Penn State owned that Maryland-D.C. territory. Seven out of the top 10 players, Larry Johnson's got the state locked up. He's an ex-high school coach down there, so he had great inroads, great contacts.

Today, the way the kids are, a lot of them don't want to participate in them later in the spring because they have a plethora of offers. You have to pick the lesser of the evils.

When you recruit high-profile kids, they usually don't make their decision until toward the end. Four losing seasons out of five might have caused (the Penn State coaches) to rethink their strategy slightly. That may have worked a couple times but overall, it wasn't the best strategy.

In the past, Central and Eastern Pennsylvania have basically been dead to Pitt. So now, they can establish a little foundation there.

They didn't lose anybody to Michigan. They didn't lose anybody to Penn State. I would challenge anyone to tell me when that's ever happened before. I don't think it ever has. To me, that's the most surprising thing.

Penn State really finished with a great flurry. They really did well in the state of Maryland and they did well on the defensive line, not to mention them getting a receiver like Chris Bell. They also filled all their needs.