This Week's Penn State Headlines: A Nittany Lions Reunion

Adam Breneman, Christian Hackenberg conduct a unique interview with Bill O'Brien, their former Penn State coach.

Former Penn State Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien talks to quarterback Christian Hackenberg during a 2013 game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. / Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

What's news with Penn State? How about Bill O'Brien near tears, corporate logos on the field at Beaver Stadium and progress in football's academic progress. Also, kudos to a sprinter for delivering a huge win for Penn State track.

Here's a look at this week's Penn State headlines.

The Bill O'Brien interview: Former Penn State teammate Adam Breneman and Christian Hackenberg transitioned into the media game (welcome, guys!) and have been producing some interesting stuff. Their latest interview might be the most compelling. Breneman and Hackenberg sat down with former Penn State coach Bill O'Brien in his team room at Boston College, where O'Brien is the head coach. Penn State fans should put this on their watch list.

The dynamic is fascinating. O'Brien recruited both to Penn State (making a huge pitch for Hackenberg in particular) and spent two years screaming at them (again, Hackenberg in particular). Now, the former Nittany Lions put their former coach through a (gentle) spin cycle about his time at Penn State, coaching in Houston and taking the Boston College job. The interview is by turns insightful and nostalgic and got O'Brien a bit emotional. Check it out here.

Painting the Beaver Stadium turf with money: Penn State replaced the turf at Beaver Stadium this spring. That new turf could carry some extra paint this fall. The NCAA last week announced that athletic departments can add corporate ads to their stadium fields beginning this fall. The reason: revenue. With revenue sharing coming, colleges need every income stream they can find.

For Penn State, this is a matter of who and how much. Penn State will be a huge draw for field advertising, considering it's among the top television teams in college football. Three of the Nittany Lions' 2023 games finished among the season's top-25 rated broadcasts, according to Sports Media Watch. Teams can add three logos to their fields, so Penn State certainly will sign at least one company to a deal. Options? Sheetz and Wawa are obvious contenders. Up next: jersey patches, when the NCAA approves those.

Is Penn State a Big Ten "sleeper" pick?: Josh Pate of CBS Sports is one of the most thoughtful, non-screamy voices in college football today. Recently, Pate said thatPenn State could be a Big Ten sleeper if its new offense, led by coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, is the real deal.

Behind the hiring process: Penn State coach James Franklin made an interesting comparison between the hiring processes of his two most recent defensive coordinators. Manny Diaz arrived after a sprint, while Tom Allen ran the middle-distance race.

APR progress: Penn State football's Academic Progress Rate improved, according to the NCAA 's most recent data. The program recorded a one-year APR of 959 for the 2022-23 academic year after recording a score of 914 the year prior. Penn State's APR ranked 13th in the new Big Ten. Three conference teams recorded perfect APRs of 1,000 during the 2022-23 academic year: Ohio State, Michigan and Minnesota.

Another love letter from the FPI: ESPN's College Football Power Index loved the Nittany Lions last season. It ranked them fourth after the regular season and fifth after bowl season, ahead of Alabama and Texas on both lists. The FPI continued the love song this year, ranking Penn State sixth recently.

A track achievement: In his last race at Penn State, sprinter Cheickna Traore won the track & field program's first NCAA title in the 200-meter sprint. Traore, who transferred to Penn State from Division III Ramapo College, also became Penn State's first NCAA outdoor sprint champ since Barney Ewell won two events at the 1941 championships.

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.