Ricky Rahne | Offensive Coordinator
Q: Ricky, how would you describe the way things went offensively for you? Trace, last week, said things kind of hit bumps in the road, in the middle of the season and near the end of the season. How would you describe?
RR: We started well and we ended pretty well. I think in the middle there, we just needed to be more consistent as an entire unit, myself included. We needed to make sure that we were taking advantage of what the defense was giving us, whether it was a play call, a missed execution, a mental error or something that was major. So obviously there are things that we can work on and I think we've been doing that here in the bowl prep and we'll continue that in the next year.
Q: When you mentioned you had a good start and finish, what about some games in the middle when Trace was dealing with his knee? What were the challenges that came with that with what you were trying to do with your offense? What did everybody learn in dealing with those kinds of challenges?
RR: Well, I think one thing is we learned that we play against some pretty good defenses, and those teams like Michigan State and others, those guys have proven throughout the year to be pretty good on defense and pretty stout, especially up front. But I think, in terms of Trace's injury, I don't necessarily know if we learned anything because of that. I think that he battled through it and proved that he's one of the toughest players in the country, like we all knew that he was. I think the thing that we mainly learned is that we, as an offense, myself included, we've got to make sure that we take advantage of opportunities when they're there.
If it's a play call the needs to be called, I've got to make it. If it's a route that needs to be run the right way, we've got to do it. If it's a throw that it's got to be had or a pass protection, something like that, you know, we've got to do it and take advantage of the opportunities because the teams we play against are talented enough that they can take away things for most of the games. So, we've got to make sure that we take advantage of our opportunities when they are there.
Q: How is preparation for a bowl game different than a regular season game with the extra time you have?
RR: I don't know if you have as much extra time as people think to do. With the new early signing day, you're out on the road a lot, and you're doing things that maybe you weren't doing in the past, so there's not quite as much time as people think. It's almost like a bye week type thing. You don't want to get too crazy where you're putting in a bunch of new ideas and things like that, that are confusing your kids. You want to make sure that they're able to go out there and play fast because they hadn't been on the field for over a month. While it's a lot of time for them to recoup, it's not necessarily a lot of time in game planning and preparing. So, it's a kind of a fine balance there.
Q: The higher you move up the food chain of the coaching staff, the more criticism you are going to get. How did you and your family deal with that?
RR: I'd hope my nine and six-year-olds didn't have to deal with that at all, or else we've got a major problem in this country. My wife, unless it has to deal with engineering feats or animals, she probably didn't see it because she doesn't really pay attention to the rest of the other things. That's the beauty of her when I go home. She just wants me to be a dad and a husband and that sort of thing. For me personally, I learned this. We have 650,000 living alumni. I think it is 637,000, but we will go with 650,000. But if a thousand of them are saying something negative or positive about you on social media platforms such as Twitter or something like that, you're dealing with an incredibly small percentage of people. I think that's the thing that all of us have to remember all the time, as you know, whether it's good or bad, most of the people that are just right in the middle, they just want to see Penn State be as successful as possible and do it the right way. I'm sure they're upset at certain times, I'm sure they're excited at certain times, but, you know, it's the very fringe people that are going to making their opinions felt to you.
Brent Pry | Defensive Coordinator
Q: What's the biggest challenge of rebuilding the defense? You had eight or so new guys this year, when did you know this thing was turning the corner?
BP: We saw signs each week. We knew where some limitations were and where some growth needed to happen. It was apparent in the first game against Appalachian State. As we moved through the first part of the season, I was never necessarily discouraged, only disappointed. You hope guys make strides in a timely fashion that equals wins and that equals good defense. I would've liked to see that happen a little bit quicker, but the guys got better each week. I was pleased with the way they were playing, executing, and playing in the framework down the stretch. It was good progress for a group that had a bunch of new faces in it.
Q: What challenges does the Kentucky run game present for you?
BP: They're unique in the way they run the football – jet motion, unbalanced, wildcat, RPOs, reads, they do it all. They are majoring in ways to run the football. I have great respect for Eddie Gran and Darren Hinshaw and the job they do offensively down there. Darren and I worked together at Memphis for three years and I know what a good coach he is and how well prepared they'll be for us. Not to mention, they have an All-American tailback and an awfully good offensive line. We have our hands full.
Q: What other weapons besides Benny Snell does Kentucky have that you have your eye on?
BP: I think their quarterback is a dynamite player. He throws the short to intermediate pass very well. He may even be faster than the tailback. He's a very good athlete and is a threat running the football. From my understanding, he was slowed down a bit during the season with an injury. I look for him to be healthy and for him to be a big part of them running the football.
Q: What clicked for Yetur Gross-Matos as the season went along? What do you see as his upside?
BP: He's still young as far as being a student of the game and as far as understanding schemes and fits. He's a little bit right now of "do what we ask him to do" and he's going to give it everything he has. He doesn't ask questions and he's a very, very high-motor guy in practice. On every single snap he practices the same way. He's a great example for the rest of the guys. I truly believe that his hard work and the way his practice habits grew contributed directly to the success he had on Saturdays. There's still a whole world out there still for him in just a learning process and understanding how things can happen just a little bit faster for him sometimes. As you can see, his skill set is really good and he has everything that we're looking for. I'm excited about the steps that I think he'll continue to take. I think he can be one of the best that I've been around at that position. When your best player or your most productive player is your hardest worker, that's a really good combination. I think we have a chance to be there with Yetur. There's some competition from other guys in the room, but right now no one out-works him.
Q: Can you talk about the progression of freshman Micah Parsons this year?
BP: The fact that Micah led our defense in tackles and started only one game tells the tale. He has some growing and maturing to do still, but my hat's off to him for the year he did put in. He's a young man that had never played linebacker, but he worked hard to learn it, played hard, and didn't allow things to slow him down. He has a big offseason in front of him. He places very high expectations on himself and he has obviously big potential so he's going to be exciting moving forward.
Phil Galiano | Special Teams Coordinator
Q: How would you look at some of the plays that happened, like the fakes, the onside kicks, early maybe like the first five or six weeks?
PG: The onside kicks, you can take a look at those, the first one that we gave up the first game of the year, we were just bailing out of there too soon and shouldn't have done that. The second one, we gave up, really in taking a look at it, we just have to field the ball and go attack it better. We were in position, we were where we needed to be, it wasn't even a good look for them to be able to try it and we didn't recover it. Sometimes that happens, the ball bounces funny. From a fake standpoint, that part was very frustrating you know, we had practiced some things like that and we just didn't execute and that happens in every phase on every play of the game. When you don't get as many plays on special teams, it just gets more magnified.
Q: How about Vlad Hilling, can you assess his progress?
PG: Vlad came in and Vlad is one of the most popular guys on the team. He is such a great kid with an amazing story. He comes in every day and he is up-beat and happy. He makes the room better when he walks into it and there are some things that he's continued to get better on. Working on his kickoffs in practice throughout the year, he has kind of got into a rhythm where he feels better about his approach and his footwork and where he is striking the ball. The results have improved throughout the season for him. We keep working with him from a field goal perspective of just being more consistent and where his plant foot is and how he is striking the ball so that he can get the same kick every time. We are thrilled to have him and I'm really excited that Vlad is here.
Q: Can you talk about [KJ] Hamler a little bit, his dynamic type of game?
PG: I think anytime he touches the ball, he can score. I think he is extremely confident, and God has blessed him with an ability that not many people have and has blessed him with a confidence and a swagger that he knows how to do it. The other thing about him is that he is an unbelievable competitor and he is tough as can be. He is a tough kid and is really fun to be around.
