Charter Oak head coach Dom Farrar details what Penn State did to win over LaVar Arrington II

Penn State beat out a host of schools to secure a commitment from legacy prospect LaVar Arrington II earlier this month.

Over the course of his recruitment, Arrington, who resides in Covina, Calif., totaled just shy of 20 scholarship offers. He gave serious consideration to UCLA and Tennessee, taking official visits to both schools, but as Charter Oak head coach Dom Farrar explained, the opportunity to get back to the East Coast was too good to pass up.

“At the end of the day, the reality is he’s going home. Penn State is family to him. He was raised on that property,” Farrar explained. “We know what his father and his family have meant to State College, as well as what Penn State means to them.”

Following Manny Diaz’s departure to become the next head coach at Duke, James Franklin followed a similar playbook for his next defensive coordinator, hiring former Indiana head coach Tom Allen.

Farrar said that Allen’s approach throughout this recruitment also played a key role.

“You can’t fake that genuineness. I appreciated him because of the conversations I had with him, as well as the conversations he had with [LaVar II] when we were in the room together. He appeals to the person, not just to the player,” Farrar said when asked about Allen.

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He went on to add, “It was always about him as his own person, not just his father’s son. At the same time, he didn’t neglect or ignore that history either. That’s a blessing and that’s an asset. There’s real value and merit and worth there. I thought he did a great job understanding all of that and finding the right balance.”

With Arrington set to follow in his father’s footsteps, Farrar added that the storyline sets up well for not just Penn State fans to track, but rather everyone who loves the game of college football.

“I think, in this day and age, in light of how the game’s changing and how we’re having to navigate through this new reality of college football, what a great story to embrace and celebrate. It gives you hope and faith. Some of us are the constant optimists. We want to believe in happy endings. His best days are ahead. It’s going to be powerful and really cool to see that next generation come through Penn State. What a fun story it’ll be to follow his evolution.”

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