Why You Play

Nestled in Central Pennsylvania right off of Interstate-80, 40 miles northeast of Penn State University, seven-year-old Andrew Janocko stood beside his father on the sidelines of Clearfield High School’s Bison Stadium, mimicking his every move and getting involved in every play he could. Twenty-two years later, Janocko is still mimicking his father’s coaching style, except he is no longer standing beside him on the sidelines of Bison Stadium. Instead, he is working with Tony Sparano on the sidelines of U.S. Bank Stadium as the assistant offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. “My dad’s my hero,” Janocko said. “He’s the type of person and type of coach I always aspire to be. There’s no coincidence that watching him is the reason that I coach." There’s no coincidence that watching him is the reason that I coach. Janocko got his start as a graduate assistant at Rutgers University in 2011 under head coach Greg Schiano after graduating from the University o...

As he was standing on the sidelines watching the Penn State DuBois Basketball team take on Penn State Greater Allegheny, Neil Hanes realized he made the right decision by stepping away from his job in the insurance industry and stepping into his new role of a personal development coach.  He had been involved with Penn State Basketball for nine years, two as a player, four as a volunteer coach and three as assistant head coach. But this was the first year he was able to take his life coaching to the court.   And that was the first game he saw it start to pay off. “There was one game where things weren’t going well, attitudes were flaring, but then we got to a point where things started clicking,” Hanes said. “The team started coming together and they saw they wouldn’t have much of a season if they didn’t start coming together and playing together. No one cared how much time they were getting, it was all for the greater good.” When he was younger, Hanes dreamed of...