For Adam Breneman, a Career of Twists and Turns After Penn State

The former Nittany Lions tight end has worked in politics, coached college football and co-founded a media company. Now he's becoming a lead voice in college football.

Former Penn State tight end Adam Breneman is co-founder and chief media officer of The College Sports Company. / Courtesy The College Sports Media Company

Adam Breneman has gone from football to politics to coaching to media and he's just 30 years old. The former Penn State tight end calls this version 4.0 of his career, which still is just beginning.

After losing his coaching job at Arizona State, a period he has called "brutal and humiliating," Breneman turned to social media, building a college football following that has branded him as a leading young voice of the game.

He co-founded The College Sports Company, which partners with athletic departments, helping athletes produce their own content and generate NIL revenue. State Media, the company's Penn State outpost, has a direct line to Penn State football players and coaches, producing some of the most compelling interviews on the beat.

As an interviewer, Breneman has spoken with nearly every major college football coach, all of whom seem willing to take his call. Here, Breneman is the interviewee. He sat for a Q&A with Penn State on SI to discuss the curves of his career, his relationship with Penn State and his thoughts on the program a decade after playing there. Here's Part 1 of that interview.

QUESTON: You’ve gone from player to politics to coaching to media. What version of Adam Breneman are you on now?

ADAM BRENEMAN: It feels like I've lived a few different lives and I just turned 30. I've learned at a young age that one of the only constants in life is that things never go the way you think they're going to go. I wouldn't have believed you if you would have told me that I was going to finish my [playing] career at UMass. If you would have told me in January of 2022 that I was not going to be coaching the next year, I would have thought that was crazy.

So what I've tried to do throughout my life is, when things happen, to try to turn things that may seem like a negative into a positive. And I've tried to adapt and adjust. And I think I've been relatively good at just saying, ‘You have a choice.' When things that you don't want to happen to you happen, it's all about how you respond to it. And now I'm proud of how I've overcome a lot of that stuff, whether it was my injuries, transferring, leaving Arizona State to now. I think that it's all led me to this moment. I’d say this is probably version 4.0, and I’m sure there will be some more iterations that come in the future.

QUESTION: How did your relationship with Penn State start?

BRENEMAN: Growing up, I loved Penn State. But once I started to get recruited and had offers from schools all over the country, I really would tell myself, 'I'm not going to go to Penn State.' Because when you're young, you think, I want to be different. I was going to go to Florida, or Alabama, do something like that. I grew up an hour-and-a-half from Penn State, so I was going to leave home. And then once Bill O'Brien got hired, I couldn't resist. I was all about it. You know, I was recruited by Joe Paterno and his staff. I was probably one of the last players that Paterno offered a scholarship to. I was recruited by Mike McQueary. I was in there in the heart of it.

But Bill O'Brien getting there really changed my perspective, and he was the perfect guy. So that made it an easy decision. But once I got there, my Penn State career did not go the way I thought it was going to go. I wish I played a lot more games and made more of an impact on the field. But I think of everything now, and the opportunities and the people and the connections I have because of Penn State, it’s really remarkable. It's a testament to the school and to that decision I made when I was 17 years old.

Former Penn State tight end Adam Breneman scores a touchdown against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium in 2013. / Mary Langenfeld-Imagn Images

QUESTION: What connections did you make at Penn State that remain important now?

BRENEMAN: I live in Philadelphia. I do a lot of work in a lot of business and a lot of stuff in Pennsylvania and the surrounding area. I work in college football. The fact that I played at Penn State when I did, the reality of it is that people are more likely to pick up my calls and answer my emails. They're more likely to take a meeting with me. I walked into a big business meeting the other day to pitch a deal that I was trying to get closed, and as soon as I walked in, the very first thing someone said was, ‘Are you the Adam Breneman that played at Penn State?’ And that immediately breaks the ice for the entire conversation.

On top of that, you have the relationships with the coaching staff that's still there. I have the relationships with my teammates. Christian Hackenberg works at The College Sports Company. Jason Cabinda works with us State Media. So the fact that I played at Penn State when I did, I think having that kind of thing on my resume helps a lot. If you played at Penn State, and you made an impact there, and the fans appreciate it, and the people who follow the program appreciate it, it pays dividends for the rest of your life.

QUESTION: What was it like reconnecting with Penn State after your coaching career ended?

BRENEMAN: I felt like I was always connected with Penn State. I had two knee injuries in back-to-back seasons, and even during that process of transferring, coach [James] Franklin was very involved in with me. I remember telling coach Franklin that I finally decided to transfer to UMass, and he called me. It was like, ‘Hey, I just want you to know that you have an opportunity to stay at Penn State.’ He was trying to keep me at Penn State but was also very supportive.

I never even really played for coach Franklin. I was on his team for two years but I was hurt both those years. But coach Franklin has helped me throughout my journey. He was a huge part of my coaching career. Coach Franklin helped me get the job at Arizona State. He made some calls and helped me without me even asking. And I'm a guy who barely even played for him. I've always felt like Penn State's my home, even when I was at UMass. I was always welcome back there.

QUESTION: What is your relationship with Penn State like now?

BRENEMAN: I just feel like my relationship has grown, and coach Franklin has been a big part of my career and very helpful in everything I've been doing in media. Obviously, he's been on my show a few times and is always supportive in that regard. So Penn State's an important place to me, and it always feels good to know that that place has open arms for me as well.

It’s strengthened a bunch because of all that we're doing with [with State Media] and even calling the spring game on Big Ten Network last year. It’s been good to be back. Of all the different things that I’ve been able to be part of in my life, and the twists and turns, one of the things I'm most proud of is what we were able to do at Penn State when I went there during that time. The fact that we were able to play a small role in keeping a program together, and the fact that just a couple of years after the sanctions, Penn State won a Big Ten championship and was back at the top tier of college football when people said it would take a long, long time for that place to recover.

In Part 2, Breneman discusses State Media, NIL and the future of Penn State football.

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