Aug. 5, 2017
Penn State Football
Media Day ââ'¬" Head Coach James Franklin
August 5, 2017
Opening Statement
First of all, good afternoon. We really appreciate everybody being here, especially the local beat writers that follow us day in and day out, year in and year out. I also want to thank Kris Petersen, who's done an unbelievable job since [our staff has] been here. She is professional, hardworking, really cares about our players and our program. So we really appreciate all her hard work.
Obviously, we're in the thick of it right now. Very, very busy. We just got done having meetings and walk-through, and then we have the media responsibilities, and then we'll get a practice in this afternoon.
I'm excited. I think we've had a great summer. There's been obvious improvement at a lot of positions from spring ball to now. The guys have really worked hard and understood what they needed to work on. I think, nowadays everybody wants to continue working on or practicing the things they do well, but our guys were mature enough to identify areas of weakness, individually and collectively, that we needed to be improved, and I've seen that.
I think year two with Brent Pry running the defense and year two with Joe Moorhead running the offense has really helped us on both sides of the ball. And obviously returning a punter and kicker the caliber of Blake Gillikin and Tyler Davis, I think has helped us from a leadership perspective on special teams.
We're in a good place. We've got a lot of work to do. We took a nice step last year, but we've still got a lot of steps [to take] in every area that you could possibly imagine to continue in the direction that we want to go.
Q. Is there anything different that you tell a team coming back from an 11-3 season that you would tell a team coming back from a 7-6 season?
JF: No, and I think you guys have probably heard me talk about this enough all off-season. I'd make the opposite argument that you need to stay consistent with your plan. You need to stay consistent with your message. We do the same thing all year long. I make the argument no different than we do week to week, whether we're playing a conference game or an out of conference game or what outsiders would perceive as a big game compared to a different type of game.
It's the same thing with seasons. Last year's success or last year's record should not impact us. I'm challenging everybody in our organization to go back to day one as if they've never heard the offense, defense, or special teams installed.
That's the players as well because the reality is, if we can get 1 percent better in the way we take notes in meetings, that's going to help. If we can be 1 percent better in how we sleep, our nutrition or hydration, how we take care of our bodies, that's going to help. So just kind of growing in every area.
I would make the argument it's probably going to have a more dramatic impact because everybody [else] focuses on the Xs and Os, bench press, and schemes. So if we can do a better job than anybody in the country in focusing on those other areas -- treatment, hydration, nutrition, sleep, note-taking, discipline -- then I think it can have a really big impact. And those 1 percents in each one of those areas, they add up.
So our message isn't going to change. It never will, to be honest with you. Obviously, we learned from last year's experiences, and it was helpful from a growth perspective and from a maturity perspective, but last year is last year, and this year is this year. We want to take all those experiences and maturity that we gained from last year and then continue growing and evolving.
Q. How do you see the secondary panning out this year? And is there any indication on whether John Reid will play?
JF: I'm really pleased and excited with what we've got going right now in the secondary. Obviously, Marcus Allen has played a bunch of football for us. A guy that I think is going to have a huge year for us is [Troy] Apke. The guy's played a bunch of football for us, but hasn't really been the guy yet, and has a chance to kind of step into that role.
Ayron Monroe has done a nice job as well and is fighting for time and for a more significant role. Nick [Scott] is doing the same thing. So we're starting to get into a better situation there from a depth standpoint. There are a bunch of other guys I could name, but those four guys for right now.
At the corner position, you could make the argument there are five or six guys that we feel good about. Grant [Haley] and Christian [Campbell] have played a lot of football for us since they stepped on campus, and they're continuing to grow. [Zech] McPhearson is a guy that's had a really good off-season and we're excited about him. Amani [Oruwariye] has played a lot of football for us as well and brings a lot of maturity, size and length there for us. Obviously, there was a lot of excitement about [Lamont] Wade this spring. He's had a nice off-season and is continuing to grow.
Tariq Castro-Fields is probably a guy that there's as much buzz about as any of the newcomers right now. He's a guy that, of the freshmen, I think right away is kind of making an argument that he's going to factor in.
John Reid is in Portland, Oregon, doing an internship at Intel. Actually had the opportunity to do the internship last year and just didn't feel comfortable making it work with his football responsibilities. So he had accepted that internship this summer. Then based on some of the challenges he has right now, he's able to stay and maximize that opportunity. So we'll be really excited when he gets back because of his leadership and his knowledge.
It's amazing how our guys can get on their laptops and iPads and watch the tape like 20 minutes after practice. It's downloaded, and they don't have to be [on campus] to do that. I found out three days ago that every night John Reid is sitting in his hotel room or his apartment or whatever it is watching all the tape and texting and calling Terry the players saying, "You did this in Zorro coverage. Why are we teaching it differently right now?" Or is he talking to them about the technique they are using.
John is going to have a huge impact for us this year. We'll see how it plays out, but either way, he's going to have a huge impact.
Q. Two weeks ago in Chicago, you said that Andrew Nelson and Brendan Mahon would be available for the start of preseason camp. How have they looked so far? When do you hope to settle the offensive line going into this season?
JF: They've looked good. All of our guys that have had challenges they are working through. It's not like -- the doc said this the other day, which is a pretty good analogy ââ'¬" you don't go from not running at all to running a marathon. You kind of work your way back into it and that's what those guys are doing.
They've looked good. I think, when you've got seniors ââ'¬" redshirt seniors ââ'¬" that have played a lot of football, they've got a lot of maturity, so if you're going to have a guy that maybe is a little limited in terms of -- they're not limited anywhere physically ââ'¬"their reps, they're probably guys that could handle that situation the best, and they've done a good job with it.
They look great. When they get in there, they've done a really good job. They're able to run. They're able to move. They're powerful. They're physical. So it's been good for us, but it's not like they're taking the full amount of reps that the rest of the ones are.
Q. When do you hope to settle the offensive line?
JF: I think you hope to settle the offensive line as soon as you possibly can. That's always the scenario. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is identifying the best five and get them on the field.
And I think your point is a good one, how long at that position, how much time do you need to really build that chemistry up with each other? I think last year, though, we played -- I think it was seven different combinations on the offensive line, and one of the things that I think we've done a fairly good job of is not recruiting one-position players.
I think [Ryan] Bates is a really good example of that as a guy that could play center, guard or tackle. We want to recruit true tackles, and tackles could slide down inside and play guard if you had to. But if you recruit too many guys that could only play center and guard, they're kind of sawed off, short-limbed guys, it eliminates flexibility.
So recruiting swing guys inside that are probably more guard-center body types but have enough length like Bates that could move out to tackle if you had to. I think that helps us in recruiting guys that can play multiple positions across the line to create flexibility that allows [offensive line coach] Matt [Limegrover] to get the best five on the field.
So hopefully sooner rather than later those guys can build a tremendous amount of chemistry together.
Q. We've seen a lot of Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens, obviously, but what can you tell us about the development of Jake Zembiec and what you have seen from Sean Clifford?
JF: I'd say that's probably one of the more interesting story lines [in training camp] for the coaches. Who's the number three quarterback?
I guess what I'm saying is that's probably one of the more important things on my mind and on my plate is who's the number three? I think we could get into a situation like we did with Trace, where say your number three quarterback ends up being Jake. Then you're in a situation where you could redshirt Sean. Okay, that's wonderful.
Well, what if Clifford ends up being number three? So if you get in a situation where you get an opportunity to get your number three in the game, we may do what we did with Trace, where we actually put the number four guy in the game to be able to redshirt the other guy, depending how that plays out.
But that's an important battle for us. I think we feel really good about our number one and our number two and what they're going to be able to do for us this year. I think one of the things that's interesting in our program, and the quarterback position is an example of that, when we were at 65 scholarships, there was a struggle and a challenge that we had a lot of walk-ons playing significant roles on the team and a lot of walk-ons were being put on scholarship, and we felt like that was normal.
So there became a little expectation of that's how it is, but that's not normal. So that was a challenge for us in terms of locker room dynamics and things like that.
I think we're also in a similar situation now where guys felt like what we had been going through the last couple years was normal, and what I mean by that is Miles Dieffenbach, when he got here as a true freshman, he was fifth team on the offensive line and didn't get one rep in practice his entire freshman year. And then since we've been here, the guys show up, and they're in the two-deep right away, and some guys were forced to play or whatever.
Now we're in a situation where guys that redshirted last year, they have seen the evolution, and they're saying to themself, well, all the redshirt freshmen the next year have huge roles. Well, that's not necessarily the case anymore. You've got to come in, and you've got to earn those roles.
So it's an interesting dynamic, and I think that's a little bit of what we have at quarterback and a lot of different positions. Guys are going to have to learn to be a little bit patient. There's going to be some guys that are going to come in and impact right away, and there's going to be some guys are that will be able to sit and be able to learn.
When I was in Green Bay, we had Brett Favre and we drafted Aaron Rodgers that year, and I think one of the best things for him is he was able to sit and take his time, learn the NFL game and sit behind Brett for a couple years. So when he was able to step in, he was ready.
So it's an evolution kind of in our organization and our locker room of how this is playing out. I think your question is an excellent one because that's my concern, figuring out who the number three is as quickly as possible, and I think it's going to be a battle. Jake is doing some really nice things, and so is Sean.
Q. Longest line of questioning with competition, how do you handle the depth chart with the guys? Do you announce it to the team or anything like that?
JF: I think that's another good question because we literally talked about that this morning, and how I want to approach it this year -- first of all, it's not like we post a depth chart anywhere. I let the position coaches handle that on their own.
The only one I get involved with is in the quarterback position. Last year Joe and I sat down with the quarterbacks and brought them in and had a discussion about it. Besides that, I want the position coaches to be the head coaches of their position and handle that.
What I did say is come Sunday I want an updated depth chart that we can go over as a staff -- offense, defense, and special teams -- and I want that depth chart to reflect, if we were playing a game on Saturday, who would be the guys that were getting reps in with and what's the order of it, and I want to communicate that to the players. I want the players to know, right after this week, if the number three guy just beat you out and you were the number two guy, that you're no longer that [number two] guy. I don't want it to be a subtle thing in practice where you've noticed one or two reps. No, if he beat you out, and you know that, now [the players] have the opportunity to fix that before the first game.
So you clearly know where you stand week in and week out, and I think that's really important. I think it's going to magnify the competition. I think it's going to give the players really good, honest feedback of where they're at. That's something that I've always believed in professionally, when I was an assistant and now as a head coach. I always hate, and still do, the HR meeting you have at the end of the year where your boss tells you all year long you've been doing all these things wrong. Don't wait until the end of the year to tell me. Tell me now so we have an opportunity to fix them.
That's what I want with my staff and with my players. I want them to get immediate feedback so they have an opportunity to fix what we think is a problem or an issue. I think that's going to spike the competition level up a little bit. I heard in the past around here ââ'¬" where the guys that have been covering Penn State for a long time might know ââ'¬" there were like 75 different jerseys at practice. First team wore one color. Second team wore another color. Third team wore a different color. When I came here and I walked out of the locker room, it was like 55 different jersey colors. Now, you guys were never allowed at practice, so you probably don't even know what I'm talking about.
My point is that instant feedback that they used to get back in the day, you'd walk to your locker, and your jersey color had just changed. You'd gone from first team to second team. And we're going to do the same thing by week but more from a depth chart perspective.
Q. Is there any update you can give on Damion Barber trying to get to campus?
JF: We're confident that Damion is going to be here. We've got some great feedback this week. So we're really confident that Damion will be here. The problem is, once you set your 105 man roster for camp, the NCAA rule, it's not like you can pull a guy off of it and sub a guy in. It's not like the NFL where you're getting on the waiver wires and changing guys.
So we have some challenges when it comes to that, but most important thing is will he be here before school starts? And we're pretty confident that that will happen.
Q. What would you say is the biggest challenge the team faces?
JF: I think we've been talking about all off-season, it is not spending a whole lot of time talking about what you just did, which is the success of last season. Everybody wants to talk about and we've talked about it enough. The fans have talked about it. The media's talked about it. We've talked about it as an organization. They've been given rings. We've talked about it enough. So that's behind us. We have moved on.
And trust me, we have talked about that in great detail with our players. But, again, it's not like I'm asking them to bury their head in the sand and act like that didn't happen. They earned that. So you'll recognize that, but on the other hand, those points aren't going to carry over, and those wins aren't going to carry over. We have guys that had critical roles on the team and they're not with us anymore. We just have to be disciplined enough not to get caught up in the hype.
I actually make the argument, the way last season started really helped me at the end of the year to say, you can't listen to the praise now. No different than I didn't want you to talk about the criticism, I didn't want you to listen to the criticism early on. That's me as well. Minnesota, the fans telling me exactly how they felt in that game. That, in a lot of ways, helped me and help the program at the end of the season stay level and stay consistent and not get caught up in the emotions and the highs and the lows.
So I'm a big believer that you savor all of life's experiences. The only way you really can appreciate and recognize the good is if you've been through the adversity and the challenges.
What we talked about a little bit last night with our players -- I think sometimes we forget. We see these guys, and they're 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, and they've got a beard, and we think that they're men, and they're not. They're young men that are still growing and evolving, and they have problems, and they have issues with their families, with their girlfriends, with school. At this level, it's not just football, it's total development.
I think in camp you have to make sure you realize that. We're so kind of focused on football right now, school's kind of starting to stop at the end of summer session and we are starting to get ready for the season, but these guys still have moms and dads and girlfriends and people calling them from home with challenges and issues. So kind of balancing all of those things.
Q. What's impressed you so far with your defensive linemen in camp? Particularly, guys like Shane Simmons and some of those younger guys that we really haven't seen much of.
JF: I think you guys probably saw when you came out to practice the other day, we look different. The thing that's interesting, say you ranked your defensive line from 1 through 18 or whatever the numbers are, and you look at the body types, the size and the development -- it's different. You go out to practice the first couple days and I'm kind of talking to Coach Galt, and I'm covering my mouth and saying, "We look different." Physically, we just look different.
I think one of the things we've probably done each year is we keep upgrading. We keep upgrading the way we're developing these guys in the off-season, the way the top end guys, your first two teams in the program, the strides that they're making off-season because their motivation and because they've had a taste of success and liked what came with it. Then also the young guys in the program that realize they're going to have to work even harder to close the gap on the first two teams. It's all those things.
I think it's 65 scholarship guys and the walk-ons having such a significant role and being appreciative of that, but we've got less walk-ons. So it's impressive, and I think our defensive line is a really good example of that. You look at Corey Bolds and you look at Fred Hasard and you look at Yetur Gross-Matos, none of those guys look like true freshmen. They are big, strong, physically developed guys who can run. That's going to make our defense better. That's going to make our offense better by going against these guys every day at practice.
I think one of the discussions in off-season was defensive end and finding some production at that position and guys are going to have to step up. I think Shareef [Miller] is a guy that has a chance to have a breakout year and take that next step. I think Torrence Brown has played a lot of football for us and is kind of the old wily vet and I think is going to be very productive for us.
And then there's some guys like you mentioned. Shane looks great. Shaka [Toney] is a guy that everybody is going to say that he's not 260 pounds, so you can't play defensive end in the Big Ten. I don't know about that. I remember walking in during spring ball and telling our coaches, change your mindset. Don't allow the fact that this guy's not this or that, and you say he can't play because of this. Watch the tape, and watch how he's straining in the run game now more than he ever has. Watch him in the pass game on his third step before the offensive tackle is taking his first. He's going to bring something to us that we haven't had, to be honest with you.
[Ryan] Buchholz is a guy who's played a lot of football for us and is kind of a swing guy. Colin Castagna is a guy that's played a lot of football for us in a backup role that's fighting for a more significant role. That's kind of an interesting position as well. And I think Shaka is a guy that's got our defensive staff excited, and I would say probably Gross-Matos is the freshman that everyone is excited about, and we're going to need to find a way for him to have a role for us this year.
Q. You mentioned a desire to put together an updated depth chart and what that's going to mean for the guys on the roster. Any first year players who haven't been on the field at Beaver Stadium during a game that you feel are giving you a lot to think about?
JF: I think the two true freshmen that jump out right away is [Tariq] Castro-Fields and Yestur [Gross-Matos] right now. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of guys, but these are the guys we're already saying are going to factor in. Over the next week or two, there's going to be other guys because we have no problem playing true freshmen. We encourage it.
I think you've got some redshirt guys like Shane [Simmons] and Shaka [Toney], those guys are going to have to kind of step up for us, especially at the position that they play.
I think you look on the offensive side of the ball, Mike Miranda is a guy that's put the offense in the situation where we're kind of having some difficult conversations, like we did last year with [Conner] McGovern, Michal Menet and those guys, where do we play him this year? Because, I think he's shown that he belongs. That's an exciting one for us.
I'm probably missing a few guys, but there are the guys that probably jump out to me right now of guys ready to kind of take that next step and have a more significant role in terms of redshirt or true freshmen. Again, as we all know, it's only been one week, and some of these guys' heads are spinning a little bit. So I'll have a better idea probably in two more weeks.
Q. I know the caveat is that Saquon Barkley has one year of eligibility left [after this season], but the reality is he has very high draft expectations coming into this season. How does that impact how you approach what you want his role to be this fall?
JF: For Saquon, as well as a lot of our guys that have played a lot of football for us, we know who they are -- I would put Jason Cabinda into that category. I'd put Mike Gesicki into that category. I'd put Marcus Allen into that category. There's a bunch of guys.
My point is those guys taking the full amount of reps every single day at practice when they've been playing for us at a high level for three years, we don't need to necessarily do that. So if we cut their reps from five to two and give those three reps to the twos and the threes who will use those reps to close the gap and give the coaches more confidence that we feel like we have legitimate depth, that's where the value comes.
During the games, obviously, those guys are going to be the guys that we're relying on significantly to be playmakers, to be leaders, to have significant impact on the games and in our organization.
Saquon, obviously, there's a lot of excitement, and rightfully so. Once again, he's earned it. He's a special guy. But we have a lot of guys that have special roles and have made tremendous impacts here. So we're going to use Saquon in every way we possibly can to give our team the best chance to be successful, short term and long term. That's obviously running the ball. That's getting him more involved in the passing game because everyone is going to be focused on not allowing Saquon Barkley to beat them as a runner. And then also in special teams as well.
Q. Sandy said that Penn State is 100 percent committed to you. She has discussed your contract. Is it something that's taking a little bit longer than maybe was anticipated? Could you address your extension?
JF: Yeah, I'm in football mode now. So I'm focused on the season. We've been talking about this for a while, and I feel good about it. I don't have any concerns, but my focus is on our team and the 2017 season completely. Kris will tell you, we get interviews requests…Once the season starts, it changes a little bit for me. So I kind of put the blinders on and jump in the submarine. To me, everything that we do and I do is about getting the team ready to be successful.
I feel good about where we're at. I don't have any concerns, but my focus is completely on the season.
Q. I know you touched before on the total development and the off the field stuff. These guys have families calling them and stuff like that. After missing the Rose Bowl, how have Saeed Blacknall and Manny Bowen responded over the past seven months?
JF: They've been great. To be honest with you, they were great before that. There's going to be issues that come up when you have 125 males that are ages 18-22 that you're responsible for. I think sometimes people look at athletes and football, in particular, and we act like these guys are different than any other group in society. There's issues in society. There's going to be issues in college athletics and specifically in football.
I think the most important thing is, when those issues come up, you deal with them, and you deal with them as a leader of the organization. And do the players take responsibility and say, "I made a mistake and I'm going to take the consequences of the decisions I made. I'm going to learn. I'm going to grow. And I'm going to evolve." To me, that's what life is about, and that's what college athletics is about. That's what education is about. It's about growing.
And I'd also make the argument that these guys and these kids are growing up at a point in our society where you can't make mistakes anymore with the camera phones and the blogs. It's challenging. I made mistakes in high school and college. I think we all did. So the most important thing is putting our players in position to be successful and to learn and grow.
I'm a huge fan of Manny Bowen and the challenges that he's had to overcome in his life and how successful he's been here at Penn State. I'm a huge fan. And same thing with Saeed. Huge, huge fans, huge supporters. I love those guys, and I believe in those guys, and I'm not just talking about over the next four to five years here at Penn State. I'm talking the next 40 to 50 years.
Q. Did you see "The New York Times" photo essay on the brains a couple weeks ago? If so, what were your thoughts of it when you saw it?
JF: Yeah, I'm obviously aware of what's going on in our sport and our society and the focus and the concern. It's something that we all have to be aware of and we have to be open to it. You look at football, there's been a lot of rule changes the last couple of years because people realize we've got to take a hard look at these things because the most important thing is the health and the welfare of our student-athletes, of anybody that's playing the game, and making sure that we're making really good decisions that's going to take care of our student-athletes. So I think that's number one.
I also am a defender of the game of football. I believe that is important in our society. I believe in the importance in the education system. I believe in the importance of developing leadership. And, obviously, I'm biased, but I don't think there's any doubt that we can't ignore the studies and the research that's going on out there.
I'm very proud of what we're doing here at Penn State with Tim Bream and our doctors and the research and things going on that we're doing on our own with the university. So it is something that we're all very aware of, and we're going to continue to ask tough questions and continue to hopefully make the right decisions for student-athletes. In that order, for student-athletes first and then for the game as well.
Q. Coach, the end of the Rose Bowl, there were two plays back to back with pass interference where guys weren't really turning their heads around and adjusting to the ball. Is that something you have a bigger emphasis on in practice?
JF: To be honest with you, we've had a lot of media sessions from the end of the Rose Bowl game to now. I really would prefer to be talking about moving forward in the season and not things we could have covered from the Rose Bowl or over the last however many months.
But, yeah, all the things that we see in each game that we play each year, we write notes down. We grade it. We put drill work in individual sessions together to improve in those areas and to work on weaknesses. So everything that any fan or any media member or any person that's watched our season and watched the games, I can guarantee you we've watched it more. So have our players.
And based on watching all those things as games and then watching them in cut-ups and then when we do our install tapes and things like that, and then when we come up with our practice plans in areas we need to get better and areas we need to improve, that's what it's all based on. It's based on doing the latest studies out there of what are the best techniques when it comes to tackling, when it comes to coverage.
What are other people teaching in terms of best practice? What can we do better? What are the strengths of each position? What are the weaknesses? Things like that. Playing the ball in the air since the beginning of the forward pass, that's been a challenge for defensive players. I'd make the argument playing defensive back may be the most difficult challenge in all of football physically, that and playing offensive tackle. I think, if you take the physical and mental aspect, you put quarterback in there as well.
Trust me, we've watched all those things as well, and we have drills and meetings to make those corrections.
Q. What are the personal expectations and the hype that kind of swirl around Saquon Barkley? I guess, in our interactions with him the last couple years, it doesn't really seem like that stuff fazes him or gets to him. Why do you think that is?
JF: I think part of it is that's kind of who Saquon is in his heart and in his soul. I would also say that his parents have really done a great job of that. I love his parents. I love his family, his upbringing, the honesty in that home is impressive. You look at the interviews they've done, they are very honest. They are very direct.
And to be honest with you, they have never made football a thing that defines Saquon or defines their family. They've stayed very level headed.
Now, are they aware of Saquon's talent and Saquon's future and Saquon's opportunities? Yes, and they've worked very hard at doing research on their own and with us as well about what those things are.
I think probably the thing that our team respects the most about Saquon is how he has handled the success really from day one at a very early age, at a very early part of his career. There was buzz since that hurdle in the Buffalo game. There's been a buzz about him, and he's handled it really well, better than I would have ever handled it at that age. There's no doubt about it.
And I think that's where he kind of has earned everybody's respect, and I also think there's just such a humility to him and almost -- and I don't want this to come off the wrong way. Saquon's mom and dad are going to watch this and see this and so is Saquon, and I don't want them to misinterpret this. But almost like he is naive to how people see him and react. It's like he's unaware of it. I think sometimes when you use the word naive, it comes off in a negative way. But it's a positive for him because it's like he does not have a true understanding of the significance of it.
And even when we do the poster give out and he's getting assaulted on the street, it doesn't really faze him. He has great interactions with every person he comes in contact with, and then he gets on the bus, and the players give him a hard time, and he just kind of stays true to who he is. I think that's a credit to Saquon. I think that's a credit to Saquon's family. I think it's a credit to the community that he grew up in. And I think it's a credit to his teammates here at Penn State. He's special.