May 12, 2012
VIDEO: Coach O'Brien Previews Week Three of the Coaches Caravan
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., May 12, 2012 - On the heels of 12 enthusiastic and successful events in six states and Washington, D.C., the Penn State Coaches Caravan resumes Monday, May 14 in Altoona and Pittsburgh to begin Week No. 3 and the final six stops.
The Penn State Coaches Caravan will travel west and north of State College this week after stops that included several thousand Penn Staters south and east of the University Park campus during the first two weeks. Week No. 3 of the Penn Stae Coaches Caravan will include events in Altoona and Pittsburgh (Monday), Youngstown and Cleveland (Tuesday) and Erie and Buffalo (Wednesday).
Nittany Lion football coach Bill O'Brien is headlining the bus tour of numerous Penn State alumni and fan strongholds across Pennsylvania, Ohio, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The first-year coach is scheduled to participate in all 18 Coaches Caravan stops, which began April 30 and continue over nine days through Wednesday. The caravan participants are traveling in a customized Fullington Tours bus to all 18 events across seven states and Washington, D.C.
O'Brien is delivering an informative and engaging PowerPoint presentation - "A Championship Program On and Off the Field - on his vision for the Penn State football program and its cornerstones at all the Coaches Caravan evening events.
"The fans have been really impressive," said O'Brien of the reception at the first 12 stops in the Coaches Caravan. "It's not that they just follow football as fans, but they are knowledgeable fans. They understand offense, defense and special teams and how it all plays together. They've had really good questions about recruiting and how to build a team. It's been great to get to know the fans and what they are all about."
The Nittany Lion Club and the Penn State Alumni Association have teamed up to provide fans the chance to meet and hear from some of the leaders of Penn State Athletics. The Penn State Coaches Caravan features selected coaches speaking, answering questions and meeting Penn State alumni and fans at every Coaches Caravan stop.
O'Brien will be joined at Monday's Penn State Altoona campus breakfast by men's hockey coach Guy Gadowsky and men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik. At Monday evening's Pittsburgh event, women's hockey coach Josh Brandwene will join O'Brien, Gadowsky and Pavlik.
On Tuesday, May 15, O'Brien, Gadowsky and Pavlik will head to Youngstown (lunch) and Cleveland (evening) and be joined by Lady Lion basketball coach Coquese Washington, who attended four Coaches Caravan events this past week.
The Coaches Caravan concludes on Wednesday, May 16 as O'Brien, Gadowsky and Pavlik will speak at a lunch at Penn State Erie, The Behrend Campus. The trio will then travel to suburban Buffalo and be re-joined by Brandwene for an evening event before returning to Happy Valley.
Gadowsky and Brandwene, the Penn State men's and women's hockey coaches, respectively, will be in attendance Wednesday in Buffalo, whose NHL franchise, the Sabres, is owned by Penn State alumnus Terry Pegula. The unprecedented gift of $102 million to Penn State by Terry and Kim Pegula in 2010 is responsible for the new state-of-the-art Pegula Ice Arena, which is under construction, and the addition of NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey at Penn State in 2012-13.
Penn State will begin NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey competition this fall, with the teams scheduled to begin play in the 6,000-seat Pegula Ice Arena in 2013-14. The men's team will join the Big Ten Conference in 2013-14, competing against Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Nittany Lion women's program will join College Hockey America this season. Penn State will become the fourth Big Ten institution to sponsor NCAA women's hockey.
Complete details, locations and registration information for every stop on the Penn State Coaches Caravan tour are available at www.GoPSUsports.com and www.alumni.psu.edu/coachescaravan. Advance registration is required for all Coaches Caravan events.
The Penn State Coaches Caravan slate from May 14-16 is below, including the coaches scheduled to participate:
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| May 14 | Penn State Altoona (breakfast) |
| | Coaches: O'Brien (football), Gadowsky (men's hockey), Pavlik (men's volleyball) |
| | Pittsburgh (evening) |
| | Coaches: O'Brien (football), Gadowsky (men's hockey), Brandwene (women's hockey), Pavlik (men's volleyball) |
| May 15 | Youngstown, Ohio (lunch) |
| | Coaches: O'Brien (football), Washington (women's basketball), Gadowsky (men's hockey), Pavlik (men's volleyball) |
| | Cleveland, Ohio (evening) |
| | Coaches: O'Brien (football), Washington (women's basketball), Gadowsky (men's hockey), Pavlik (men's volleyball) |
| May 16 | Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (lunch) |
| | Coaches: O'Brien (football), Gadowsky (men's hockey), Pavlik (men's volleyball) |
| | Buffalo, N.Y. (evening) |
| | Coaches: O'Brien (football), Gadowsky (men's hockey), Brandwene (women's hockey), Pavlik (men's volleyball) |
