Two decades ago, Penn State coach Joe Paterno made a hard push to get the father.
Now he's going all out to land the son.
Terry Smith accepted Paterno's offer nearly 20 years ago and eventually became a clutch receiver -- and captain -- of the 1991 team that finished 11-2.
Smith was fast.
But his stepson, Justin King, a two-way star at Gateway and Pennsylvania's top recruit for 2005, well, he owns an extra gear most cornerbacks can only dream about.
"I was a 4.4 guy when I was at Penn State," said Smith, who is the football coach and athletic director at Gateway, located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville.
"My best time was 4.38. Justin has run a lot of track, he just hasn't run many 40-yard dashes."
But ...
"He did run a 4.29 at a Nike camp last year," said Smith, who came into his stepson's life when King was 4.
"And he ran a 4.4 in front of [Ohio State] coach Jim Tressel. But having seen him a lot, I can tell you he's not even a 4.4 kid. He's faster, he's legit.
"He can run 4.3 in jeans."
The question is, will he outrun the clutches of PSU defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, the man charged with King's recruitment?
"It's kind of weird, because Tom Bradley also recruited me," Smith laughed.
The 6-0, 180-pound King recently listed the Lions in his final five, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Florida and Southern California.
Smith said his stepson will make his choice during the season and will enroll in college in January.
King attended a PSU passing camp earlier this month and traveled to Michigan last weekend, according to Smith. He is scheduled to visit Ohio State Sunday, USC Monday and has Florida on his travel schedule for July.
"I think Justin is really enjoying this, but he's also beginning to realize how tough of a choice this is going to be," said Smith, 34, an assistant football coach at Duquesne University for four years before he took an assistant coaching job at Gateway in 2001.
Smith became Gateway head coach in 2002 and added athletic director to his resume last year.
"Me? I don't like it, because as the head coach, I'm the one who's getting all of the phone calls," Smith added.
"There's only a certain time when schools can contact Justin. And we're talking about a lot of schools. Every school in the country wants him."
But it seems only five have a shot.
"We did sit down and have a talk about Penn State," Smith said.
"There was a time that I think Justin thought that all the comments that were coming from me were biased toward Penn State, because that's my school. I had to assure him that wasn't the case.
"I know how important choosing a school is and every one of these five has something to offer as far as academics, athletics and opportunity. But you're talking about the next four or five years of a kid's life, and I made sure Justin knows it's a decision that he has to make."
King is also a Division I talent as a tailback. Last fall he rushed for more than 1,750 yards and scored 31 touchdowns.
"But he's going to be a corner, that's his position," said Smith, who bounced around the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League before joining the coaching ranks.
"You look at his stats on the defensive side, and they're really not there. But that's because no one wants to throw at him. He gets frustrated at times, but I think he realizes that he's never going to have great statistics on the defensive side."
Smith was the topic of PSU rumors over the winter. Some speculated that Paterno would make room for him on his staff, perhaps in an effort to entice King.
Never happened.
"Would I ever want to coach in college? I'm sure it would be a challenge," Smith said.
"But I heard some of that talk and that's all it was. And I don't believe in addressing a situation when there's nothing to it."
