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The months of preparation are almost complete. The game plan is in place. The nervousness has begun.
For most of the coaches at USF, Paterno awaits.
Or, in the case of Ronnie McKeefery, paternity.
He is going to miss the opener, and if you want to know, yeah, it is killing him. McKeefery grew up as a Penn State fan, and here is this opportunity to stare across a football field at Joe Paterno, and McKeefery isn't going to make it. There are moments, brief ones, when McKeefery can talk about it without sighing heavily.
Instead, McKeefery has to pick up his kids.
Turns out, they are waiting for him on the other side of the world.
When the Bulls open their season Saturday, they will do so without the loud, familiar voice of McKeefery, their strength and conditioning coach. That day, McKeefery and his wife, Angie, arrive in the Ukraine to adopt a child. Maybe two. Possibly even three.
And you think Jim Leavitt is nervous about the weekend? All he has to do is coach against Joe Pa. McKeefery has to be Pa.
"The panic attacks have started already," Angie said. "That's what I get instead of labor pains."
Even before they were married seven years ago, Ronnie and Angie, both 29, had talked about adoption. She comes from a family of six, him from a family of five. They were going to have a few biological children, then they were going to adopt another one or two.
Unable to conceive, they underwent four years of fertility treatments. A year ago, they unsuccessfully tried in vitro fertilization. Ten months ago, they agreed to adopt.
"This isn't my plan," Ronnie said. "This is God's plan. We're just along for the ride. I believe all of this has been predetermined. This is what was meant to be."
"As soon as we decided it, it felt more right than any of the other treatments," Angie said. "It's like we were beating our heads against the wall, and a door was right there. This is the way we're meant to go."
Perhaps. That doesn't alter the leaf-in-the-wind, spinning-out-of-control feeling that comes with adoptions. Ronnie and Angie have no idea how many children they will return with, what their genders will be, how old they will be. They have no idea how they will look, how they will sound, what their health might be.
"We know this," Angie said. "We will leave with one child, we have asked for two, and we are approved for three."
In the Ukraine, multiple adoptions are supposed to be allowed only if the children are siblings. Ronnie, however, says he has been told of exceptions.
"I want one of each," Ronnie said, laughing quietly. "An all-pro quarterback and a golfer.'
They laugh the same way, the McKeeferys, the sound filled with butterflies and roller coasters. Can you imagine the apprehension?
"I keep joking that I'm going to bring a broom handle and have the kid power-lift it," Ronnie said. "I'm going to bring a stopwatch and time him crawling across the floor."
Angie knows better.
"As a father, Ronnie is going to be the biggest softie ever," she said. "You watch him, and he's so tough with the players. I'm pretty confident that I'm going to be the disciplinarian in the family."
Because of international bureaucracies and questionable medical histories, overseas adoptions can be daunting. The McKeeferys, however, had heard about the expense and unpredictability of domestic adoptions. They decided to try an international adoption.
They started with Russia, but the adoption laws there changed. Their adoption agency pointed them toward the Ukraine, where economic problems have resulted in approximately 100,000 orphans.
Angie and Ronnie leave on Thursday, flying first to London then to Kiev. On Monday, they are scheduled to appear in court. They could be back home in two weeks; it could take more than a month. (Ronnie says he will return after three weeks regardless; Angie could stay longer).
Once there, they will be given profiles of adoptable children. They will be able to meet the children, then have them examined by an American-trained doctor. Then they can decide whether to proceed or look at other children.
"It seems a little weird to me to be picking out children like that," Angie said. "But we have to embrace the process. Personally, I don't know if I could visit a child and say, "I don't want that one."'
Oh, she will know. Angie McKeefery says she is certain of that, that once she sees her children, she will recognize them at first sight.
"I am 100 percent positive," she said. "I know that in the depth of my soul. I feel love for them now, and I don't know who they are. I know they are born. Our kids are in the Ukraine, and we have to go and get them.
"I think of them every day, a hundred times a day. I wonder what they are doing now, what their life has been like. What is their story?"
For the McKeeferys, the story seems to be about compassion and perspective. Adoption can be expensive; Ronnie estimates the total outlay - including fees, travel, lodging, an interpreter, a driver - will be between $45,000 and $50,000. They are borrowing against their home to pay for it.
"Angie was reading something the other day," Ronnie said. "Biological children come from the womb, but adopted children come from the heart. For us, that's what is neat about it. We have a lot of love between us, and we want to share it."
It is an expensive process, particularly considering the uncertainty. They do not know how many return tickets they will have to purchase. They have no idea how to furnish the kids' rooms. They have no idea how long the bonding process will take. Neither Ronnie nor Angie speaks Russian; their children might.
What do they know? They know they like the names of Tyler and Alex for boys. They like Ava and Maya for girls. They will keep the children's Ukrainian names as middle names.
Oh, and they know the trip is coming up fast.
It was only three weeks ago that Ronnie learned of the timetable. Given that it is USF's opener, he swallowed hard before informing Leavitt. Leavitt did not blink. He told McKeefery to go.
"What choice is there?" Leavitt said. "You have to do what you have to do. This is more important."
On Saturday, there were plenty of tasks waiting for McKeefery. He monitors the players, makes sure none of them is hanging around the lobby, helps with security, checks rooms, maps out the hotel, the stadium, the time board.
Instead, McKeefery will be the guy hurrying through Kiev to try to find an Internet cafe that is open late enough for him to monitor the game.
If you think that is going to be difficult, wait until he tries to find a mini-Bulls jersey.