April 19, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - This time last year Lamont Wade was nearly finished with his first spring season, set to take the field at Beaver Stadium for his first Blue-White outing.
Seated inside the fueling station at the Lasch Building nearly 365 days later, Wade paused for a moment to look back.
"Coming in it was real rough," Wade said. "Being in high school one week and then literally next week, next month, being in the college system, it's really great seeing how much I have changed from then."
In a span of time just shy of year, Wade is bigger, stronger and mentally tougher too. The result of a ferocious winter conditioning effort - one where Penn State assistant athletics director for performance enhancement Dwight Galt described him as a piranha in a small pool in a media session on max out day.
"Coming in, like I said, it's real rough," Wade said. "Sometimes you're up and down about it. You're not sure and when something gets hard and you might want to give up. Getting older you realize you don't really have the option."
Wade is older, yes, but things aren't exactly easier. Instead, what now comes easier is more in learning how to deal with change, like understanding lifts and workouts, eating better and even something like switching positions.
At the start of spring ball, Penn State head coach James Franklin listed off a variety of position changes across the roster. Among the moves, Lamont Wade from cornerback to safety.
When asked about the move, Franklin noted the Nittany Lions are in good shape depth-wise at cornerback. In Wade's case it's perhaps an opportunity for Penn State to replace a few question marks at safety with exclamation points.
"Lamont is a football player and although he's not the longest guy in terms of height, he's put together," Franklin said. "He'll hit you, and we just felt like it probably played to a little bit more of his strengths."
Since arriving back on campus for Penn State's NFL Pro Day, former standout safety Marcus Allen asks Wade the same series of questions every time he sees him.
"He asks me how I like it, how it's going so far," Wade said. "I just let him know and he lets me know all of the upsides of playing safety, what was hard about it and what came naturally."
For Wade, it's a certain toughness and aggression that happens to come easy for him.
"It's one thing safeties have to have," Wade said. "I feel like my aggression comes natural. I feel like my instincts come natural even though there's a whole different step playing safety. You're kind of pushed into a captain role because you're starting to make more calls out there. You have to make sure other people are in alignment too."
Outside of a natural aggression, there's of course the added emphasis on communication, something Wade says started at cornerback. Looking over, getting the call and flying into action.
"At safety, you have to not only get the call to yourself but get the call to the man to the right, to the left and in front of you," Wade said. "Just making sure everyone is straight and taking accountability is one of the biggest things."
One of three true freshmen to start in 2017, Wade played in 12 games, finishing the season with three pass breakups and a forced fumble, which came on a kickoff return at Rutgers.
Wade had a significant role one special teams last season, something he credits to helping him tremendously.
"I played a lot on special teams," Wade said. "My role increased on special teams throughout the season. Special teams is a part of the game, they say if you start on special teams, you're a starter."
This spring though, Wade is back at square one, or starting right back at the beginning if you ask him.
"It's a new position, so I have to take new strides," Wade said. "I've played safety for probably two games in my whole high school career so it's completely new to me."
It's a humbling experience, but one Wade is determined to see through, setting his spring goal to get fully comfortable at safety.
"I'm a sophomore, in my second year but honestly it feels like I am a freshman again because it's a whole new position with whole new techniques," Wade said. "I know the play book but it's going out there and adjusting."
Come Saturday, Wade will have one final opportunity to go out and get adjusted. Represent the white team in Penn State's annual spring game, he's listed alongside a spring ball standout in Jonathan Sutherland and current early enrollee Isaiah Humphries, to name a few.
For new position coach Tim Banks though, when it comes to Wade he knows, he'll be ready to go when it's time to.
"Lamont's excited, he loves to play football, it's important to him," Banks said. "Obviously with a new position, there's a learning curve he has to get through but he is a willing participant. He's really working hard."