Jan. 23, 2008
By Becky Murdy, Athletic Communications Student Assistant
"You never know when the littlest thing you do or say will be grabbed by someone and kept with them for their entire life. It is the day-to-day little things that define us," said Don Ferrell. "I am well defined. I am simply defined."
For the past 37 years Don Ferrell has been an active part in the Penn State athletic department and the Penn State community. As he continues to add years of knowledge, he continues to touch the lives of everyone around him. His optimistic mind and "old-school" way of life combine to illustrate a life built from the love of people, sports, and the simplicity of living.
In 1970 Ferrell entered Penn State as the assistant coach of the men's basketball team. After a few years Ferrell decided to step away from coaching the Lions in an effort to find something else. When coaching basketball didn't seem to happen as he planed, Ferrell became involved in every other aspect of athletics.
"When I gave up coaching basketball, I became the timer and I hired the crew of people who work the bench every basketball game here at Penn State," said Ferrell. "The crew and I have been together from the beginning, we are a unit. We can do what we are doing with our eyes closed. We have been doing it so long we can read each other's minds".
As he stayed involved with the athletics department, Ferrell was asked to take the reigns as the men and women's head bowling coach. He was hesitant, but decided to take on the task because of his love for young people. The first African-American head coach in Penn State history, Ferrell produced teams that were competitive nationally and performed out of pride and respect for their coach, school and community.
In 1979 Ferrell brought the women's team to a National Championship. In that same year the men's squad placed third at Nationals.
When bowling became a club sport, Ferrell decided to get his other degrees, which he did, getting his masters from Penn State. It became a common conversation among faculty that Ferrell was magical with young people. He had a way of bringing "old school" to the kids: teaching student athletes the fundamentals of respect, discipline and treating others, as they would want to be treated.
At a time when the football program needed some guidance, head coach Joe Paterno found that Ferrell was the only one for the job of academic advisor.
"Coach Paterno and I developed a philosophy and a friendship that was never interrupted in all the time I was with the football team," said Ferrell.
Ferrell spent all his years coaching, teaching, advising and working with all aspects of young people on the Penn State campus. His heart reached out to the athletes and past, touching anyone who needed help or just someone to talk to. His love of life and people can be measured by the amount of people that he believed in and never let down. According to Ferrell, young people never let him down either, teaching him and embracing him as he did with them.
"You didn't have to be an athlete for me to give you advice. Someone on the street could come up to me and I would tell them everything I could," said Ferrell. "Young people I believe in. I always tell them that life is like baseball. You are allowed mistakes--one mistake, two mistakes, three mistakes you are out. I have never had a young person get to the third mistake".
With a heart as open as his front door Ferrell has kept in touch with most of the people that he has worked, coached, and inspired, while at Penn State. His wife of 42 years has the same outlook on life and people as Ferrell does, making it that much easier to embrace people and teach them the secret to living happy.
"We love to watch young people grow, seeing them graduate is the crowning moment. We love to see them when they come back. Every time there is a knock on the front door my wife and I wonder who it could be. Anybody is welcomed in our home and in our lives".
In 2003 Ferrell decided to retire from all of his Penn State affiliations, except one, basketball.
"There comes a time where you have to look behind you and see that what is going on doesn't fit you anymore," said Ferrell. "One thing that has always fit, that I have never been able to walk away from is basketball. It is my first love."
Having been retired for more than five years now, many believe that Ferrell deserves to never work again. Though he might think the same, he doesn't want to leave the campus, the games, his co-workers and the young people. According to Ferrell, he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
"I hope that as long as we have alert minds and know what we are doing, we can be down there for as long as we choose."
With so many more young people that need guidance and someone to look up to, it is a blessing that Ferrell still works at Penn State. With so many stories and memories forming the man he is today, it is only in people's imagination to conceive the amount of "little things" that everyone could learn from this man, how to improve life and live with no regrets.
"I couldn't have written a better job description or path for me to take. I wouldn't change the one that brought be here, to Penn State. It has been a great ride. It has been a rewarding ride".