Up Close & Personal: Humphries follows a familiar path to PSU

There were other universities closer to home. Their football programs offered similar winning traditions, and his parents wanted him to completely think it through before going farther away than necessary for college. But there was just something about Penn State.

So Leonard Humphries, an Akron, Ohio, native, told his mom that he was bypassing the in-state Buckeyes for the Nittany Lions. That was in 1988. Nearly 30 years later, Humphries finds himself in an eerily similar position. Only the roles have been reversed.

His first-born son, Isaiah, begins his Penn State career as an early enrollee in January. But before he followed in Dad’s footsteps, Leonard wanted Isaiah to be studious in exploring other options.

A three-star safety with a district- record 15 career interceptions at Sachse (Texas) High, Isaiah Humphries received scholarships from across the country. Before narrowing his choices, Leonard encouraged him to check out each suitor. They visited places far away, like Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Stanford, UCLA and USC, and they visited some that were closer to home, like Oklahoma, LSU, TCU and Texas A&M.

“I took visits to all these places, because you can’t really ever see too many places,” Isaiah said.

Before all of them, he had seen Penn State.

Born in Indianapolis, where Leonard last played in the NFL for the Colts, Isaiah has lived most of his life in Texas. All along, he heard stories of his father’s glory days. Not until he visited PSU during the spring of his sophomore year, however, did he fully grasp what Leonard was trying to explain.

“I went up there and I saw the stadium and everything, and the people and the whole environment and I was like, dang.

"This is the place,” Isaiah said. “But I’m going to still keep looking.”

It would serve as a measuring stick against which to evaluate the rest.

“I was sold from that point on,” said Isaiah, who stands 5-foot-11, 185 pounds. “I went places and it helped a lot, though, because I compared it to Penn State and then checked it off the list.”

It was an approach that Isaiah couldn’t help but absorb from his father, and a scenario about which Leonard once dreamed for his son. But as reality began to settle in that his oldest might soon be leaving home, there was a pause.

Growing up, Isaiah and his younger siblings, Jessica and Joshua, could barely go anywhere new without their dad comparing the setting to Happy Valley.

“Dude, Dad, you’re always talking about how it’s not like Penn State,” Isaiah often said to himself. You’re so biased, and my sister felt the same way. Then we went [to visit] and were like, You’re kind of right.”

By his junior football season, Isaiah had seen enough and decided that PSU would be his destination. But at the time, Leonard wasn’t as sure.

Head coach James Franklin and his staff had initially been slow to offer. Southern Methodist and Oklahoma came first. PSU was third, and many others would follow, but the offer was conditional on a camp visit. In the meantime, parental instincts kicked in as Leonard realized that, if his son indeed followed his path, it would take him far from home when closer options were appealing, too.

The Sooners had caught the attention of both father and son, but especially father. The turnover among PSU’s coaches in recent years wasn’t something that he was used to. With Oklahoma, at the time, he saw a rare semblance of continuity.

“I liked that because I had that with Joe,” he said. “Then being only three hours away, I thought maybe he might have been going there.”

But when the time came, the comparisons to Penn State won out. The Nittany Lions hadn’t been the first to offer, but that, too, paralleled Leonard’s career.

In the 1980s, it took a camp visit to convince Joe Paterno to extend an offer to Leonard. That’s also when Leonard determined where he was meant to be.

“I just loved it and had a great time and just happened to outperform everybody,” he said. “That’s when everything started to happen.”

Leonard was a defensive back for the Nittany Lions and was drafted into the NFL by the Buffalo Bills with the 223rd overall pick. Twenty-five years later, his son became a touted recruit. His alma mater offered, but like many of the out-of-region prospects Franklin pursues, he asks them to return in the summer for in-person evaluations.

“They got real high on him once Coach Franklin saw him,” Leonard said. “He looked really good and had a great camp. Coach Franklin came up and sat next to me and says, ‘He looks real long with long arms and long legs. Man, I like him!’ I was like, OK. If you like him, offer him. Then the rest is history.”

As defensive back prospects, they were different. Leonard was smaller and quicker, Isaiah more physical with distinct ball skills. At camp, working for that PSU offer, little separated their approach.

When it came time for a decision, the details that caught Leonard’s eye – an emphasis on academics, a comfortable setting and winning football – are what finalized the deal for Isaiah. He silently committed in September before making his announcement public on New Year’s Eve.

“I was procrastinating, I guess, and I was kind of hesitant to commit, even though I knew inside it was the place that I needed to go – and wanted to go – but I was kind of stubborn [because] I didn’t want to go there [to follow] my dad,” Isaiah said. “That pushed me away temporarily... but then I realized I’m putting all this into my head, think- ing that he wants me to go somewhere and forcing me to do something. I really thought about it, and that’s not even true at all. I thought about it all by myself, thought about the other visits that I’ve been on and I just felt like Penn State was the place for me.”