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D’Elia returning to consult PSU

The founding father of the whiteout is back.

Altoona’s Guido D’Elia, who started Penn State’s popular annual tradition in 2004, has been hired by new athletic director Pat Kraft as a gameday consultant.

His first game, ironically enough, will be tonight in the whiteout game vs. Minnesota.

D’Elia, a 1965 Altoona High School graduate, has been working with Rutgers and other schools on gameday operations since being let go by Penn State in 2012 after the scandal.

He’s excited to see the spectacle that the event has become.

“It’s’ so close to my heart,” D’Elia said Friday.

D’Elia said Kraft “reached out” after he was hired over the summer and “wanted to talk about things as background.”

Now residing in Delaware, D’Elia specializes in the spontaneous management of music and entertainment based on key moments and situations during the game.

“The real change won’t be until next season, but we’re going to work now to get back to an unscripted game call,” he said. “Weather, down and distance and game conditions … it had evolved into a scripted call, and they need things refreshed.”

During his 10-plus year tenure at Penn State, D’Elia was in charge of football branding and became a close confidant of Joe Paterno.

D’Elia didn’t previously know Kraft but said he’s “impressed” with his willingness to revisit past models that have worked.

In addition to Rutgers, D’Elia has consulted operations at Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, TCU, Arizona and Utah.

He is close with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, having helped the Knights’ operation while he was still working at PSU.

“This will not be a long-term thing,” D’Elia said. “Within two years.”

D’Elia will be in the press box working with marketing manager Dana Crouse.

“Dana will be driving the bus,” he said. “I’ll be helping her see it in a conditional way, not a scripted way.”

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