In Hindsight, Could Penn State Have Convinced Micah Shrewsberry to Stay?

According to CBS Sports, Penn State 'waited very long' to make a strong pitch to retain Shrewsberry.

Matt Cashore/USA Today Sports

While introducing Mike Rhoades as Penn State's men's basketball coach, Athletic Director Patrick Kraft delivered a line that rang through the Bryce Jordan Center. Kraft was talking about Rhoades, but the statement seemed intended to be heard in South Bend, Indiana, where another new basketball coach was being introduced the same day.

"We wanted to find a coach who wanted to be at Penn State," Kraft said in late March. "We wanted someone who had the same confidence and the chip on the shoulder that we all have as an organization. We wanted someone who knew how special Penn State was but also loved to compete. You've got to compete every day. We wanted someone who wasn't going to back down from anything. He was going to go fight and fight for Penn State every single day."

Kraft's March statement reverberated again in mid-July, when CBS Sports' Matt Norlander peeled back the process onion regarding Notre Dame's hiring of Shrewsberry. Norlander received exclusive access to Shrewsberry, his wife Molly and Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick, among others, to compile the narrative of those few months. And it's a story that might have ended much differently had, according to Norlander, Penn State acted sooner with regard to Shrewsberry.

After two seasons at Penn State, which included the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 2001, Shrewsberry returned to Indiana, where he spent much of his life playing and coaching. The homecoming was considered one reason Shrewsberry left. Penn State's commitment to NIL was considered another. 

"Losing Micah was a wakeup call for all of us," Penn State Trustee Brandon Short said in an April interview. "When he went to Notre Dame, it was heartbreaking and embarrassing that another school could take our coach. I think we’re Penn State and we shouldn’t be a stepping stone. We’re a destination and we all need to work to make sure that we are that destination. NIL played a big role in Micah Shrewsberry leaving. He said it publicly."

However, Norlander's story paints a more complicated picture of Penn State's retention plan that appeared to operate in chase mode. Indeed, according to Norlander, Penn State could have retained Shrewsberry simply by beginning its renegotiation sooner. According to the story, Shrewsberry's agent attempted to begin talks earlier last season, when the Lions' NCAA Tournament hopes looked dimmer than they did following an 8-2 run that got them to the Big Ten Tournament final and the NCAA Tournament.

As Norlander writes, "Had Penn State come in January with a contract extension, Shrewsberry is almost certainly still coaching there." Further, Shrewsberry's wife Molly told Norlander, "Unfortunately, they waited very long to push."

When he did push, Kraft did so aggressively. According to Norlander, Penn State offered a seven-year deal worth nearly $26 million. Penn State put together the offer as Shrewsberry was preparing the Lions for their NCAA first-round game against Texas A&M and tried to get him to sign quickly. The Penn State Board of Trustees' Subcommittee on Compensation had scheduled a public meeting for the week of that tournament game to discuss the contract. But Shrewsberry did not sign, and the trustees canceled the meeting.

"I think there was a very strong desire by Penn State to retain him," Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick told Norlander. "And they were being appropriately very aggressive."Pen

On the same day in late March that Swarbrick introduced Shrewsberry at Notre Dame, Kraft stood beside Rhoades in State College. "He's a winner. Hard stop," Kraft said of Rhoades. To affirm that statement, Kraft signed Rhoades to roughly the same deal he reportedly offered Shrewsberry: seven years worth a guaranteed $25.9 million.

Three months into the job, after putting together his first Penn State roster, Rhoades was asked about returning to Pennsylvania to coach (he grew up about three hours from State College). His answer should have pleased Kraft.

"I didn't come back here because it’s my home state. I came back here because I want to win," Rhoades said. "I want to win in the Big Ten, I want to win at a cool university like Penn State."

Read the full CBS Sports story, which offers significant detail into Notre Dame and Shrewsberry's process. 

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.