Mike Milano has been around football almost his entire life, first as a player and then as a coach for 40 years.
Even though he grew up in Downingtown as a Penn State fan and has been on campus for coaching clinics, he’s never attended a game at Beaver Stadium.
That will change Saturday.
Now retired, Milano will be part of the sellout crowd of 110,000-plus to see the third-ranked Nittany Lions play fourth-ranked Ohio State at noon (TV-FOX). It’s a game that he couldn’t miss.
Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard and Penn State left tackle Drew Shelton are two of his former players at Downingtown West who helped lead the Whippets to the 2019 District 1 Class 6A title and PIAA semifinals.
“I can’t wait,” Milano said Wednesday. “This is like a bucket list event for me. I’m telling everybody around here that I hope the game ends up 100-100. I want to see both of these kids have a great game.”
Howard spent his first four college seasons at Kansas State, where he led the Wildcats to the 2022 Big 12 championship. He transferred to Ohio State in January and has led the Buckeyes to a 6-1 record.
He made news last Saturday immediately after Ohio State’s 21-17 win over Nebraska when he was asked about returning to Pennsylvania to face Penn State, where he once dreamed of playing.
“I’m stoked,” Howard said. “I cannot wait. It’s gonna be a homecoming for me. I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life. They didn’t think I was good enough, but I guess we’ll see next week if I was.”
He was a three-star prospect who suffered a broken arm during his junior year in a game against Coatesville. He was rated the seventh-best overall prospect in Pennsylvania by 247Sports and the 13th-best pro-style quarterback in the country. He passed for 5,308 yards and 48 touchdowns in his career.
Howard made an unofficial visit in 2019 to Penn State, which never offered a scholarship. The Lions’ only quarterback in their 2020 recruiting class was Micah Bowens, a three-star prospect from Las Vegas who’s now at Bethune-Cookman.
“There was never real serious interest that I knew of from Penn State,” Milano said. “I’d be willing to tell you that 99.5% of the kids I’ve seen in 40 years of coaching would have died to play for Penn State. They were all Penn State fans.
“He’s really not an outspoken guy. He’s obviously motivated to play well and he’s been playing well.”
Howard ranks second nationally in pass efficiency, completing 74.0 of his attempts for 1,795 yards and 17 touchdowns with four interceptions. He threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns against Nebraska with one interception.
“He had that turnover, which was big,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “But I feel that for the most part he’s let the game come to him. We did not do well on third down, but that’s everybody. We need him to play well in this game. He’s not the only one.”
Shelton was a sophomore at Downingtown West when Howard was a senior in 2019. For one season, Shelton protected Howard, who completed 18-of-27 passes for 301 yards when the Whippets beat Coatesville 48-36 for the District 1 title.
“Will has the ‘it’ factor,” Milano said. “I don’t know how else to explain it. I’ve had a lot of great kids, a lot of great athletes and a lot of great quarterbacks. Some of them had ‘it’ but they didn’t have all the ability. He’s that guy.”
Shelton was a freshman tight end when college coaches came on recruiting visits to see Howard. Milano and his assistants converted him to tackle before his sophomore year and watched him blossom.
He developed into a four-star prospect who was rated one of the top three players in Pennsylvania in the 2022 recruiting class.
“During his senior year we sat him down a couple times,” Milano said. “He was just demolishing guys. He was so physical and so dominant that we were getting calls from officials about him unnecessarily finishing stuff.”
At Penn State, Shelton started the final five games as a freshman in 2022 after Olu Fashanu sustained a knee injury. He played last year behind Fashanu, an All-American who’s now a rookie with the New York Jets. He’s in his first full season as a starter and playing at a high level.
“He’s the best,” Milano said about Shelton. “He’s humble. He’s quiet. He’s a great team guy. He’s never thumped his chest and talked a lot of trash. He’s an athlete. He just is. He has a great personality and a work ethic.”
Shelton and Howard have remained friends, but not surprisingly they haven’t contacted each other this week.
“I grew up playing everything with Will, baseball, basketball and football,” Shelton said Wednesday. “He’s a great guy and a good leader. It’s been exciting to see what he’s been able to do throughout his college career. He’s an excellent football player.
“It’s going to be fun to see him on Saturday.”
