For the past 54 years, Blue Band drum majors have kicked off Nittany Lions’ home games with the signature front flip, with their success or failure taken as an omen for the four quarters to come.

Now, the 21-year-old Sheehan has made the role her own — leading the 300-member band, taking the pressure in stride and leaving her mark as the first woman to hold the position.

It takes a village

Sheehan has been surrounded by music her entire life.

Ellie Sheehan has aspired to be the Penn State Blue Band drum major since she was a child. This year, she achieved that dream and led the more than 300-member band as the first woman to hold the position. Courtesy photo

Her father, Scott Sheehan, is the Hollidaysburg Senior High band director and an early supporter of his daughter’s musical endeavours.

Sheehan began by playing violin and singing in chorus at the elementary level, before picking up her first woodwind instrument, the flute, and eventually the piccolo.

Musical aspiration quickly became the foundation of Sheehan’s life for the next 13 years.

“Ever since I went to my first Penn State game when I was like eight, it was my dream to be in Blue Band and be drum major … everyone who knew me knew that,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan aligned her academic life around this long-term goal.

Ellie Sheehan has aspired to be the Penn State Blue Band drum major since she was a child. “When I got in, it was a dream come true, it was really shocking,” Sheehan said. “It was everything I had hoped for and worked for and dreamed for.” Courtesy photo

“Everything I strived for, the goals that I achieved, I knew that was going to help me get into the band,” Sheehan said, “I knew I had to get good grades and continue my passion for the arts to get in the Blue Band and see if I could make drum major.”

Sheehan knew this goal was only achievable through several preliminary steps — joining the band at the Hollidaysburg Area Junior High and eventually at the Senior High.

According to Scott Sheehan, his daughter has always been a “self-motivated musician,” who organized her weekly schedule to ensure she had enough time devoted to schoolwork, music practice and competitive dance.

“There was really no pressure from my dad to join band, I just fell in love with it on my own,” Sheehan said.

When she finally reached the Senior High band, Sheehan auditioned to be drum major, taking the next major step toward her dream.

For the past 54 years, Blue Band drum majors have kicked off Nittany Lions’ home games with the signature front flip, with their success or failure taken as an omen for the four quarters to come. Now, 21-year-old Ellie Sheehan has made the role her own. Courtesy photo

“I made it very clear to all of the students that Ellie would not get any special treatment just because she was my daughter,” Scott Sheehan said. “When it came time for drum major tryouts … the rest of the band staff did the auditions without me and they also brought in outside judges to make sure the process was fair. Being impartial was very important to both Ellie and me.”

Sheehan did not want Ellie to get the position out of nepotism or favoritism, but earning the distinction through her own hard work.

“If anything, I was probably harder on her than other students in the band because I knew how hard she worked and what she was capable of achieving,” Sheehan said.

After a successful season leading the Senior High band as drum major, Sheehan set her sights on the next step in her journey: Getting into Penn State and auditioning for a place in Blue Band, which would be an order of magnitude more difficult than any of her previous auditions.

Freshmen band candidates try out for a limited number of available spots in each individual instrument section, often competing for fewer than five open positions against dozens of applicants.

Sheehan was selected as one of the four incoming members of the piccolo section, having auditioned with about 40 other candidates.

Coming from a small-town band with fewer than 150 members where everyone knew each other to a 300-plus-member college band with musicians from all over the country was a big change, Sheehan said.

“Everyone is so devoted to music, they’ve had long careers and they’re there to really work and perform, not just for themselves but to represent the university,” she said.

Blue Band eventually became Sheehan’s second “family,” a group she was eager to lead as drum major auditions for 2025 approached.

Not just a flip

The role of drum major in Blue Band is a unique responsibility, even among other similarly prestigious college music programs.

According to Carson Pedaci, Sheehan’s immediate predecessor as drum major, having 100,000 eyes on you and you alone is a singularly nerve-wracking experience.

Having to land the flip is “huge pressure,” Pedaci said, taking a degree of mental fortitude not everyone can muster.

And while the flip is the most obvious on-field duty of the position, the off-field responsibilities are equally important, Pedaci said.

The drum major is the principal student leader of the band, working closely with guides — functionally equivalent to section leaders in other band contexts — and organization administrators to ensure every season’s schedule runs smoothly.

“A good drum major needs guts, good communication and being personable enough to build a bond with the band, able to represent the whole organization,” Pedaci said, “and (Sheehan) encompasses all of that.”

Becoming a leader

Drum major auditions are notoriously exacting — requiring a demonstration of conducting ability, an interview with the band director and an unedited video of the candidate landing the flip three times in a row.

The flip is often the most difficult portion of the audition, Pedaci said, with most applicants spending weeks in the gym practicing the stunt ahead of the submission deadline at the end of spring semester.

Sheehan began her preparations in fall 2024 for her audition the following year, working with Pedaci and her father to fine tune every aspect.

“It took me months of work with (Pedaci) to feel prepared,” she said.

Sheehan went into the final interview with Band Director Gregory Drane resolved to “speak from the heart” and be true to herself.

“When I got in, it was a dream come true, it was really shocking,” Sheehan said. “It was everything I had hoped for and worked for and dreamed for.”

‘National champion mentality’

Sheehan has worked closely alongside Blue Band president Lucy Schilling — the other senior student leader — to instill a “national champion mentality” into the band since preseason, as hopes were high that the Nittany Lions had finally assembled the right team to make a deep run into the playoffs.

“The season started going differently than we had expected, but we still maintained this mentality of ‘we can still be a national champion band’ even if our football team isn’t doing it,” she said.

Sheehan has to “set the tone” for her bandmates both in practice and during performances.

“That’s when leadership comes in, trying to know every one of the 300 people and making sure they belong in this family, because it truly is so big,” Sheehan said.

That enduring optimism has become a hallmark of Sheehan’s tenure as drum major.

According to Pedaci, his successor and erstwhile protege has “won over the band,” with her ability as a leader.

“People look up to her as a role model,” he said. “She’s led really well and takes the pressure in stride.”

Knowing that her parents will be there for every home game has been a source of strength for Sheehan, even if she can’t find their faces in the swirling sea of blue and white.

“When I’m doing the flip, it’s just me and my dad in a big grass field,” she said.

Her mom, Amy, and dad, Scott, have always been Sheehan’s “biggest supporters,” who were there for her through the highs and lows of her band career.

“There really aren’t words to describe the excitement and how proud we are of this accomplishment. It truly is surreal,” Scott Sheehan said. “This has been a dream of hers since she was eight years old. She’s worked very hard and never lost sight of her goal. Her mom and I have done our best to support her as much as we can, and it’s been absolutely amazing watching her on the field this season.”

Sheehan will make her final appearance as drum major when the Nittany Lions face the Clemson Tigers in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 27.

“It’s been one of the best moments of my life; I just want to do it again and again,” Sheehan said, “I’m honored and happy to carry on something special.”

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.

The Sheehan file

Name: Ellie Sheehan

Age: 21

Hometown: Hollidaysburg

Parents: Scott and Amy Sheehan

Education: Penn State Smeal College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a minor in digital media trends and analytics

Career: Drum Major of the Penn State Blue Band; leader in the piccolo section; marketing coordinator at Wieland Small Tube Products in Duncansville