Five Stories: Part 4

We’re on the home stretch as we come to part 4 of my 5 part series, Five Stories.  Today’s story is all about the Moxie Man from Scranton, Matt McGloin.  What a ride this guy has had, huh?  I’ll let this video do the talking first, especially considering it’s him talking.  Then, I’ll give you all a little background. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJksYoEtrKc

Ah, the “myth of impossibility.”  What a great phrase to define the career of this incredible quarterback.  He’s correct in that video, too.  Everyone in the Penn State community, myself included, spent the better part of the last 3 years trying to tell Matt McGloin that he just wasn’t good enough.  Then again, if we all hadn’t done that, he probably never would’ve lived up to his potential.  So maybe it was a good thing that we doubted him.

Matt McGloin came out of Scranton, PA with little fanfare (the 49^th best QB in the nation) and only a handful of offers from smaller schools.  Instead, he chose to reject them all and walk on at Penn State.  As he mentioned, every year, Joe Paterno would recruit yet another 4-5 star blue chip quarterback who was supposed to take McGloin’s job.  After Anthony Morelli graduated in 2007, Daryll Clark took over and had a tremendous 2 year run as the starting QB.  McGloin spent these years on the practice squad.  Clark’s backup was the highly touted Kevin Newsome, who would eventually transfer to Temple before ever playing a down at Penn State.  When Newsome didn’t work out, in the Spring of 2010, there was suddenly a 3-man log jam at the quarterback position.  There was McGloin of course, but this time there were two highly recruited freshmen standing in his way.  Paul Jones, who enrolled early, impressed during the Blue/White game.  Summer enrollee Rob Bolden, though, was the talk of camp.  Eventually, Bolden was named the starter and became the first true freshman to start at quarterback under Paterno.

Now, one interesting note is that Clark, Newsome, Jones, and Bolden were all considered “dual-threat” quarterbacks, meaning they could tuck the ball and run to make plays with their feet in addition to their arms.  McGloin, on the other hand, was a “drop back passer” or “pro style” quarterback.  He was actually the kind of quarterback that Paterno preferred.  Yet, for whatever reason, Paterno would bring in dual-threat guys every year, passing up the chance to help his only pocket passer improve.  Again, this might have been good, because it most likely motivated Matt to keep pushing, knowing he brought something to the table that the other guys didn’t.  Ironically, McGloin would go on to score 7 rushing TDs during his time at Penn State… so much for being just a passer.

Although he was passed up for Rob Bolden in 2010, McGloin eventually found his way onto the field during the 7^th game of the season against Minnesota.  When Bolden went down with an injury, Paterno opted to pass on Paul Jones and go with McGloin who immediately came out swinging, scoring 2 passing TDs to beat the gophers and get Penn State their first Big Ten win of the season.  His confident style of play (bordering on cocky) earned him his most famous descriptor; the kid had “Moxie” and everyone knew it.  McGloin would start every game for the rest of the season, including the Outback Bowl verses Florida, in which McGloin threw 5 interceptions.

Due in large part to his horrendous performance in the Outback Bowl, Bolden again  received the starting nod heading into the 2011 season, but McGloin was not deterred.  He bided his time on the bench as Joe Paterno and his son Jay, the quarterbacks coach, hatched a plan to alternate between the two signal callers until one of them separated himself from the other.  It was an experiment that fans were not happy with.  Despite the dizzying cycle of quarterbacks, it seemed to be working as Penn State won 8 of their first 9 games, only falling to eventual national champions Alabama.  Unfortunately, during the bye week after an exciting win over Illinois, Jerry Sandusky was arrested and all hell broke loose on campus.  Joe Paterno was unceremoniously fired and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley took over for the final 4 games (including a bowl game).  Penn State would lose 3 of those 4 games.  McGloin and Bolden would continue splitting reps the rest of the season.

When Bill O’Brien came to town, he had an entirely different philosophy on how to coach the quarterback position.  Step 1: name a permanent starter and give him time to develop without someone looking over his shoulder.  Step 2: pass more often.  And finally, Step 3: get the tight ends involved more in the passing game.  O’Brien saw a little bit of himself in McGloin, a fellow fiery Irishman, and he knew almost instantly that this was his guy.  He knew McGloin, a 5^th year Senior by this point, had loads of experience.  He also saw way more talent in Matt than most of the media had ever given him credit for.  O’Brien knew that McGloin just needed the right coach to unleash his full potential.

During Spring practice for the 2012 season, O’Brien thought he had a lot of great pieces to work with.  Then, the sanctions came down.  With them, the transfer rule went into effect.  O’Brien watched as his #1 running back, his #1 and #2 wide receivers, and his punter/kicker all leave the team.  Bolden followed suit shortly after McGloin was named the starter, seeing that his services were no longer required.  Jones would leave as well not too long after that.  Yet, O’Brien must’ve seen something in McGloin that no one else saw.  Besides being a more than serviceable passer, McGloin had the leadership skills that every great quarterback needs to be great.  The scandal and the ensuing sanctions served as an excellent opportunity for Matt to lead his team through unspeakable troubles and pull off the unimaginable.  Yet again, he would try to prove wrong the “myth of impossibility.”

The tale of the 2012 season has been told and retold many times.  An 0-2 start, followed by an incredible turnaround, all amounting to the feel good story of the college football world.  By the end of the season, the former walk on whom everyone had said didn’t have the talent to be a full-time starter at a major college program, had played an entire season as the starting quarterback at Penn State.  Even more astonishing, he lead the Big Ten in passing and went on to win the Bulsworth Trophy, awarded each season to the best former walk on player in college football.  O’Brien had turned him into such a great quarterback that Matt started thinking about the NFL.  As the world scoffed at the idea, McGloin pressed on.

He went undrafted in the 2013 NFL draft, but amazingly, after producing the above video, he was picked up in free agency by the Oakland Raiders.  He showed up at Raiders camp ready to work.  Each day he would try a little bit harder than the other guys.  His time in O’Brien’s pro-style system didn’t hurt either.  As he got more reps and showed what he could do, McGloin started creeping up the depth chart.  First, he beat out the quarterback that Oakland had actually drafted, Tyler Wilson.  During preseason games, McGloin, now 3^rd string, looked arguably better than 2^nd string quarterback (and former Ohio State Buckeye) Terrelle Pryor.  Just a few weeks ago, projected starter Matt Flynn was traded to the Buffalo Bills.  McGloin now sits #2 on an NFL roster and could start this season, something unthinkable just one season ago.

What an incredible journey for the scrappy kid from Scranton with moxie to spare!  His determination is a rare quality in players these days.  I think I’ll end by just leaving this here.  Guess we weren’t the only ones shocked by McGloin’s rise to fame…
http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/09/matt_mcgloin_paul_mcgloin_bill.html