'Training Days' offers interesting view of Penn State

All access means just that for "Penn State Training Days," which airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN. It then re-airs at 10 p.m. on ESPNU.

The hour-long special -- part of the network's All-Access series for college football that has focused on Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma in previous years -- offers an interesting behind-the-scenes look at Penn State's preparations for the start of the season.

An ESPN production team was embedded at Penn State for nearly a week and a half to capture all the footage, and they were editing until the last possible minute Tuesday to make the hour-long special as timely as possible.

The hundreds of hours of footage they compiled at Penn State will also be used for a series of four 30-minute specials on ESPNU. Those shows air air Aug. 21 (6 p.m and 6:30 p.m.), Aug. 22 (6 p.m.) and Aug. 23 (6 p.m.).

Because of it's access and the cooperation of coach Bill O'Brien, the hour-long special begins on a golf course in Cape Cod, Mass., and not a football field in University Park, Pa. Producers were able to follow O'Brien and his father for a round of golf during the family vacation before football season kicked into high gear.

Throughout the opening program and subsequent shows, the personality of coaches and players shows through.

Also, ESPN's team benefited from strong preparation -- getting ready for personalities and stories they might focus on -- but were nimble enough to follow the news. Specifically, the segment of the show that focuses on tight end-turned-offensive tackle Gary Gilliam (in the clip above) grew out of happenings once the production team was on site. They were then able to make that timely storyline interesting.

Overall, the series and segments seem set to provide a positive push for Penn State, giving hard-core fans more access than usual (the kind of thing they crave) and giving casual or non-Penn State fans, if they watch, a sense that the program is much more than they might've heard through national stories in the past 18 months or so.

It's high quality, well done programming that reflects well on ESPN's talented crew and on Penn State.