Michael T. Mondak speaks to the Penn State Board of Trustees

Members of the Penn State University Board of Trustees:

I write this open letter to you on behalf of the Nittany Nation.  We are fans, students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni scattered throughout the world.  This university has the world's largest alumni base and passionate Nittany Lions fans of all athletic teams offered by the university.

After what happened last Saturday afternoon against evil Ohio State, aka college football's version of the Kremlin, at Beaver Stadium, I have been on social media seeing members of the Nittany Nation once again making critical comments about head football coach James Franklin reiterating comments made by the members of the media that are saying that he cannot win the biggest games in the last 11 years since his arrival in State College.  They believe that James Franklin needs to be terminated in order for us to be national championship contenders.  I believe that the entire fanbase has a problem as they do not clearly understand that some coaches (including James Franklin) have "buyout" clauses in their contracts saying that in case of termination, the university must pay the remainder of the contract in addition to searching for a new head coach.  Terminating James Franklin would cost this university tens of millions of dollars that is not available as I write this letter.  Also, with the college football landscape having changed in recent years (e.g., the expanded Big Ten and College Football Playoff), this gives us an opportunity to compete to win a national championship (which is something I want to see before my eventual death and subsequent Christian burial).  There is also this whole conversation of name, image and likeness that came about following a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 2021 that the NCAA was illegally withholding profits from student athletes in the name of amateurism.  As a result of this ruling, states began incorporating name, image and likeness into their state budgets.

Long before our current generation of student athletes were born, a man named Joseph Vincent Paterno built this university from a tiny college in the middle of nowhere to a national powerhouse, all while not only emphasizing the academic environment, but also competing for national respect in football, in addition to competing for national championships every three or four years.  Every dollar this university paid him over 60-plus years he gave right back to fund the libraries.  James Franklin has only inherited what Paterno built up.  It would take years to build up the university a second time, especially in the age of social media.

Yes, it is true that in the years since 1950 when Joe Paterno arrived in State College the football team has won two national championships (and should have had four more).  There are other sports at this university that have won national championships.  Look at the wrestling program since Cael Sanderson's arrival in 2009.  What other college has won eleven wrestling national championships in the last fifteen years and is poised to win a twelfth this season?  You cannot answer that question.  You can also point to the women's volleyball program and see that you can expect them to be in the NCAA tournament every year (42 appearances out of 42, 7 national championships, including 6 in a span of 8 years).  We have also won a Women's College Cup in soccer.  However, these championships were won by those who came to this university to be complete people (that is, attend classes, practices and meetings).  As a former student athlete myself (I played golf at Penn State Shenango), I made sure I attended classes, practices and meetings before I could compete in a match or tournament.  In addition, I do all that I can to help the football team reach its ultimate goal of winning a national championship that conform with NCAA rules (e.g., weekly video messages sent by email via athletic director Patrick Kraft and pregame prayers inside or outside of church).  However, this comes with certain limitations due to past traumas that I sustained after losses to evil Ohio State since 2018 where I always avoid watching games against certain opponents due to strict orders imposed on me by my doctor.

But back to my main point.  Folks on social media are talking about "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda beat evil Ohio State the last eight years."  Their mindset is similar to that of former New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim E. Mora, who in 1987 gave the famous "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" speech.  What we as a Nittany Lions fanbase are saying is that 

"Evil Ohio State is better than we are; we're not good enough. We shouldn't be thinking about beating those Buckeyes; we shouldn't be talking about it, 'cause the Nittany Lions ain't good enough. And the media shouldn't write about us being a playoff team and all that bullstuff—that's malarkey. We ain't good enough to beat those guys and it was proven out there on Saturday. It's that simple. We're not good enough yet. We've got a long way to go; we've got a lot of work to do; we're close, and close don't mean shit. And the media can put it in their articles for us.  We're tired of coming close, and we're gonna work our asses off until we ain't close anymore, and it may take some time; we're gonna get it done; we aren't in there—we aren't good enough. They're better than us—cut and dry, simple, fact!

"Could've, would've, should've" is the difference in what we're talking about! The good teams don't come in and say "Could've." They get it done! All right? It's that simple! We're tired of saying "Could've, should've, would've." That's why we ain't good enough yet! 'Cause we're saying "Could've" and they ain't!

We're pissed off right now. You bet your ass we are. We're sick of coulda, woulda, shoulda, coming close, if only."

This type of mindset against teams such as evil Ohio State needs to change if we want to have an opportunity to compete for a national championship every three or four years.  But terminating James Franklin to appease a certain portion of the fanbase will not do it because it could lead to us losing potential recruits, players, games, time and money.  The Nittany Lion fanbase, including prominent alumni of the university both young and old need to cease and desist with their criticism of James Franklin, crack open their goddamn checkbooks (if they have the capital to do so) and contribute to the name, image and likeness collective.

I always end each episode of my game show events on YouTube by urging folks to help in the fight against childhood cancers by contributing to the Four Diamonds Fund.  But I end this letter by saying that contributions to our university's name, image and likeness collective will help us compete for national championships every three or four years.

Thank you very much.

For the glory,

Michael T. Mondak '10 Bus Shen