Report: BC AD Pat Kraft Targeted by Penn State
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
A deal could be finalized by the end of the week to make Boston College Athletic Director Pat Kraft the next AD of Penn State, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
The news broke Tuesday morning, less than two years before Kraft was hired to replace now-UCLA AD Martin Jarmond.
If officially brought aboard by Penn State, Kraft will replace Sandy Barbour, who retired earlier this year. His departure would prompt BC's fourth AD since 2017, including its third since BC football head coach Jeff Hafley was hired in December 2019.
Penn State appears to be gunning for a football-centric AD, especially after the school signed Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin to a 10-year extension through the 2031 season last November.
Kraft's background is in football. He walked on and eventually earned a scholarship at Indiana. Then, as a first-time AD, he helped Temple football achieve unprecedented success during his five-year tenure in Philadelphia. In that span, the Owls posted a 43-24 record, logged back-to-back 10-win seasons—both of which saw the Owls crack the AP Poll (which Temple hadn’t done since 1979)—produced 15 NFL draftees and made five consecutive bowls. In Matt Rhule's final year as head coach, Temple won its first conference championship since 1967.
In the years following Rhule's departure for Baylor, Kraft also hired Geoff Collins (who then went to Georgia Tech after two seasons at Temple), Manny Diaz (as fleeting as that was) and Rod Carey, who went 8-5 in his first year with the Owls before flaming out after three seasons.
At BC, Kraft formed a strong relationship with Hafley, helping the first-year head coach navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and an all-ACC schedule. That season, the Eagles exceeded all expectations, notching a 6-5 record that included five league wins and near upsets against No. 1 Clemson and No. 12 North Carolina.
Somewhat ironically, however, Kraft's most notable accomplishment at BC came away from the gridiron. It was the hiring of men's basketball head coach Earl Grant, who had spent the previous seven seasons at the College of Charleston. Grant's "gritty not pretty," defense-first mindset shifted the culture of the program and resulted in the Eagles winning six ACC regular season games, not to mention two more in the conference tournament as BC made its first run to the quarterfinals since 2017-18.
Additionally, Grant locked up a 29th-ranked 2022 recruiting class that features a pair of four-star prospects. To put that in perspective, BC men's basketball hadn't signed more than one four star in a recruiting class since Rivals.com started tracking recruiting in 2002.
Off the court, Kraft secured a $15 million lead gift to help put the wheels in motion for the construction of The Hoag Basketball Pavilion, a 40,000-square-foot practice facility, which will be connected to Conte Forum and is named after University Trustee Michaela “Mikey” Hoag, BC ’86, and her husband Jay.
Kraft engineered a trailblazing 10-year apparel deal with New Balance, headquartered in Boston, for all but one of its 31 varsity sports. The exception was football, which took on a three-year deal with Adidas.
BC is believed to be the first FBS program to sign a football-only apparel agreement.
Also during Kraft's brief stint, BC lacrosse won its elusive title in its fourth straight National Championship appearance. It marked the first non-sailing women's national championship for a BC varsity sport.
Kraft played a role in the program moving away from Newton Campus and hosting home games in Alumni Stadium, which has drawn three 3,000-plus-fan crowds this season.
Kraft—who doesn't have a Twitter account—hasn't been as visible as the front-facing Jarmond, who created his own clothing line and made a habit of connecting with BC fans at tailgates and sporting events. But when Kraft is in public or in front of the camera, his passion and energy are infectious.
Both, though, appear to be just a small part in the BC athletic department's storied history.
When Jarmond was officially hired away by UCLA in May 2020, there were 18 days between his departure and the early June hiring of Kraft at BC.
