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How dare someone question Penn State Board of Trustees member Kenneth Frazier – and by extension the Freeh Report.

Frazier made that message clear Thursday when he launched a diatribe against a Harrisburg lawyer during an open session of a Board of Trustees meeting.

William Cluck had the gall to question the Freeh Report as the ultimate arbiter on the Jerry Sandusky scandal since upcoming trials could also shine a light on what happened.

Frazier’s unwillingness to even consider that the Freeh Report may be incomplete is staggering considering he is one of the leaders of a board that preached transparency in the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal.

Such openness is apparently lip service when it comes to the Freeh Report.

Consider that Louis Freeh held a news conference less than an hour after releasing a report that was almost 300 pages – or before anyone had a chance to actually read it and question how such sweeping conclusions could be drawn from the evidence he had.

Freeh, to my knowledge, has not engaged in any question and answer sessions since that day. And he only released a statement defending his findings following the release of the Paterno Report – one in which the former FBI leader contradicted himself.

Now there are calls for transparency in regard to the tactics and methods that led to Freeh’s report, especially since the price tag for it will almost surely exceed $10 million.

A large segment of the Board of Trustees is still urging Penn State alumni to move forward. Some board members, like Frazier, seem openly hostile to the kind of public discourse that is as American as the concept of due process.

Meanwhile, the Freeh Report assigned the least amount of blame for breakdowns at Penn State to a group that continues to all but pass it off as gospel.

That is why dug-in, defiant board members such as Frazier come off as tone deaf to angry alumni.

Or worse.

– Scott Brown

Penn State is again the team to beat in the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which will be held Saturday and Sunday at Illinois’ Assembly Hall.

The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 1 by Intermat, have three projected No. 1 seeds in the two-day tournament that they have won the last two years.

Penn State also has a projected No. 2 seed as well, giving them the first or second seed in four of the 10 weight classes. Seeding will be officially determined Friday.

David Taylor (165 pounds), Ed Ruth (184) and Quentin Wright (197) are projected No. 1 seeds while Nico Megaludis (125) is expected to be a No. 2 seed behind Iowa’s Matt McDonough.

Ruth and Wright take 25-0 and 24-0 records, respectively, into the Big Ten tournament. Taylor is 23-1 and Megaludis is 21-2.

The finals of the tournament will be shown live Sunday on the Big Ten Network.

Penn State quietly announced on Wednesday that Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli will no longer serve as the primary physician for the football team. The change was made public on the day Penn State released the news that associate athletic director for football administration Fran Ganter will retire after spending more than 40 years at the school as a player, coach and administrator.

There had been talk for several weeks that Sebastianelli had been pushed out or even fired. He is staying in his role as Penn State’s director of athletic medicine, but it seems pretty clear that Sebastianelli wanted to continue working with the Nittany Lions’ football team, something he has done for more than 20 years.

His reassignment did not sit well with Andre Taliaferro. And if anyone has earned the right to speak on the subject it is the father of Adam Taliaferro.

Adam Taliaferro sustained a terrifying spinal injury after making a tackle in a 2000 game at Ohio State, and Sebastianelli’s on-field care may be the biggest reason why Taliaferro made a near miraculous recovery.

Here is the full letter Andre Taliaferro sent to the Tribune-Review:

I was recently made aware of the change in status regarding Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli with the PSU football program. While it is not my intention to influence or inject myself into decisions made at PSU regarding their personnel or politics, I do feel compelled to weigh in on this matter.  Specifically, my family, as well as many past and present PSU athletes and families, have benefitted from Dr. Sebastianelli’s professional and expert care to our loved ones participating in PSU athletic programs, especially football. To make it more personal, if Dr. Sebastianelli had not been on staff and involved with PSU football in September of 2000, my son could have died or been a lifelong quadriplegic due to the injury he sustained in a game with Ohio State University.  This would have not only impacted Adam, but our entire family would be currently experiencing a significantly lessened quality of life. This is not hype but a fact!

While I am not naïve to think that decisions regarding PSU personnel are made solely for reasons of competence and that person’s ability to effectively and compassionately service their constituents, I can assure you that these qualities are most important to PSU players and families that will be impacted by the recent decisions made regarding Dr. Sebastianelli. I can personally attest that he is a person whom many feel possess the ideal combination of skill, demeanor, and personality that they want and desire for someone responsible for the well being of their loved ones. Put bluntly, he is second to none in his capability and capacity to service and advise past and current PSU players. And let this be known, his advice and counsel was not only accepted but also sought out by countless players and their families, both past and present.

In closing, removing or altering the involvement of Dr. Sebastianelli with the football program should and will be viewed by many as “malpractice,” political, and a disservice to all players and parents.  I am not saying that there are not others who could perform his duties, but why make changes regarding a person who has proven numerous times his value to the program, its players, and parents?  Again, I am not naïve to think that those making decisions will take into consideration the feelings and concerns of past and present players and their families who will be adversely impacted by Dr. Sebastianelli’s diminished role, but make no mistake, this will not be in the best interest of the players and their families.

Respectfully yours,

Andre Taliaferro

It is not that he broke his silence.

Adam Taliaferro did offer his strongest comments regarding fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the Freeh Report since getting elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees last April.

Taliaferro, whose football career was cut short by a catastrophic injury in 2000, told the Tribune-Review that the Paterno Report needs to be considered by many people and two organizations in particular: the Board of Trustees and the NCAA.

“I was really waiting for this Paterno Report to come out because I think this really sheds light on the story,” Taliaferro said. “I think people have a better understanding of the circumstances from the Paterno side.”

Taliaferro had been criticized by some Penn State alumni for not speaking out more for Joe Paterno, his former coach, since joining the Board of Trustees. Taliaferro explains in Friday’s Tribune-Review why he waited to speak out as well as the significance of the Paterno Report to him.

Taliaferro has read the report, and he watched Sue Paterno’s appearance on the Katie Couric Show earlier this week.

“The Sue that I saw on Katie Couric, the upstanding, sincere woman, that’s the person I know  from when I first walked onto that campus,” Taliaferro said. “I just hope that people see the Paternos the way I saw them. That’s why this whole thing has been so hard for me because the way Joe has been portrayed that’s not the person I know. I think (Sue Paterno) has done a great job of representing the family because she’s a class act. I firmly believe that she meant everything that she said on Katie.”

– Scott Brown

There are no surprises among the Penn State players who have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, which takes place later this month in Indianapolis.

Linebackers Michael Mauti and Gerald Hodges, defensive tackle Jordan Hill and center Matt Stankiewitch are among the more than 300 prospects that will be poked and prodded by every NFL team at the most important pre-draft event.

Hill figures to be the first Penn State player drafted, and some team is going to take a chance on Mauti in the sixth or seventh round – and get a steal if he can return from a third major knee injury.

One analyst I talked to said Mauti is not quite as instinctive as former Penn State great Sean Lee. But, he added, Mauti is very comparable to Lee, who has developed into a Pro Bowl-caliber player with the Dallas Cowboys.

The analyst said Mauti would be an ideal inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, and I’m thinking the Steelers give him strong consideration in the late rounds — if they are convinced he can make a full recovery from the injury he sustained in Penn State’s next-to-last game in 2012 and stay healthy.

– Scott Brown

Here are excerpts from Bill O’Brien’s news conference Monday, the first day of the spring semester at Penn State:

Q: When you go through something that goes public like talking with NFL teams is that something that goes away for the foreseeable future or does it come up again on an annual basis?
A: No, I don’t think so. I plan to be the head football coach here. I love coaching here, love living here, really enjoy the kids that I coach here. And no, no, I don’t see it that way. Again, I’m not a genie, I don’t have a crystal ball.
I have a lot of respect for that league. I love that league. Again, this is my profession. I’m a coach. And that’s the highest level, but at the same time, like I’ve said, I really, really love coaching these kids. I enjoy being the head football coach at Penn State, and I enjoy the people I work for, the people I work with, all the people I’ve met. The student body is incredible here, and I enjoy being here. And I plan to be here.

Q: What are some things you would like to see put into place that will give you, your players and your staff the best chance to succeed?
A: The best organizations in pro football are always the ones that are thinking about ways to do things differently, from year to year. Every year is different. I just met with the team here at 7 a.m., and I said, look, 2012 has been over for a couple months now, that season, and we’ve got to create a new identity.
So, we will constantly here at Penn State talk about new ways of, maybe there’s new weight lifting equipment or can I have a few more guys in the recruiting department to help (recruiting coordinator) Billy Kavanaugh with recruiting. Maybe there’s different ways to do study hall, maybe there’s different ways to help with our marketing department as it relates to football. You know, those are all things that we need to constantly be talking about at Penn State as we move year to year because we can’t just sit and stay the same, we’ve got to be creative, we’ve got to think out of the box, we’ve got to do the best job we can for our players and for our staff to make sure that we’re putting them in the best situation to get a great degree and to win football games.

Q: ESPN reported that you were not happy that you received bad information during the interview process with Penn State in regard to possible NCAA punishment. Is that true?
A: Let me clarify that: When I interviewed for the job I interviewed with a search committee here. I had a Skype interview when I was in Foxboro, and then I came on campus here, and I asked many, many questions. I think if you ask Dr. (Rodney) Erickson and Dr. (Dave) Joyner, I think one of the things that probably impressed them was the fact that I had many more questions than they actually had.
And so one of the questions I had was about the NCAA, and what was their role in this going to be, and at that time Dr. Erickson had received a letter from the NCAA in which he had to answer several questions. And they felt at that time that once they answered those questions, they would know better about what the NCAA’s role would be in this whole thing.
So it wasn’t anybody that gave me bad information. It was just nobody really knew, and so I took somewhat of a leap of faith. Penn State took a leap of faith, and I shook their hand and became the head football coach here, and that’s exactly what happened.

Q: Could you talk about how the quarterback situation shapes up heading into the spring?
A: Steven Bench will be back for us, and he’s just a great kid, a bright kid, competitive guy, a lot of energy, really a neat kid to be around. His dad was a coach down there in south Georgia, and just a neat kid to be around. He’ll be the first to tell you he’s got a lot of work to do, but really looking forward to working with him when spring practice starts.
We brought in a junior college transfer, so to speak, named Tyler Ferguson, who comes from the College of The Sequoias out there in California, and am really excited about working with him. He was a guy that we felt really was smart and productive, and had some great conversations with him, and he’s been here the last couple days, and met him and talked to him a little bit. Just really excited about him.
We have two run on guys, Austin Whipple, whose dad, Mark Whipple, is a great friend of mine, who was the quarterback coach of the Cleveland Browns, and I worked for Mark at Brown, and Austin is his youngest son, and really looking forward to working with him. And then we have a young man named D.J. Crook from Massachusetts that’s a run on that’s coming in here, and just being around those two guys the last couple days, two athletic looking guys that are ready to go to work. So we’re excited there.

Q: Can you talk about some of the players who redshirted or played some as freshmen that you are anxious to see in spring practice?
A: Obviously we can’t wait to see what Akeel Lynch does. We think he’s got a really good future for us. Go to the tight end position, Brent Wilkerson really impressed us on the practice field. The thing with those guys now is you’re going from reading a card to actually having to learn the system. You can look at a card in the Dirty Show (scout team), and they say, “Run this curl at 14 yards” and you run the curl. Now it’s about going out there and learning the system and doing it. We’re looking forward to seeing how those guys adapt to it and get going. Geno Lewis, Malik Golden at the receiver position, really looking forward to watching those guys, watching what they do. Offensive line, we’ve got a couple guys there, Wendy Laurent, looking forward to seeing him, what he does.
Defensively, a guy like Austin Johnson, really think he’s got a great future for us. Nyeem Wartman, even though he played a little bit and was injured, really think he’s got a great future for us. Secondary-wise, Da’Quan Davis, looking forward to seeing how he improves after year one here. I could go right down the list for you, but there’s a lot of good young talent in this program that we think bodes well for the future, and now we just can’t wait to get out there and start coaching them.

– Scott Brown

The buyout clause in Bill O’Brien’s contract was widely believed to be one of the biggest obstacles to the Penn State coach leaving for the NFL.
Joe Linta, who represents O’Brien, said that never factored into O’Brien’s decision to stay at Penn State after he received interest from a handful of teams, including the Browns and Eagles.
“Any report that said (the buyout) entered into the decision is patently false,” Linta told the Tribune-Review Friday. “This decision was predicated on integrity and commitment.”
Linta declined to talk about the buyout, which has been reported as anywhere from $9-18 million. He said it is not as “one-sided” as has been reported, and that it didn’t become an issue since O’Brien never seriously considered leaving Penn State.
Talks with the Eagles and Browns never went beyond the preliminary, Linta said, adding that they “didn’t get past first base.”
All indications are that O’Brien used the leverage created by the NFL interest in him to wrangle a few concessions from Penn State.
Erick Hackenberg, the father of prized quarterback recruit Christian Hackenberg, said he never worried about O’Brien leaving after talking with the coach at the beginning of the week. O’Brien, he said, told the family to brace for his name getting linked to NFL jobs but not to give credence to any reports.
“Bill gave us absolute assurance that he would coach Penn State next year,” the elder Hackenberg told the Tribune-Review Friday.
Word started reaching the players that he was staying a couple of hours before O’Brien and his camp went official with it on Thursday night.
Penn State’s defensive backs received a text message from John Butler, their position coach, at around 8 p.m.
The message reiterated that Penn State’s coaches weren’t going anywhere. It also informed the players to be ready Monday when offseason workouts begin.

– Scott Brown

Leave the absurdity of Twitter to best capture the absurdity of the week that follows the conclusion of the NFL regular season.
The coaching carousel starts spinning as NFL bosses are whacked like stoolies in a Mob flick, even ones like Lovie Smith, who is coming off a 10-win season and has been to a Super Bowl.
Penn State fans never had to pay much attention to the ripple effect of those firings — until now.
Bill O’Brien’s name has been linked to a number of openings, including ones in Philadelphia, Cleveland and San Diego –- The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported that O’Brien interviewed with the Browns this week — and this has naturally made Nittany Lions fans jumpy.
The O’Brien camp has been eerily quiet, and in that vacuum everything has become magnified as Nittany Lions defensive end Deion Barnes found out late Thursday afternoon.
Barnes, who is coming off a magnificent freshman season, wrote on Twitter, “All u got in this world is your word, once u go back on that I can’t respect u and can’t shake ur hand.”
The words produced a collective grasp across the Twittersphere. Cryptic as they were, the words seemed to indicate that O’Brien had told his players he was leaving or they had received word that he was bolting after just one season at Penn State.
It didn’t take long for Barnes to realize the hysteria he had caused by tweeting a movie quote, and he moved quickly to tell everyone to, you know, chill out.
It is good advice since it is too early to tell how everything with O’Brien plays out. There are compelling reasons why he should stay. There are understandable reasons why he would leave.
Here are three for each argument:

Why O’Brien stays
– He has a chance to be more than just a football coach at Penn State, and the State College area seems like a good fit for O’Brien and his family.

– You can’t win in the NFL without a quarterback, and most of the teams with head-coaching vacancies have questions or serious issues at the most important position in all of sports. And there aren’t any Andrew Lucks or RGIIIs in this 2013 draft.

– O’Brien convinced a lot of freshman and sophomores to stay at Penn State and meet sanctions that had nothing to do with their conduct head on. If he leaves he is just another Xs and Os junkie who is making a money grab or feeding an oversized ego. Or both.

Why O’Brien goes
– If O’Brien is going to make the jump to the NFL and have significant leverage this is the year to do it. An owner would be making a pretty safe bet that O’Brien won’t be overwhelmed by the demand that come with the job of NFL head coach after what he handled last season at Penn State. And his stock never figures to be as high as it is now.

– It’s hard to begrudge someone for wanting the chance to prove himself on his occupation’s biggest stage, and it’s not like O’Brien is just a college coach. He spent five seasons with the Patriots before returning to Penn State. His time with New England may have made him realize how much he would like to go to the Super Bowl as a head coach.

– As wondrous a job as O’Brien did in 2012, let’s face it: that was the easy part. An exceptionally strong senior class helped O’Brien keep the team together after the NCAA punished the football program. And Penn State had enough talent to compete in the Big Ten in a down season for the conference. It will be difficult for O’Brien to coax .500 records out of the Nittany Lions as Penn State deals with the brunt of the sanctions.

– Scott Brown

A former All-American and an anchor on Penn State teams that went undefeated in 1968-69, Steve Smear qualifies as an authority on greatness.
And that is what the former Nittany Lions defensive lineman saw as he watched the 2012 team win eight of 12 games while overcoming the kind of adversity that would have made 6-6 more than acceptable if not a success.
Smear relayed as much last Friday when he wrote an email to the former teammate who also oversees Penn State’s athletic department.
“He said, ‘In my opinion this is the greatest Penn State team of all time,’ ” Penn State acting athletics director Dave Joyner told the Tribune-Review on Wednesday. “It still gives me chills to say that just because of all the adversity they had to overcome and the kind of character they exhibited. Even when they lost on the scoreboard they didn’t lose in your heart.
“It was a great inspiration not just to intercollegiate athletics, but it’s a great inspiration to all of Penn State and the community. It was great medicine at the right time.”
By the time he heard from Smear, one of Penn State’s all-time greats, Joyner had already set into motion the events that led to the 2012 team joining almost 20 others — including the one Joyner and Smear played on in 1969 — in immorality.
Joyner had talked about honoring this year’s team with his family, which includes two sons who also played at Penn State.
School president Rodney Erickson was all for it after Joyner told his boss that he wanted to put “2012” on the ring of honor that is stripped across the expansive luxury boxes at Beaver Stadium.
Joyner said he did everything possible to make sure the gesture was a surprise to the players who persevered despite the NCAA sanctions that punished them for something in which they had no part.
He did a good job judging by the reaction of the players during the pre-game ceremony last Saturday.
Outside linebacker Gerald Hodges wiped tears from his face. Defensive tackle Jordan Hill softly pounded his chest. Right tackle Mike Farrell wore a look of complete awe.
Joyner had been just as touched by their body of work as well as that of their teammates and coaches. That is why he wanted 2012 to occupy the same lofty place in Beaver Stadium — and in the hearts of Penn State fans — as unforgettable teams from 1982, 1986 and 1994 among others.
“I don’t think words can describe how outstanding a season that they had,” Joyner said. “It was a perfect storm. You had the guy (Bill O’Brien) that was kind of built for this thing and you had these seniors that were very determined and great leadership all around, the university, the community. This one-team concept, it’s not just about athletics, it’s not just about football, it’s about everybody.
“I think everybody got behind them emotionally, and I think the more great play you saw on the field and the development of these athletes, the more you saw about the leadership of that team. Matt McGloin when the NCAA sanctions came down said, ‘Well, the hotter the fire, the stronger the steel,’ and my goodness he was right, wasn’t he?”

– Scott Brown

UNIVERSITY PARK — Outside linebacker Gerald Hodges wiped his eyes. Defensive tackle Jordan Hill nodded his head and softly pounded his chest.
Neither player will soon be forgotten. Each is also part of a group that has been immortalized by Penn State.
Penn State honored the team that plays its final game today at Beaver Stadium by unveiling “2012” on the school’s ring of honor. The numbers now sit alongside those representing teams from 1982, 1986 and 1994 among others along a concrete strip on the stadium luxury boxes.
Penn State honored this year’s player for sticking together after the NCAA levied crippling sanctions against the football program in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
Penn State’s seniors were also honored before today’s game against visiting Wisconsin and outside linebacker Michael Mauti made an inspirational run out of the tunnel that called to mind Adam Taliaferro’s entrance before the 2001 season opener.
Taliaferro battled back from a spinal injury that had left him paralyzed to make the most unforgettable entrance in Beaver Stadium history.
Mauti’s won’t rank too far behind.
The heart and soul of the Nittany Lions is not playing today after sustaining a knee injury last Saturday, but he was able to jog out of the tunnel as the student section chanted “Michael Mauti.”
Hodges is wearing Mauti’s No. 42 today to honor his teammate.
Mauti, Hill, quarterback Matt McGloin, fullback Mike Zordich and linebacker Mike Yancich, were named captains for the 2012 season.
Yancich, a Trinity graduate, represents the special teams.