Belle Vernon native has hand in Penn State football’s recruiting success
As Penn State received its last commitment on college football’s National Letter of Intent Day earlier this month, Belle Vernon graduate and current Penn State student Noah Bukowski had to be smiling.
Why?
Bukowski has just finished his first season as a intern with the Penn State football team, and one of his responsibilities was hosting recruits on game days.
Penn State’s football recruiting class was ranked No. 5 by both 247 Sports and Rivals and No. 4 by ESPN.
A three-year starter at linebacker for Belle Vernon and a two-year starter at tight end, Bukowski was a first team All-Big Nine Conference linebacker and a second team tight end as a senior.
When it came time to pick a college, Bukowski thought about playing football at Washington & Jefferson.
His college decision came down to playing at W&J or simply being a student at Penn State.
Bukowski, who is majoring in Security and Risk Analysis (SRA), chose Happy Valley.
Last February, Bukowski indirectly found out about interviews that were being held for the internship positions.
“I heard about the internship from my dad, who had sent me a picture of the interview date that he saw on Facebook,” Bukowski said. “I went through the interview process and was lucky to be chosen.”
Bukowski was assigned to then-offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.
“Unfortunately, I rarely got the chance to work with him,” Bukowski said of Moorhead who has since been hired as the head coach at Mississippi State. “I talked to him most days that I was in the office, however, he usually did not have work for me to help him with.”
When he was not working with Moorhead, Bukowski worked with former Nittany Lions standout cornerback Justin King, who is one of Penn State’s recruiting coordinators
When asked what his daily duties entail, Bukowski smiled admitted they have been ever-changing.
“My job description was never clearly outlined because of the vast amount of tasks that (the interns) take on,” he said. “Every day in the office is different and we never really know what we are going to do until we get there.”
Bukowski explained his schedule during the season.
“I worked in the office every Tuesday and Thursday, then on game days I had multiple responsibilities,” he said. “They included watching film, helping recruits fill out their required questionnaires, directing them to their next location and setting up the recruiting lounge to prepare for the day.”
Bukowski is in a different football world than if he would have played at W&J, but he is happy with his choice and excited to continue the internship.
“It has been a lot of work but a lot of fun,” he said. “I plan on continuing with it through at least next season.”