Twelve seasons.

That’s how long Terry Smith has been a coach at Penn State. He served as the defensive recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach before being elevated to interim head coach following James Franklin’s firing on October 12.

Smith’s Penn State roots go way beyond his coaching start in 2014. He donned the blue and white for four years as a wide receiver from 1988 to 1991, starting three of them. He’s tied for 12th in career receiving touchdowns with 15, 16th in career receiving yards, and 18th in career receptions.

Even before his time as a player, Smith grew up with Penn State and learned to appreciate and love the school from a young age.

“My dad graduated in ’68. It’s all we know. I’m from a small town called Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. And it’s not a very nice place,” Smith said at his weekly press conference on Monday. “My dad, through his education at Penn State, moved us to the other side of Pittsburgh to Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and he gave us a better life because of his education here.

“And it taught our entire family about possibilities in life, and you can be whatever you want to be. And this place has done so much for me and my family…This place is special, it’s amazing. I just want to give back to it. I just want to make sure I’m holding my end up of the bargain and putting out a team that everyone can be proud of.”

When Smith took over, he was put in an impossible situation. A slew of high-ranking recruits fled from the program almost instantaneously after Franklin’s firing, with Penn State losing its whole 2027 class. That’s expected, though. The immediate situation was far worse.

Drew Allar went down with a season-ending injury the night before in Penn State’s 22-21 loss to Northwestern. Redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer and Smith had to somehow rally the troops for a night game at Kinnick Stadium against Iowa. Despite a valiant effort, the Nittany Lions dropped their first game under Smith in a cruel 25-24 decision.

Back to the drawing board with a much-needed bye week on tap to sort things out.

After the bye? No. 1 Ohio State.

Penn State marched into Ohio Stadium and was run right back out by the surging Buckeyes. Smith had high hopes for a competitive matchup, which the Nittany Lions did hold through the first half, but Ohio State was too much to handle.

With two games down, Smith and Penn State finally returned to Beaver Stadium for the first time since that fateful day against the Wildcats to face the surging No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers.

Penn State held tough and battled Indiana to one of the best games of the college football season, but Omar Cooper Jr.’s go-ahead touchdown in the final minute doomed Penn State to its sixth consecutive loss. Despite that, Smith appreciated the team’s grind and put any questions about the team’s effort to rest. It was like a flip switched in the Nittany Lions that afternoon.

“It was a tough road, and we’re going to come back next week. We’re going to fight harder. No one will ever question a Terry Smith team that they don’t play hard,” Smith said in his Indiana postgame presser.

He kept true to his word.

Penn State came out against Michigan State and dominated the Spartans behind Kaytron Allen’s career day on the ground and a stellar defensive performance to retain control of the Land-Grant Trophy. Winning the game was a full-circle moment for Smith. After a season of ups and downs and a life surrounding Penn State football, the 56-year-old is finally able to say he won a game as the head coach of the Nittany Lions.

However, Smith’s mind didn’t immediately float to himself when the clock hit triple zeroes in East Lansing, Michigan. He was grateful to finally do enough to get the players a win after a turbulent, chaotic season. Amid his Gatorade shower and his trip atop the shoulders of his starting offensive lineman, Smith never lost sight of his true happiness in the moment.

“I love those guys to death. I would do anything for them. They play so hard for us, and it was just a great moment,” Smith said. “I’m sitting here soaking wet, I’m just like, hypothermia or something. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Smith said the team would celebrate Saturday night and reset on Sunday to focus on Nebraska. But after snapping Penn State’s losing streak and winning his first game leading the team, he’s loved since he was a kid, his alma mater, the school at the root of his identity, Smith can’t help but reflect.

“I have two phones. Each phone had about 500 text messages on it, plus direct messages was like another five or 600, so it was really busy. I’ve been reached out to [by] basically every person I’ve ever known in my entire life. People are super proud of me, and it’s very humbling for me,” an emotional Smith said on Monday.

The tears flowed from Smith’s eyes in the Beaver Stadium media room. Smith knows how desperately Penn State’s fans, players, and coaches needed a win. He’s happy he was able to deliver and make his own mark on Penn State history.

“There’s so many people in my life that speak life into me, and they all reach out. And I’m just so blessed. God has been so good to me through everything in my life,” Smith said as he fought back more tears. “I have the opportunity to be the head coach at Penn State. I don’t think anything has made me or my family happier than this opportunity. I’m thankful for all my friends, my family, my supporters. Saturday was, I can’t even tell you how I felt. I’ve never been lifted off the field in my career. It’s just a great moment.”

Smith has delivered on his promises so far as head coach. Penn State has unlocked the deep passing game, the defense has gotten more productive as he’s gotten more hands-on with the help of Jim Knowles, and the Nittany Lions got the ever-elusive Big Ten win.

The most impressive thing to this point, however, is the buy-in of the squad. The players are bought all the way in to Smith. In today’s college football landscape, so many would have immediately stopped playing, or tried to preserve their redshirts, or displayed an immense lack of effort with their coach gone from the program. Not Penn State. Not Smith.

Smith outlined how an unnamed veteran player asked him if the team would still have practice in December after Penn State plays its final two games. Smith said the player has a family event that he doesn’t want to conflict with practice.

“He’s already speaking that he’s going to play when we’re in a time of opt-out. We’re in a time where guys can easily walk away. This is one of our veteran guys that if I said his name, you’d be like ‘woah,'” Smith said. “That speaks volumes to this locker room. These guys are dialed in. They’re playing their hearts out. There is no dissension. There is no guys looking the other way, and they got their first taste of victory in a long time. And they enjoy it, and they want to experience it again.”

Despite everything, Smith said he and Pat Kraft have not had discussions about the full-time head coaching position after Kraft said he’d be a candidate at his press conference the day following Franklin’s firing. Smith said he sees every day as his interview.

Whatever the future has in store, nothing takes away the fact that Smith is exactly what Penn State needed at this tumultuous point in time to right the ship. Smith encompasses Penn State. Smith bleeds Penn State. And nobody can ever take away that moment on the Spartan Stadium field from him.