D.J. Crook hunched over the laptop in his bare-walled dorm room and emailed college coaches across the country: Akron, Maine, New Hampshire, Elon, Temple.

QB D.J. Crook wrote to several colleges but was pleasantly surprised when Penn State responded within hours. Eric Adler for ESPNBoston.com

The quarterback at Worcester (Mass.) Academy wanted a shot somewhere. Anywhere. So there he sat, many times during lunch, typing away between bites of turkey and cheese sandwiches and trying his best to convince coaches to give him a shot, even as a non-scholarship athlete.

"Hello, Coach," some of his emails would start. "My name is D.J. Crook, and I'm interested in being a midyear walk-on."

Hope evaded Crook as often as email responses. The Cape Cod native, the kid who took jobs at oyster farms and worked on fishing boats, emailed upward of 50 coaches. His father suggested Penn State, and Crook initially refused. If he couldn't get FCS schools to respond to him, why on earth would Penn State?

But, then again, what did he have to lose besides another lunch break -- and another trip, down three floors, to the cafeteria and back? He reached out to Penn State quarterbacks coach Charlie Fisher, and the Nittany Lions assistant responded four hours later.

Some schools, like Dartmouth, came through Worcester to inquire about the fleet-footed signal-caller. But Penn State was one of just three schools to respond to his emails.

Bill O'Brien didn't stroll up to the podium on Jan. 7, 2012, for his introductory news conference with the understanding recruiting would be this hard.

In a suit and striped tie -- a deviation from his standard blue-and-white sweat suit -- the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator espoused competing at a championship level.

"I will also carry that message to our top recruits," he said, glancing at his notes every few moments, "and ensure that they know the standard for Penn State football remains very high and always will."

Six months later, when the sanctions hit, O'Brien's recruiting philosophy had to change. Those standards would not waver, he vowed, but the game plan could not be the same. In the game of success, this was the fourth quarter and the defense had just thrown a look O'Brien hadn't anticipated.

For four years, starting with the 2013 recruiting class, Penn State could sign no more than 15 prospects. For another four years, starting with the 2014 season, no more than 65 players could be on scholarship.

“ Even before the sanctions came, I knew the run-on program was going to be vital to our success. ” -- Penn State coach Bill O'Brien

The dimple-chinned coach didn't have to spend restless nights thinking about the next step. Or how he would compensate for lost scholarships. It was obvious: Focus on the walk-on program, or the "run-on program" as he called it.

"It was right away I knew," O'Brien told ESPN last week. "Even before the sanctions came, I knew the run-on program was going to be vital to our success. So, when the sanctions came out, then obviously it became even more vital that we do a really good job with that."

The coaches would have to think and recruit outside of the box. They would be required to follow every lead, chase any whispers of talent and drive to as many high schools as possible.

And, as Crook would find out, they didn't mind responding to emails that 95 percent of the college football world would choose to ignore.

Penn State's quarterbacks coach wrote back to Crook and asked to see his film. The prep quarterback, known for his calm demeanor on the gridiron, tried not to build his expectations.

Only Delaware and Albany had responded to his emails. So this was great, but there was still a long way to go. He walked around the academy, past the redbrick buildings and the tree-lined lawns, and forced his mind to skip over the prospect of running out of Beaver Stadium's south tunnel.

He was invited to the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Combine as a high school junior but came down with mono after his family had already booked the hotel and flights. He fractured his thumb as a senior, right as several colleges seemed intent on offering.

He wasn't sure if this would just be another in a long line of disappointments, even after Fisher responded again two days later and told him he liked what he saw. Fisher invited him to the Wisconsin game about a week later, on Nov. 23. Another PSU assistant, John Strollo, contacted Worcester's coach in the meantime.

"He can make all the throws," Worcester coach Tony Johnson said. "That's what Penn State saw."

With red eyes and drooping eyelids, Crook awoke at 3 a.m. Friday to prepare for that visit. Along with his father and sister Crook piled into their gray Toyota for an eight-hour drive to Happy Valley, beating interstate traffic while most people slept, their bellies still full of turkey from Thanksgiving the day before. Crook slept much of the way.

"We went there before," said Crook's father, Doug. "So, we're like let's take this drive one more time.

"We'll see what happens."

O'Brien didn't have to pause Friday when asked about his walk-on program and players like Crook. While inside his car, between visits to Philadelphia high schools, ESPN's coach of the year spoke quickly and passionately about the roots of his desire to build up the run-on program.