ALTOONA, Pa. -- It's nice to be around low-maintenance people. You know, folks who just do what's expected of them, don't raise a stink, don't have to be told repeatedly how to do things and don't require constant supervision.
Because we all know, the world seems to have a whole bunch of high-maintenance people these days, and that can be especially true with younger generations.
One bit of good advice to any young person -- and something a lot of parents can and do tell their kids -- is this: Always try and do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
That's the kind of person who makes the world a better place.
James Franklin likes to praise his players, and that praise can come in a lot of different ways -- from football praise to personality praise to whatever else.
When Franklin was asked about sophomore left tackle Olu Fashanu this week, the coach offered up this praise:
"We've had a ton of respect for Olu really since he stepped on campus. He's one of those high-production, low-maintenance guys that really does everything right.
"You talk to the academic people about him, they love him. He's done everything right since he stepped on campus. You talk to strength and conditioning, the trainers, equipment staff, just Olu is one of those guys. He just goes about his business. He does everything the right way; extremely focused."
Fashanu had a chance to respond to his coach's high praise during a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday.
"It's definitely really nice to hear that Coach Franklin said that about me," Fashanu said. "Honestly, I think that he could honestly say that about basically every guy on the team, that like we're just doing the right thing."
Ummm, yeah, probably not. Franklin likes to say that 18-22-year-old football players are the most unpredictable people in the world, so it's a pretty safe bet that all of them are not always doing the right thing.
Through two games, Penn State's heavily questioned offensive line has played pretty well. Not great, but not bad, either.
Penn State will need everyone on the offensive line to play well against a strong Auburn defensive front, led by defensive end Derick Hall, projected by some to be a first-round draft pick next year.
"It should be a great battle between our O-line and their D-line," Fashanu said.
The best player on the offensive line so far has been Fashanu, who entered the season with all of one career start, that coming in the Outback Bowl last season.
Just like off the field, Fashanu has pretty much done everything right at his position. The 6-foot-6, 308-pounder has yet to allow a quarterback pressure from the all-important left tackle spot.
"I'd say I felt pretty comfortable playing tackle for these last two games," he said. "Obviously, that comes with just building trust with the other four guys alongside of me. They've built trust in me, and I've built trust in them, just knowing that we're gonna go out and do what we're supposed to do every play.
"Through these first few games, I think I've played well enough to at least help us win. Obviously, you never want to get complacent, and that's certainly on my mind -- just not being complacent, just looking at the things that you need to work on and just attacking them during the week so you can go out and have a better game every week."
A lot was expected last season of left tackle Rasheed Walker, who at one point was considered a potential first-round draft pick. But Walker really struggled, got hurt late in the year and didn't get drafted until the seventh round.
Fashanu stepped into Walker's starting spot against Arkansas in the Outback Bowl and played well, giving him a lot of confidence and a better idea of what he needed to work on during the offseason to improve.
"I think I've made good improvements since I've been here on campus, obviously," Fashanu said. "Me personally, it's harder to come in as an offensive lineman and get on the field than it is for honestly almost any other position, because there's that physical aspect where not only do you need to be skilled, but you also need to be physically prepared to play other O and D lines in college.
"I think I've made -- at least from last season -- I've definitely made strides improving, and that's all thanks to my teammates and (O-line) Coach (Phil Trautwein) and Coach Franklin for again just believing in me and giving me the proper coaching and just consistently letting me know the things that I need to work on. So, give all credit to them and again for my teammates, because we all just want to see each other succeed. So if there's anything that we can do to help each other, we're all willing to do it."
Doing the right thing in life pretty much comes down to just that -- being willing to do it. It shouldn't come as surprise, then, given Franklin's high praise of him, that Fashanu used to volunteer at a homeless shelter near his high school in Waldorf, Md.
"The homeless shelter, it was right next to the high school that I want to, Gonzaga," Fashanu said. "It came back to my freshman year, in our religion class, they just told us about these opportunities to go and volunteer at the homeless shelter. And honestly, I was just thinking like, Why not?
"This was after freshman football season ended and like there's a little grace period before I transitioned over to basketball. And I went over and volunteered, and it was a great time. So then I just continued to do it all four years."
