Penn State Trustee Brandon Short: Our Thinking Has to 'Evolve'
Penn State's Board of Trustees recently voted to approve fund a $48.3 million renovation plan of the Lasch Football Building, the first phase of a $69 million project.
Trustee Brandon Short, a former All-American linebacker at Penn State, enthusiastically voted for the proposal, which he implored fellow trustees to consider the beginning and not the end. Short told the trustees they should spend "much more" on the football program, saying that such investment benefits the entire university.
"There is no other place where we can get a higher return on our investment than an investment in our football program," Short told the board. "It aligns with our core mission and lifts the entire university."
Short spoke with AllPennState about his vote, why he considers the arguments to delay the project flawed and why Penn State's "old-school mentality" needs to evolve.
Penn State's athletics department already has secured the loan to proceed with the project, so the money is available, Short said. He added that further delays would cost Penn State an additional $4 million.
"The effect it has on the university is exponentially positive," Short said. "We need to invest in this particular investment because we save money. Full stop, we need to do that now. But we need to do more than we’re currently doing."
Why? Because college football's arms race isn't likely to abate, even in a post-pandemic world.
"I for one am a competitor," Short said. "And our fan base wants to compete and win. In order to do that, we need to invest."
Short's former teammate, LaVar Arrington, certainly agrees.
Here are some excerpts from the interview, which can be heard below in its entirety.
On competing with Ohio State
"Ohio State, back when I played, they were a great program, but we would look at them on the schedule and pencil them in as a 'W,' basically. We thought we were superior. That has changed over time. And the main reason why that’s changed over time is the lack of investment from Penn State and the amount that Ohio State has invested in their program.
"They’ve spent $12 million more a year over the past seven years than Penn State on their football program alone. To put that in perspective for you, if Ohio State gets four more recruits than Penn State over a five-year period, that’s a whole offense and a whole defensive team. And what that means is, that’s the difference between making the playoffs and having all the economic benefits to the university and the local community and not making a bowl game for three years and having the local community in tatters.
"It’s such a big difference. Other schools around the country are making these types of investments, and we need to give our people the resources that they need to go out and compete and be successful."
On pausing the project until the pandemic abates, as some trustees suggested
"That argument from those trustees isn’t based on math or logic. Penn State’s athletic department is self-funding. It's independent, and the athletic department actually gives $4 million back to the university every year. So this is investment is independent of that impact on the university. ... We borrowed the money for this project last year, and the project was delayed due to COVID. A further delay in this project would cost the university $4 million. The interest payment and principal on the loan - if we finance it all, which we don't plan on doing - is $2.4 million. So by investing today, we save $1.6 million and get a state-of-the-art facility. So there's no real correlation with the negative impact of COVID around the university or around the state."
On looking to the future of Penn State football
"There’s a large part of our fan base, and I’m one of them, that has an old-school mentality. But that has to evolve. I love Joe Paterno. He saved my life, and I love him for what he did for this university and for what he’s done me personally. But we cannot make decisions today based upon what we did 30 years ago. The world is different. ... There's no question that there’s an arms race going on [in college athletics]. And there are two choices: We either compete and win or we choose not to be as good as we could be. And I for one am a competitor, and our fan base wants to compete and win. In order to do that, we need to invest."
Listen to the full interview here:
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