STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Even in Happy Valley, homecomings don't always deliver happy endings.

Matt Rhule returned last week to the town that shaped him, where he played high school and college football and once dreamed of leading Penn State . He reunited with friends and family, former teammates and coaches. He shook hands, posed for pictures and retold stories from the glory days. He even took Nebraska to his old stomping grounds, State College High, for a Saturday morning walkthrough, showing up 30 minutes early just to embrace familiar faces and watch his father, Dennis, reunite with players he once led as a ninth-grade coach.

"Matt just goes out of his way to make everybody feel included and really welcome," State College coach Matt Lintal said.

It was shaping up to be the perfe

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