Former Penn State football defensive coordinator and once-interim head coach Tom “Scrap” Bradley will perform the ceremonial coin toss at the Nittany Lions’ season opener against West Virginia, Penn State’s Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft announced on Nittany Game Week Sunday.

Bradley spent more than three decades coaching Penn State football. After playing defensive back for former head coach Joe Paterno at Penn State, he was hired as a graduate assistant for the Nittany Lions after he completed his time as a player.

Over the years, Bradley rose through the ranks at Penn State, acting as the special teams coordinator, and the position coach for linebackers, wide receivers, defensive backs, and more, before acting as the team’s defensive coordinator from 2000 to 2011. While Bradley reportedly had ample opportunity to leave Penn State for a head coaching job, he chose to remain at Penn State throughout most of his coaching career.

After Paterno’s firing in 2011, Bradley was named the team’s interim head coach. He coached the Nittany Lions through four games, winning just one.

Bradley, known as a Paterno disciple, left Penn State after the 2011 season when Bill O’Brien was given the head coaching job ahead of the 2012 season. He has since bounced around the football world, commentating for CBS Sports and earning coaching gigs at West Virginia, UCLA, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bradley has not coached since he and the Steelers parted ways in 2020.