March 27, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A pair of veteran National Football League coaches, Pat Shurmur and Danny Smith, are set to speak at the Penn State Football Coaching Clinic, April 4-5 on the University Park campus.
Head coach James Franklin and his staff will welcome high school and middle school coaches, who will hear from the Penn State coaches, Shurmur and Smith. The clinic will feature two days of lectures and demonstrations by the Nittany Lions' staff, led by Franklin, who was named Penn State's 16th head coach on Jan. 11.
The clinic will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 4, with final registration starting at 3:00 p.m. in Holuba Hall. Franklin, defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and offensive coordinator John Donovan will make presentations to the clinic attendees.
Shurmur is in his second season as the Eagles' offensive coordinator. He is in his 26th year of coaching, with the last 16 in the NFL. Prior to returning to Eagles, Shurmur was head coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2011-12. During his NFL coaching career, he has played an instrumental role part for teams that have qualified for the playoffs eight times, won six division crowns and posted one Super Bowl appearance. Shurmur began his NFL coaching career with the Eagles (1999-2008) and then served as the St. Louis' Rams offensive coordinator (2009-10) before becoming head coach of the Browns. Shurmur began his coaching career at Michigan State, his alma mater.
Smith is in his second year as the Steelers' special teams coordinator and his 20th season as an NFL coach. He came to Pittsburgh after serving as the Washington Redskins' special teams coordinator (2004-12). In 2012, Washington's punt coverage unit ranked eighth and the kickoff coverage unit was No. 12 in the NFL and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander was selected to the Pro Bowl as the NFC's designated special teams player. A Pittsburgh native, Smith also has coached with Buffalo, Detroit and Philadelphia in the NFL and at Georgia Tech for eight seasons.
The 2014 spring clinic will feature breakout sessions and a chalk talk with the Nittany Lions' offensive and defensive coaching staffs. Clinic attendees will have an opportunity to observe a practice on April 5, as the Nittany Lions conclude their third week of spring practice. The Blue-White Game is April 12 at 1:30 p.m. in Beaver Stadium to culminate spring drills. There is no admission or parking fee for the Blue-White Game.
The clinic costs $50 per person and includes instruction, clinic materials, Friday's dinner and social and Saturday's lunch.
Coaches interested in attending the Penn State Football Coaching Clinic can register or get more information by visiting: http://www.gopsusports.com/camps/fb-coaches-clinic.html. Coaches also can get information by calling 814-865-0561, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Penn State also will host several football camp opportunities on the University Park campus this summer for its 40th annual summer football camps. Information and dates for the camps will be announced in early April.
A product of Langhorne, Pa., Franklin led Vanderbilt University to unprecedented success the past three years as head coach, including consecutive nine-win seasons and bowl victories the past two years, as well as back-to-back Top 25 finishes, all for the first time in VU history. In his 20th year of coaching, Franklin was a two-time All-PSAC quarterback at East Stroudsburg University.
Beaver Stadium Virtual VenueTM Select-A-Seat began earlier this month and ends on April 17. Season ticket renewals are underway online at www.GoPSUsports.com/accountmanager. There again was no increase in season tickets prices for Penn State football for the 2014 season. New season tickets are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Nittany Lions open the season on Aug. 30 vs. UCF in Dublin, Ireland at the Croke Park Classic. Penn State returns 41 letterwinners and 15 starters (7 offense, 7 defense, 1 specialist) and will host Rose Bowl Champion Michigan State (Nov. 29), Ohio State (Oct. 25), Northwestern (Sept. 27-Homecoming) and Maryland (Nov. 1) during its 2014 Big Ten home schedule. The Nittany Lions will play a trio of 2013 Top 10 teams this fall.
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