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Friday, August 08, 2003 Page: 1B
Sometime around 11:30 Thursday morning at a fitness club in Wyomissing, the
next great quarterback at Penn State announced to the world … that he was
going to Michigan.
Tell me, where have we heard this before?
Wilson West Lawn High School senior-to-be Chad Henne joins Dan Kendra
(Allentown, Florida State), Chris Simms (New Jersey, Texas) and Kevin Jones
(Philadelphia, Virginia Tech) on the list of recent top-shelf prospects right
from the Nittany Lions’ backyard who have spurned the school presumably for
greener pastures.
What’s worse, coach Joe Paterno and his staff figured they locked up each
and every one of them, only to have the blue-chippers jilt them at the 11th
hour.
Now they’re left scrambling to find a replacement for a kid to whom they
pledged 100 percent commitment.
In fairness, Penn State has enjoyed success in recruiting lately. Earlier
this week, the team landed Strath Haven All-State linebacker Dan Connor, rated
the nation’s fifth-best prospect by The Sporting News.
Still, why marquee skill-position players such as Henne aren’t returning
the love is a question that needs to addressed by Paterno if he truly desires
to win one more national championship before hanging it up.
In Henne’s case, the nation’s most coveted signal caller is going to the
Ann Arbor school because he believes that’s the place he can best refine his
skills.
In other words, Henne isn’t all that crazy about the way Penn State
develops quarterbacks. He never actually said as much, but he didn’t have to.
The last Lion QB to make an impact in the NFL is Kerry Collins, a 1995
first-round pick starting for the Giants.
Conversely, five former Michigan quarterbacks – Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins,
Scott Dreisbach, Brian Griese and Tom Brady – have found homes with NFL teams
during the past decade and all but Dreisbach have been starters. Yankees’
reject Drew Henson still could be the sixth and, when you factor in that some
scouts already are projecting Wolverine senior John Navarre to be the best of
the bunch, it’s easy to understand why a young athlete with pro aspirations
chose the maize and blue as his favorite colors.
“I think it’s the tradition at Michigan,” the 6-foot-3, 216-pound Henne
said. “In the ’90s, I think they’ve developed every quarterback and the last
five have made it to the NFL.”
Henne, wisely, made sure not to criticize Penn State, which he said
finished runner-up. He insisted Paterno’s age was not an issue, and noted the
Lions were on top of his list until he visited Michigan in the summer.
There, he almost instantly developed a bond with quarterbacks coach Scot
Loeffler, who recruited the player, and Navarre, who made Henne feel at home.
“The first time I met him it seemed like I knew him forever,” Henne said
of Loeffler. “He knows what he’s talking about. … One of the reasons I
picked Michigan is because he was a player at Michigan.”
During his visit, Henne “just had this feeling.”
Now, just imagine how PSU coaches and fans will feel when the two Big Ten
rivals renew their series in 2005 at Michigan’s Big House – and Henne is
behind center?
“No one bleeds blue and white more than I do. I would have loved to see
him go to Penn State,” Jim Cantafio, Henne’s coach, told me Thursday. “They
did everything right. Chad just felt that Michigan was the place for him.”
If you’re a Penn State fan, you’ve got to be getting weary of this same old
story.
And you’ve got to asking yourself when the ending is ever going to change?
Contact Kellar at 829-7243 or [email protected]