to listen and connect is what led me to launch a platform called Connect Happy Valley, not to promote myself, but to connect hearts.
Because connection is what has always made this place special. It’s what we need now more than ever. And Terry Smith is the embodiment of that connection.
The hiring of Terry will connect the hearts of all Penn Staters. Let’s not miss this moment of truth.
He understands that leading Penn State Football isn’t about personality. It’s about presence. It’s about love, loyalty, and legacy.
A Final Word
I worry Penn State may not hire Terry. Not because he’s not the best choice. He is. But because too many recent decisions have been shaped by fear, not foresight. And reversing a fear-based mindset is hard. But it’s not impossible. It starts with one bold choice. This one.
So, Pat, choose love over fear. Choose connection over ego. Choose Terry.
This is a moment that demands clarity, not convention. Courage, not comfort.
Terry Smith is not just the feel-good choice. He’s the culture-first, future-facing, leadership-driven choice.
This is our moment.
This is our move.
This is Penn State.
Greg Woodman is curator of Why Penn State: Why the 1980s Gave the Nittany Lions a Common Cause, Culture and Shared Values. https://whypennstatebook.com. You can email Greg at Greg@affinityconnection.com or catch his podcast on Youtube called “The Clarity Compass”.
12 Responses
Terry had my vote with his Joe/409 button.
Fantastic! You couldn’t have said it better.
Excellent piece, Greg. I agree with you totally!
For the Glory!!!
It hit me towards the end of last week’s game. I fell like it was PSU again, not just a college team chasing wins. We had our soul back, our culture was in the air suffocating us in Beaver Stadium as the “Terry, Terry, Terry, cheers erupted.
Penn State’s football revenue machine hinges upon one overwhelming factor: Wins.
Same as business.
What evidence is there that Terry can win the games that matter?
Penn State has the fan base, the community, and the track record to hire the best. And “the best” is football’s version of Cael Sanderson. A proven champion with an otherworldly knack for growing young men and winning the games that matter.
Who is football’s Cael Sanderson? And don’t tell me it’s Terry Smith because Terry doesn’t have a resume overflowing with W’s as Cael did before he earned Penn State’s head coaching crown.
Penn State does not have to settle for second best.
Swing for the fences, Lion Nation. Think creatively about the coach you hire and the criteria you use to do so. Avoid the safe choice, whether that’s hiring the biggest name or hiring the nicest guy.
What if Penn State took a different approach? What if, for example, Penn State hired the military’s greatest Special Forces leader? And paired him/her with the nation’s best life coach? And rallied a community of Happy Valley supporters who baked cookies and sent hand written thank you cards all year long to the team’s players and the nation’s top recruits? And offered those recruits a world class entrepreneurship program (taught by this article’s author, Greg!) that helped them launch post-college the business of their dreams?
Pair all of that with some brainiac X’s and O’s play callers and what do you think would happen?
Success with Honor.. It still sums up the spirit Happy Valley craves to reinvent. Do so by taking the path less traveled.
Did Marcus Freeman ever serve as a head coach before Notre Dame?
No.
Marcus Freeman had never been a head coach at any level — college, high school, or professional — before being named the head coach at Notre Dame.
His résumé before becoming Notre Dame’s head coach:
• 2011–2012: Graduate Assistant, Ohio State
• 2013–2015: Linebackers Coach, Kent State
• 2016: Co-Defensive Coordinator / LB Coach, Cincinnati
• 2017–2020: Defensive Coordinator / LB Coach, Cincinnati
• 2021: Defensive Coordinator, Notre Dame
Zero head coaching experience.
He was elevated directly from DC to head coach of one of the biggest brands in college football, based purely on leadership, trust, presence, and the backing of the locker room.
• Notre Dame did not chase a splash hire.
• They listened to the players, the locker room, and the culture.
• They chose leadership over résumé.
• And Freeman stepped into one of the highest-pressure jobs in the sport with no head-coaching record at all.
Terry Smith – college playing stats at Penn State
Terry’s Penn State receiving career (1988–1991) still lives in the record book. Across his career he totaled:
• 108 receptions
• 1,825 receiving yards
• 15 receiving touchdowns
Highlights:
• Senior year (1991): 55 catches for 846 yards and 8 TD, which set the single season receptions record at the time.
• He is still top 20 all time at Penn State in receptions, yards, and receiving TDs.
Terry Smith – head coaching record at Gateway High School
At Gateway High School (Monroeville, PA), where he was head coach from 2002–2012:
• Gateway head coaching record: 101-30 over 11 seasons
• Four WPIAL Class 4A title game appearances, seven conference titles, playoffs every year.
Cael’s coaching record pre Penn State Iowa State (wrestling HC): 44-10-0 dual record from 2007 to 2009
Summary Table
Coach First Year as Head Coach Prior Head-Coaching Experience? Notes
Lane Kiffin 2007 (Oakland Raiders) No Youngest HC in the NFL at the time.
Lincoln Riley 2017 (Oklahoma) No Promoted directly from OC.
Kalen DeBoer 2005 (Sioux Falls) No Promoted internally after assistant roles.
Terry Comparison Angle
All three of these “big names” began their head-coaching careers with zero head-coaching experience — exactly like Terry today.
The only difference?
Terry is stepping into his first major head-coaching role with:
• 12 years experience as Penn State’s culture anchor
• Associate Head Coach role
• Recruiting coordinator
• A successful 101–30 record as a high school head coach
• The full support of the roster
• The full support of the Lettermen
• A lifetime in the Penn State system
• A locker room that literally carried him off the field
The “experience gap” argument falls apart immediately when you line up these facts.
Ben, there is no Cael Sanderson. I heard a news leak that Penn State was about to hire a wrestling coach who would win championships, and emailed my cousin, a high school wrestling coach in Illinois. He immediately replied “wow, they’re getting Cael Sanderson.” That’s the whole point: absent extraordinary circumstances, there are no likely winners if you just try to outdo Ohio State and LSU. That’s why culture IS the strategy.
Hi Dad
Take the road less travelled. Hire Terry.
Wow a very powerful and truthful message. These days it has become an instant gratification society. That does not work. People need connection a sense of ownership not in the sense of money or possessions but in the sense that that was a job worth doing and I was a part of it getting done. You mentioned love and yes that is the connection that is needed a love for yourself, a love for others, a love for your teammates and a love for a university that you want to work your hardest for to make it a special place with special achievements and of pride. We Are really does mean something, one team and one heart
Yes, Penn State’s culture was best exemplified by classless fans and students screaming expletives at Franklin and his family when leaving the field after the Northwestern loss. Penn State is just like any other big football machine.
The dreamy assertion that culture trumps strategy is ridiculous. It really is all about recruiting top notch players. Terry Smith is not an elite recruiter and his coaching skills have never gone beyond the defensive backfield. Kraft will not bet his job security on an internal candidate like Smith. He has committed over $1 billion to this program and he needs a shrewd coach who can manage the complexity of today’s big business environment.
The cult like nostalgia for Paterno continues to amaze and it is nothing but a distraction. If Smith really wanted the job wearing the 409 button clinched his demise. The new generation of Penn State fans could care less about Paterno. Time to move on people.
Excellent article!! I wholeheartedly add my vote for Terry Smith.