April 9, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - From the overhang above the Penn State football weight room, Miles Sanders was quietly at work while a huddled group of reporters swarmed assistant athletics director for performance enhancement, Dwight Galt.
It was max out day in late February as one inquiring reporter gestured up toward Sanders and asked Galt where the now junior running back had grown the most. His answer? Leadership.
"Miles is a stud," Galt said. "This kid is a special kid and we feel very good about what Miles Sanders brings on the football field but especially off the field."
At the Fiesta Bowl All-American teammate Saquon Barkley told Sanders to save a few records, some of which he quickly noted were crazy. That hardly slowed Sanders' stride.
"I'm taking it one step at a time, starting after the Fiesta Bowl we came back and it was winter workouts," Sanders said.
Among his winter objectives, keeping his body weight consistent was a top priority, with the intention to put on more muscle and decrease body fat.
Now at 211 pounds solid, Sanders noted he's down to just eight percent body fat.
After weight lifting sessions, Sanders started working out with quarterback Trace McSorley.
"We lifted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday's," Sanders said. "After every lift me, Trace, the other running backs and Juwan [Johnson], DeAndre [Thompkins] and the rest of the receivers, we would stay after and throw in Holuba. Just trying to get that connection down."
That connection of course leads into another one of Sanders' offseason objectives, improvement in the pass game.
"That's what made Saquon great," Sanders said. "He wasn't just a running back, he actually could catch the ball out of the back field and a lot of the great backs in the NFL, they do both. That's the biggest thing I'm working on right now."
There are many things Sanders took from Barkley, but the greatest thing though, came in his tireless work ethic.
"He's
a very competitive dude but his work ethic stood out to me the most," Sanders
said.
He doesn't leave until he feels like he got enough work."
Sanders is no stranger to extra work, noting just days before the Fiesta Bowl that the humbling experiences of his freshman year only gave way to a different type of offseason training, one devoted to developing the mental side of his game to better shape his body language.
Deep down, Sanders knew he wasn't ready his freshman year, but 2017 brought an even tougher challenge. Sanders played in 12 games in 2017, averaging 6.2 yard per carry on 31 attempts.
"Last year it was harder to just be more patient," Sanders said.
With Barkley and Sanders alternating possessions, the Fiesta Bowl was perhaps a glimpse of what his teammates knew he could do the moment his number was called.
Sanders carried the ball six times for 15 yards and one touchdown in the 35-28 victory against No. 12 Washington. He added on one catch for four yards and returned four kickoffs for 56 yards.
Step two, spring ball.
Sanders can exactly remember his first start at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Playing varsity in ninth grade, Sanders bypassed the typical year on the freshman team,
"The actual starter, he transferred to another school and the other back up, he was sitting out for school reasons and so they said, you're up," Sanders said. "I was like, alright, and I'm a freshman, I'm 160 pounds and I'm about to play a varsity football game."
The 2015 Mr. PA Football honoree who would soon be rated the top running back in the nation by Rivals, Scout and 247Sports called it an awful outing, but that didn't last for long.
"I did terrible my first game but that kind of started everything," Sanders said.
The thing about high school Miles Sanders, is that he wasn't really a vocal leader. The second greatest thing he learned from Barkley though, was leadership.
"The main thing I'm trying to do more this year is be more vocal and be more involved in getting everybody going. That's the effect Saquon had on everybody. Once he got going, everybody else got going. That's the effect I'm trying to have on everybody."
As Galt also mentioned back in February, the running back culture has always been one of the best on the team for the Nittany Lions culture-wise.
"Our room is very, very competitive and we make each other better," Sanders said. "Every practice we go out there and we make each other better. We have a standard. The whole team has a standard, the whole offense has a standard but the running backs we also have a standard."
In spring ball, that standard is evident in the expectations.
"Like in practice, once we're doing everything right and not missing assignments, knowing what to do, that's how we get the offense going," Sanders said. "We believe that we get the offense going."
With a certain noticeable brightness about him, Sanders noted the circumstances are obviously different this spring.
"Saquon is not here anymore so it gives me and the other running backs the opportunity to play more and actually show everybody what we can do," Sanders said. "We've been sitting behind Saquon for three years, including me, Mark [Allen] and JT [Johnathan Thomas]. Journey [Brown] got here last year. We're all excited and we've been having a great spring ball so far."
Leading that group though is Sanders, who noted it's no longer about a few reps with the ones, but being the first back in on a consistent basis - just like Saquon.
"I'm just getting used to getting out of that backup role and back into that leadership role like I was in high school," Sanders said.
Sure there's pressure, but Sanders pays no mind to it, knowing he'll just take it one step at a time and try to get better for the team.
"I've been patient for so long so it will feel right for it to be the year that I show everybody what I can do."