Q&A: PSU commit Faison-Walden eager for next chapter

Penn State landed a verbal commitment from four-star Brelin Faison-Walden recently. The native of Greensboro, N.C., selected the Nittany Lions over offers from Alabama, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and more.

In his first interview with Blue White Illustrated since publicizing his decision from a restaurant in his hometown, Faison-Walden detailed the reasons why he chose PSU while also looking forward to the years that lay ahead.

What follows, edited for length, is the Q&A with the linebacker-safety hybrid from Grimsley High.

Tim Owen: Our partner at NCPreps streamed your commitment ceremony online. It looked like it was a good time. Where were you and why’d you pick that place?

Faison-Walden: Kickback Jack’s. It’s a sports bar where everybody goes to watch the games. They have good food and it's a good place to watch sports, so I just did it there.

I liked your dad’s speech to open it. What’d it mean for you to make that decision up there with your parents, and then also to have your teammates there in the back?

You got the whole story (from Dad.) For my teammates they’ve been with me for four years, so they know how I am. Pretty much all of them knew (which school he was picking). I didn’t tell any of them. They just knew because they know me so well, they pretty much figured it out. … It meant to me a lot to make that commitment. It’s the next chapter of my football career, obviously. The next four years, it's what I’m going to be doing on the field and ultimately that leads me to my job in the NFL. So this is just the next chapter in my life that I’m going to start.

What was it about Penn State then? What’d you know about the school, the history, the tradition before this recent visit? Did anything reinforce that on this trip?

Penn State is known for its linebackers. It’s known for all positions, but linebackers mainly. That’s pretty much what I’m going to be playing: that hybrid safety-linebacker, which pretty much walks into the Star position. … I got to sit in meetings with Coach Pry, Coach Franklin, Coach Smith and my position coach, and we all had a great vibe together. Parents liked it; my sister liked it. I feel like I’m comfortable with what my position is coming in with the depth chart.

So they’re bringing you in as a linebacker or as a safety?

They’re going to start me out at safety, to see if I can pick up the defense. Then I’ll pretty much work in practice with the linebackers and the safeties. But ultimately I can either roll as a safety or drop back from the linebacker position.

I was talking to Brailyn Franklin earlier. He said he got to know you well on the last visit. Have you gotten to know any other recruits?

I know Dylan (Rivers). I know Brailyn. I know some of the O-line commits, and I know our quarterback commit. We all stay in touch. We all have a good time and we all text and say hey to each other. Everybody is getting along well. All our personalities are coming along together. We all have great personalities and everybody is very welcoming to each other. It’s just a big family for right now, so if we can bring that up to Happy Valley, it’ll be good.

Getting to know those guys better, is that something you took away from the recent trip?

It showed me the family aspect of it. How close the coaches are, like family, and seeing how close the players were and how open they were to talking to you about what the program is like, which is great. And the weight training staff, I got to see what they’re all about. I got to sit in on some meetings and watch film of what my position will be, so I definitely got the inside scoop of what’s going to happen when I get there and what it’s going to be like.

You picked Penn State over some big-time offers. Your finalists were Michigan, Alabama and Clemson. Who finished second?

There wasn’t really a second. I just focused on that one that I felt more comfortable with and just go from there.

So why those other schools, and how did Penn State become No. 1?

Every school has great academics. If they didn’t have, (he wouldn’t have considered them.) But what stood out? Well, first, when you walk into that stadium at Penn State, it’s an unbelievable experience. You know, when nobody is even in there, you can still feel the energy of 107,000. You have a big advantage over everyone else. It was just how comfortable I felt, I’ll say again. My mom (normally takes a little while) to get comfortable with something. Right away when she walked in, she put her (belongings) down and then walked away. I was like, "You don’t even know where we are yet." But she said she’s comfortable already, even though we just walked in. So that’s pretty much a good sign to me.

One last thing. We like to give you an opportunity to tell us about yourself a little bit. What type of player, person are you – on the field, off the field?

I’m a totally different person off the field than I am on the field. I think on the field you have to turn that switch on. It’s not Mr. Nice Guy anymore. It’s strictly business. It’s strictly the game. On the field, you know, there’s going to be hooting and hollering, hitting each other and everything. Off the field you have to care for everybody. You have to show your interest in the kids and the community, help the community out. Give back in the ways you can and try to understand everybody. But when I get on that field, the switch is coming on. You’re not nice anymore.