‘This place is special’: Terry Smith on being Penn State’s interim head coach
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Smith received over 1,500 congratulatory messages after first win.
- Smith cited multigenerational family ties to Penn State and duty to give back.
- He described coaching role as humbling, emotional and a career milestone.
Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith started talking about all the people who have reached out to him after getting his first win Saturday evening against Michigan State. By his estimates, it was over 1,500 — 500 on each of his two phones and then another 500 or 600 from direct messages.
He said it was basically every person he’d ever met. And then he paused, with the weight of what he’d said beginning to bear down on him.
“People were super proud of me and ...” Smith said, his voice trailing off.
Smith broke down into tears after he mentioned those people. He tried to talk again.
“It’s very humbling for me ...” he said, again with his voice trailing off as tears streamed down his face.
The interim head coach has been with the Nittany Lions for over a decade, but his ties go back much further. Here’s what he said Monday about what this opportunity means to him and why Penn State means so much.
On people reaching out:
“I have two phones, each phone had about 500 text messages on it. Plus direct message had another five or six hundred. So I was really busy. I’ve been reached out to by basically every person I’ve known in my entire life. People are super proud of me. It’s very humbling for me. It’s just humbling sitting in this seat. There’s so many people in my life that speak life into me. And they all reach out. And I’m just so blessed. God has been so good to me through everything in my life. To have the opportunity to be the head coach at Penn State — I don’t think anything has made me or my family happier than this opportunity. I’m thankful for all of my friends, my family, my supporters. Saturday was — I couldn’t even tell you how it felt. I’ve never been lifted off the field in my career. It’s a great moment.”
On why being at Penn State as its interim head coach means a lot to him:
“My dad graduated in ‘68. It’s all we know. I’m from a small town called Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. And it’s not a very nice place. My dad, through his education at Penn State, moved us to the other side of Pittsburgh to Monroeville, Pennsylvania. He gave us a better life because of his education here. And it taught our entire family about possibilities in life. That you can be whatever you want to be. This place has done so much for me and my family. I think we have nine or 10 family members that have Penn State degrees. I have, I think, three that are students now — family members. This place is special, it’s amazing. I just want to give back to it. I just want to make sure I’m holding my end up of the bargain and putting out a team that everyone can be proud of.”
