… Earlier this year, the Big Ten Network was looking for new talent. Since the BTN is also owned by Fox, the folks in Los Angeles put in a good word for [Jon] Crispin. The BTN decided to give him a trial run as a color commentator for a few Penn State games. But first he had to make sure there were no hard feelings with anyone back at his old school.
So over the summer, Crispin flew back East and then drove to Happy Valley to meet with athletic director Tim Curley and basketball coach Ed DeChellis, who replaced Dunn in 2003.
Curley was the AD at the time Crispin left and had been on the receiving end of numerous complaints from the young athlete. When they met in the summer, Crispin admitted that in retrospect, he didn’t realize what Penn State meant to him.
Curley stopped him mid-sentence and said, “I do know what it means to you. This place is special.” Then Curley said he was behind Crispin working the games at Penn State.
“Just to have him say he was all for it and it will be great for us and great for you and we want to see you succeed, it felt really good,” Crispin said. “It was very motivating to me.
“Coach DeChellis was very warm, too,” he added. “It made me feel like I was still part of the program and not somebody who left. It is nice to be able to come back to that.”