Over the last few weeks, maybe even months, there has been this notion that Pat Kraft is “building a monster” at Penn State. Pat Kraft is “building something” at Penn State. Pat Kraft is “creating something unstoppable” at Penn State.
It’s a statement I’ve seen as Penn State has reached final fours, as Penn State has won national championships, as Penn State has welcomed in new commitments in the transfer portal, as Penn State has hired the biggest fish for open positions on its various coaching staffs – all within the last nine calendar months.
It’s also a line of thinking that I’ve been struggling with.
This will sound more abrasive than it is intended because I think that, for the most part, Kraft has done a strong job as the Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics since he was hired in April 2022 through the lens of team and athlete success.
But I don’t buy that he’s the singular reason for all of it.
That singular reason that some – I’m not sure it’s fair to say many – have pinned on him feels disingenuous to everything that has happened at Penn State, which coincides and also strategically lines up with Kraft’s arrival.
It is rather that Kraft is making something already strong even stronger than building something from scratch which feels so impressive.
By the time Kraft got to Happy Valley, Penn State was already one of the largest athletic programs in the country. Its wrestling program was and is one of the best. Its football program was still the core powerhouse in the east, winning New Year’s Six Bowls left and right – even to some’s chagrin. Its women’s volleyball and women’s soccer programs made and make the NCAA Tournament with dependable regularity.
This collective attitude that Penn State is becoming a rags-to-riches story – from nothing into something – isn’t something that’s sitting well with me, in part because it’s not true and in part because it’s not all Kraft’s doing.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve any credit for what’s happened this school year at Penn State.
Penn State’s school year in 2025 is objectively one of its best. There have been two national championships (wrestling and women’s volleyball) with potentially one more on its way this Memorial Day weekend in Foxborough. Penn State football finally got to the College Football Playoff semifinals – and maybe one errand throw away from getting to the program’s first true national championship game. It all finally clicked in an incredibly thrilling, dramatic fashion for Gadowsky and his ice hockey program. Kampersal’s women’s team won its conference to reach the NCAA Tournament yet again. There were accolades and there were awards.
In total, there were four conference championships (with another pending), even more NCAA Tournament berths, several final four appearances and those two aforementioned national titles. 2024-25 served as one of the best school years – with more potentially to come – for Penn State’s 31 sports teams in recent memory.
That, however, is not all his singular doing.
By the time Kraft got here — and even long before he got here — Penn State was one of the biggest, most powerful (and wealthiest) athletic departments in the country.
Of those 31 teams, Kraft was neither a coach or a player, and Kraft wasn’t around when James Franklin, Cael Sanderson, Guy Gadowsky, Katie Schumacher-Cawley, Jeff Kampersal, Jeff Tambroni and Erica Dambach were hired.
And as Mike Poorman of StateCollege.com pointed out in an article that began some of this thinking, not all of those people were hired by Sandy Barbour, Tim Curley or Dave Joyner.
However, what is different is that Kraft’s presence feels more noticeable than any of those who occupied his seat at the Bryce Jordan Center.
He’s always right there on the sidelines at football games. There was a moment at the Wisconsin game where he seemed to have had a tense interaction with a Badger fan. He’s in the locker room after wins and in videos quite frequently. He’s advocating aggressively for Franklin’s team not to open Big Ten play on the road, a wish he’s been granted and will get once again this season.
He’s also been the vocal leader and face of the Beaver Stadium renovation, calmly explaining why it was and is so necessary.
The vocal leadership that’s been welcomed by fans for the most part is a change of pace and is unique and is different so that when Penn State’s athletes go on the runs they’ve gone on this school year, it does feel like a change of pace and it does feel unique and it does feel different.
But he’s not the singular reason for that. Schumacher-Cawley deserves every single award she was given this season and then some for what she accomplished. We’ve grown so accustomed to what Sanderson’s teams do, we’ve almost gotten bored of it. And yes, Franklin haters be damned, what the 11th-year ball coach pulled off this season was quite impressive – his best yet in Happy Valley.
Then there were the athletes like Tyler Warren, Caroline Jurevicius or Tessa Janecke. There were the big moments like Luke Reynolds’ fake punt mad-dash, Ryan Barker’s kick and little moments like Matt DiMarsico’s stick toss into the stands.
They were the moments, in conjunction with what Kraft has done, that made Penn State’s 2024-25 year so big and for many of the athletes on Penn State’s various rosters this year, a decent portion of who were being recruited while Kraft was at BC.
That’s why it’s fairer to say that Kraft has done a strong job of making something powerful even better.
Back in that opening press conference in 2022, he was fiery about winning. He was intense with his language.
“We are 31 strong,” he said at that press conference, pounding the table. “Hear me again. We are 31 strong and we are committed to winning national championships, conference championships in 31 sports. We will continue the tradition of winning.
“Make no bones about it. I’m here to win.”
That wasn’t just attention-getting, it was also endearing and probably why the sentiment of late has boiled over for so many fans.
It was also a promise. That, at relatively any cost, he was here to make sure that Penn State could and would win.
There is no denying that his ability to deliver on that promise feels refreshing in an era of college sports where promises are not always kept. Ultimately, though – and what may feel stark compared to some of his predecessors – is that he’s done it boldly even from that very press conference.
That’s where and why Kraft’s imprint on Penn State feels notable. It’s intense. It’s bold. It also comes with a dash of showmanship, which is why some have proclaimed he’s building a monster rather than making one better.
Over the course of the next few years, that will only be magnified more as Beaver Stadium’s $700 million renovation that he shepherded is completed – likely his legacy long after he’s left Penn State’s athletic director role. Navigating potential changes at head coaching changes (particluarly both basketball programs), potentially Franklin’s next contract and future writ large, the ever-changing NIL landscape and of course revenue share will also be a part of the tasks he must embrace with the feverishness that he has approached this year
As long as he can remain a strong steward of that, there is no stopping what he’s adding on to.
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