Sorting through the blue and white mailbag while thankful for another season of your letters:

Neil:

I am not one to dwell on the past, and certainly Dr. Kraft has completed this search successfully, it would seem. But I am intrigued by what transpired.

Do we know specifically (other than the BYU coach) who he targeted and wanted but was not interested?

Most pundits had Campbell on a list of potential hires. Why did it take so long to connect with him?

Don Carlino

Kennett Square

Don:

Campbell doesn’t have an agent, and he said he doesn’t entertain discussion on other jobs during the season.

So that delayed communication with him.

Kraft zeroed in on other candidates such as Mike Elko (Texas A&M) and some say Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame) before he moved to Kalani Sitake.

Once that fell apart, he scrambled to Jeff Brohm (Louisville) and Brian Daboll (NY Giants) before hitting on Campbell.

Neil:

It’s unbelievable that 12 months ago the Nits were preparing for a home college football playoff game.

Yet, today, in some circles, PSU is considered a “backwater” for coaching candidates.

That lion up on Mount Nittany is looking down upon Nittany Nation and shaking his head in disbelief. I listened to parts of Pat Kraft’s leaked audio from the meeting with the players prior to the Rutgers game.

I am not sure that “bizarre” adequately describes the session. Between profane laced expletives, the ranting ran nonstop. Yikes!

Mike Rendos, Lock Haven

Mike:

The old Mission Impossible show began with “This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.”

Kraft must not have seen it.

Neil:

The demise of A.J. Harris has been shocking.

I read a few scouting reports before the season that had him slotted in the first round. He doesn’t even look draftable now. Reminds me a lot of Kalen King.

Rick Weber

Fort Myers, Florida

Rick:

As well as he did as the Lions’ interim coach, Terry Smith’s cornerbacks — especially Harris — did not play so well this year, and now he’s in the portal.

Neil:

I thoroughly enjoyed another season of the NitWits. You and Brennan do a great job. Your guest pickers are the icing on the cake.

Is it possible Temple and BC did not adequately prepare Pat Kraft for the Penn State job? There is no way Sitake was on Kraft’s top-10 list in October.

David Toltzis, Atlanta

David:

Thanks. We have a lot of fun.

You raise a good point. You can make mistakes at Temple and BC, and they’re not attached to your legacy. Kraft may have landed on the right guy, but the process was sure messy.

Neil:

As you look back on this season, was it all hype that got us to No. 2 or did we really have the talent, but just bad coaching?

Rob Kramer

Silver Spring, Md.

Rob:

I want to say their talent has been overrated — certainly it was at quarterback — but then you turn on an NFL game and you see prominent PSU players everywhere.

Neil:

Since Smith took over the offense, defense and locker room all changed for the better.

The question is were the coaches calling the game different or Franklin not listening to the coaches. Also, Franklin had a good back in Singleton but didn’t seem to understand he had a really good back in Allen.

Bill Obert, Bedford

Bill:

I’ll let James handle that one.

James? James?

Neil:

On the Big Ten vs. Big East. Would have been great at the time, but not sure it would have lasted. Would Pitt, Syracuse, WVU, BC have remained really good competition?

Would Penn State ultimately have jumped to the Big Ten? As a student and grad student (1965 to ’72) I really enjoyed going to away games at Army, BC, Navy, Pitt, Syracuse, and Temple), never got to WVU.

Lu Dorfman, Houston

Lu:

I admit: I held your letter.

My contention has always been that Pitt, Syracuse, WVU and BC were all consistently better when they were aligned with Penn State — and their programs suffered without the affiliation of their top opponent.

Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.