Opening Statement:
Appreciate everybody. I'm not sure how many people we've got on, I can only see about four boxes. But appreciate everybody coming out and covering Penn State football like always. I know everybody's been patient for the start of the season. And obviously, we're very excited about the opportunity.
I briefly just wanted to open up about, our Penn State United statement, patches, stickers and things like that, that you guys are going to see moving forward. I'm just really proud of our players and our program. We had a lot of conversations this offseason, a lot of discussions that I think were very, very important. The transparency that we had the discussions that we had, you know, the education and the learning that was taking place in those meetings from so many different perspectives has been great. And then obviously, our players watching, you know, other teams, other leagues, other conferences, as well as professional basketball, that we felt like we wanted to do something that that showed our unity. And I think that's the important thing for us is that this is a topic that you have to be careful about, because the last thing you want to do is take part in things that are divisive. So we've taken an approach that is about bringing everybody together, bringing everybody together at Penn State, bringing everybody together in in Centre County, bringing everybody together in the State of Pennsylvania and hopefully being a leader in our country on this topic. So really excited about what our players and our program and staff came up with. And I think you guys will get an opportunity to see more on that topic later. But I did want to lead with that.
So again, appreciate the opportunity, excited to have the opportunity to play a Big Ten conference opponent to start the season in Indiana. Got a lot of respect for Tom Allen, I think he does a great job. And I have a lot of respect for Tom as a man, I think I think he's done a great job for that program. I've liked my interactions with Tom I've liked getting to know him. We also have two people on our staff that think very highly of him. Greg Kincaid, worked at Indiana, for Tom and he's got great things to say about him. And then I think some of you guys know this, Jevin Stone, our Director of Video, actually, Tom Allen was his high school coach. So, I got pretty good perspective on Tom and the type of man he is and the type of program he runs, he does a great job. I think it's the best Indiana football team that they've had in my six years in the conference. I think they've done a really good job of building it, they got a bunch of guys back that have played at a high level and obviously last year at a winning conference record as well as, you know, obviously enough success to win eight games and go to a bowl game. And the majority of those guys are coming back. So I think this is the best Indiana football team that we're going to face. And obviously we're facing them on the road. The last couple years have been very, very competitive games. We've been fortunate to get out of there with a win, not only in Beaver Stadium, but also in Indiana.
So it's going to be a challenge. We have a healthy respect for our opponent. But I do feel like we're in a good place. And I do feel like we've had a good camp, I guess you would describe it. And we're looking forward to taking advantage of this week and being as prepared as we possibly can be come Saturday.
On how fortunate he feels about the running back group…
Yeah, you know, obviously first of all, we want to focus all of our energy and love and support and Journey (Brown) through this. And as you know, I'm not going to get into a whole lot I know you didn't ask that. But I didn't want to just move on to the other guys without talking about how proud and how much we love and support and appreciate journey and how much he's grown in our program and think he has a very, very bright future.
But yeah, I think Coach (Ja'Juan) Seider's done a really good job of not only recruiting, but also developing at that position. You know, there's an identity and a mentality at that position. Obviously, they've had fun with the lawn boys, you know, kind of title that that they kind of fall under. But yeah, that, you know, we got a number of guys there, you know, whether you're talking about Devyn (Ford), or whether you're talking about obviously Noah Cain, who did so many significant things for us last year. So those two guys with tremendous experience, and then two guys that were really excited about, you know, behind those guys with Caziah (Holmes) and Keyvone (Lee). So, you know, feel like we've got a really good group there, obviously, Keyvone and Caziah haven't done it in a collegiate setting yet.
But we do feel like Noah has the ability to carry the load and feel like Devyn has a chance to do that as well. And we'll see how close those two young guys are ready to play based on how they prepare this week. But you'd love to get them in the game, you'd love to get them in the game and see how they do in that setting. But we feel very confident with Noah and feel very confident with Devyn. And to be honest, Journey's had a huge impact on those guys. He's been great in practice. He's been great in meeting rooms, and I know he'll continue to do that.
On how Journey Brown will cope with being out…
Yeah, and I think your initial statement, I think, is the important thing. I'm a big believer, you know, that journeys, experiences throughout his entire life, equip him with all the necessary tools to battle this situation as well. And, you know, he has had a lot of adversity in his life, in a very short period of time, in terms of his age, and the things that he's been able to overcome. And that's why when we first started kind of dealing with all this, that that was my conversation with him. So I know he's going to handle this thing like he handles everything else. He does it in a first class way and tries to stay positive and focus on the blessings. And we're going to do the same thing with, you know, and again, you know, we don't know what the future holds yet, so we'll see how this whole thing plays out. But I do know he's got 120 brothers that love and support him. He is a guy you talk about, you know, universally respected and loved by the by the teammates, and the coaches and the staff. You know, he's just a guy that, you know, is going to be successful. He's got, you know, a survivor mentality and not just survives, but finds a way to flourish under challenging times. And that's why whether it's football, or whether it's school, or whether it's business, or whatever Journey decides to do in his future, he's going to find a way to be successful. I mean, you know, literally, I think about all the things that Saquon Barkley did, and I remember, you know, they, you know, his hometown had a parade for him, you know, that they should do that in Meadville, you know, because I think Journey Brown is just a tremendous example of a young man that took an opportunity and ran with it and I think he's going to continue doing that. I'm excited to watch you know, his story play out, and I'm hoping to be a part of that story with them, you know, for the next you know, for the long haul.
On who has stood out in practice…
It's hard to say, because there's really not just one guy, there's a number of guys like that. And if I say one guy, then I'm leaving out others. You know, but I think we've had a number of incoming freshmen or junior college transfers that are probably further ahead than what we anticipated. And then you have some of the guys that maybe didn't have a huge role last year as a true freshmen or as a redshirt freshmen or as a sophomore that have come into their own. I guess the guy I would say is Joey Porter. And I think Joey Porter is a good example of a guy that last year, you know, redshirted, I remember talking to Joey just a few weeks ago, and last year when Joey redshirted, he wasn't happy about it. And he thought he was ready. And now looking back, having this conversation with him the other day, he goes, 'Yeah, I wasn't ready. I thought I was ready. I wasn't ready.' But he is now and then not only is he ready now, he's really playing at a high level with a lot of confidence. And I think that's a great example, where everybody's journey is different. Some guys come in as a freshman, and they're ready to jump on the field right away. And other guys it takes a year and some guys it takes three years. You know, you look at (Troy) Apke who didn't, you know, didn't have a huge role until senior year and then had unbelievable, you know, senior year you look at Carl Nassib and we got so many different stories. So I think that's one of the things I talk about all the time is everybody's journeys are different and you know, the more positive days that you put together then at some point, the light bulb is going to go on for you that's going to click and the success is going to come there's going to be setbacks and adversity. But I think there's a number of storylines like that.
On high scoring games in college football…
Well, to be honest with you, I don't know if that's kind of an early season issue, or just college football now, you know, college football is high scoring, you look at the NFL and the NFL is putting up more points than I ever remember. I think, you know, you listen to what people perceive to be really good defensive coaches, in the NFL and in college. And everybody's just talking about how challenging, you know, the RPO offenses are to defend it just puts so many people in conflict all the time. So, you know, obviously early in the season, sometimes it's hard to tell. Is it the offenses are really good or is it the defenses are still getting their feet under them? And, you know, and not enough live tackling and things like that. But what we'll see, I know, we have the mentality always that defensively, obviously, you want you want shutouts, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is to stop them from scoring one less point than what you've put on the board. And we want to play and ego-free style of football here where, you know, it's not about the defensive coordinator stats or the offensive coordinator stats or the special team stats. It's about playing winning football and one week that may be because of how our defense played and one week that may be about how our offense plays, and in one week that may be special teams or a combination of all three. And to me, that's what good teams do. You know, they're going to find ways to win and they're going to have different ways to do it week in and week out based on matchups.
On Sean Clifford's progression from last year to this year…
It's funny me, you just made me think of while I was coming over, I was walking downstairs and one of the meeting room doors was shut and I poked in to see, I saw the film going, and I poked in to see who it was. And it was Sean. I think I scared the heck out of him. He looked up and saw me peeking through the window. You know, I think and I've said this before, I think sometimes where you kind of have an offseason, and you look at your season and you say, okay, on offense, defense or special teams or at a position like quarterback, you say, okay, we were really pretty good in these areas, but we were really deficient in this area, and we need to get better. I don't know if that necessarily was the case was Sean, in terms of, he had a glaring area that we needed to really focus on. So obviously, that's a positive and really what you're trying to do is just trying to kind of, you know, continue to grow and get a little bit better in every area. And you know, that's fundamentals. I know Kirk (Ciarrocca) spends a lot of time on fundamentals, which at the end of the day, this is a fundamental game. And then I just think as a quarterback, sometimes there is value in playing for multiple coaches. Now don't get me wrong, obviously, you don't want to live in the other extreme, where you see some of these guys in the NFL or in college play for a different coordinator every single year. You don't want that. But I do think there's value in playing in schemes that have slightly different emphasis and different approaches of the coaches. You know, you're going to learn stuff from Ricky Rahne, you're going to learn different things from Kirk Ciarrocca. So, I do think there's value for Sean in that and I think they've worked extremely well together. So for me, it's not one thing that really jumps out. I just see him much more comfortable in the pocket. I see him much more comfortable in terms of his leadership and interacting with his teammates. I see his movements and his efficiency in his movements. Much better. I see him more accurate consistently in practice. And I think you guys know we chart everything. So, I got all the data. You know, I get the completion percentage from practice every single day, I get the interception percentage from practice every single day and cumulative. I get the explosive play percent. We track everything. That's guys catching punts; we track it all. And that's what I've seen for him. I saw a really good college quarterback last year, who continues to get better in every single area from leadership to mechanics to, you know, understanding situational football and, you know, understanding his role.
Leaving the campus bubble this week, any concerns going on the road? Will your routine change?
Yeah, so there's a lot of changes. We'll still leave on Friday. But, we typically eat on the plane, we're not eating on the plane, we're going to eat beforehand. We don't want to be taking our masks off on the plane, same thing on the buses. Our hotels, we're staying much farther from the game, so we can get the biggest hotels possible with ballrooms for team meetings and meals. We typically eat by position and those types of things. Werre not gonna be able to do that, because we're going to break all the all the tables up and the pairings up. Single rooms, for the players, not doubled up.
But really my two biggest issues that I covered this week is, I know talking to a program, which I won't say who but a program that had a hard time here recently, one of their biggest challenges that I was informed with, was the players that stayed behind. So we've had a lot of discussion about the players that stay behind and stay in town that they're going to have to be disciplined and sacrifice that weekend. So when we come back, that, you know, we don't have any issues with the non-travel. And then I think the other thing is, I had a parent meeting on Sunday night. And I told them well, that was my one concern. I said, "What do you think my other concern is?", and they were like, I don't know. And then one of them was like us, and I go "exactly". You know, we've been able to control so many variables and got into a pretty good routine, that, you know, we're gonna have to do a great job, once the Big Ten allowed parents to come to the game, which I think is the right decision. But we've got to do a great job of managing that now, you know, as many of the parents that could get tested that week before they come, them wearing their mask, them social distancing, because again, we heard of another program that, you know, had a few positives, and that's what it was from it was from, a dinner after a game or an interaction after the game. So, again, I'm just trying to educate as many people as I possibly can on our process and our protocols and our policies, to try to keep everybody as healthy as we possibly can. Number one. And then obviously, you know, it's important that these guys, they want to be able to stay on the field and compete. So that's part of it, obviously, as well. So, there are a few examples, Joe. But, you know, it's pretty much everything is different, you know, same thing with the locker rooms, you know, you're not going to be able to get everybody in the locker room. So, we're going to have to do it here at Penn State. Provide some extra area for the visiting team as well as the home team to split guys up, so you don't have everybody in the locker room based on the size of your locker room. So, we're trying to account for everything, Joe, but you know, it's a challenge, and there's no doubt about it. We've done a good job with our bubble here in Happy Valley. Knock on wood. We've got to continue to do it. The week's not over. We've got to do it all week long. And, you know, but there are going to be some new elements added to our routine this week by going on the road.
On how good the team can be…
Well, yeah, I think I've gone away from the whole gut feeling thing a long time ago, 25 years in this business. There's been times I've been out there in pregame and I say, 'Wow, we are ready to play' and then it doesn't necessarily play out that way in the first quarter or vice versa. So, you know, to me, it's, it's, I've been confident with our process, how our coaches have handled things, the level of detail, you know, the communication, the situational football that we've talked about and worked through. Same thing with our players, has been a very mature approach. There hasn't been those days where you feel like you got to pull it out of them to practice the way you need to practice. Guys are flying around having fun, there's a real sense of appreciation, I think being out there. I think for a lot of our guys, especially the upperclassmen, I think there was a sense that we may not have football this year, something that they love dearly was taken away from us. I think there's a sense of appreciation that it's back and we're thankful for that. You know, and I do think I do think we're a talented team, I do think we have a significant amount of depth more than we did a few years back, or just in a much different situation, from that standpoint, but I also know there's really talented teams in this league, including Indiana. I think this is the best Indiana football team that we have played, by far. And I think Tom's done a great job. I've got tremendous amount of respect for him. So, you know, this is a tough league. Our side of the league is as tough, you know, is really tough. You better be ready to play week in and week out. And Indiana has played, you know, they've won a bunch of games, and they've played a lot of people really tough. You better be ready to play, you better have all your T's crossed and your I's dotted and you better have the right mentality when you when you play Indiana.
On almost 10 months since playing a Big Ten opponent…
Well, I do think and you hear coaches talk about this all the time, when you're opening with an opponent, like Indiana, I do think it changes your team's mentality and approach a little bit. I do think that's part of it. And then I think the other thing is, how you practice and how you prepare. I mean, obviously, there's nothing like playing a game, where you know, it's live and there's no tempo tag off or thud or whatever it may be, that there's really no, you know, there's no supplement for that. But again, I think the things that you can control and getting your team as ready as you possibly can, with not taking on a significant amount of risk in terms of live periods and live practices and things like that, I think we've done that. Now we've got to go out and do it. It's easy for me to sit here and talk on a Tuesday. Because Heather, I know you'll be on the press conference next week and say, well, coach you talked about it, it didn't happen. But you know, again, I'm confident and that's what I told my staff this morning, we have a staff meeting every morning at 7 a.m. I said, let's make sure that our meetings today, and then our practices today, leave us leaving the field on Tuesday evening confident that we've done everything we possibly can so come Friday, you know, I want to sleep well. Friday night, I want to wake up Saturday morning feeling confident and relaxed as possible. I know everybody's different like that. You know, some people, no matter what you do, they're not going to sleep well. Friday night, I'm going to and I want our whole staff and I want our players to do that as well, because we know we've done everything we possibly can to prepare and be ready for this game and go out and play like a team that appreciates the opportunity to play in the Big Ten and compete this year when we didn't know if that was going to happen.
On Pat Freiermuth's example for receivers and tight ends…
Yeah, I think in my mind, it's both, you know, Pat Freiermuth and Jahan Dotson, you know that those two guys have played a lot of football for us. So to me, both of those guys are playing a leading role in how we practice and how we prepare and how we compete. You know, they're both I wouldn't say they're both overly vocal guys, you know, Pat will put out some grunts and yells and things like that, but he's not necessarily overly verbal. And Jahan's the same way. They're more guys that lead through their actions and their demeanor. But I think both of them have done a really good job of doing that day in and day out in practice and in the weight room and meetings and everything else. I think we've got a talented young group of wide receivers and I think we have, you know, one of the best tight end rooms in the country. And I think Jahan and Pat are a big reason for that, you know, their leadership and the example that they said every day, and we're gonna need them to. We're gonna need those two guys to have big years for us and continue to raise the level of those groups and build our confidence in those guys.
On the receivers' progress and Parker Washington…
Well, I think a couple things. I think one of the things that's really good is the "iron sharpens iron" kind of mentality that we have. I think we're as good as we've been in the secondary, there's a lot of confidence in in our depth at safety and our depth at corner and even in the nickel stuff. I think the battles that those guys have had at practice, every single day, is good is going to make both units better. You know, with Parker, he's a very mature young man. He's a very smart young man. The offense kind of makes sense to him and he can kind of connect the dots. With some things, he's got a mature approach to meetings and practice. And then you know, you're going to see him, he's almost built like a running back in a lot of ways. He's got elite ball skills and body control. Me and Clifford were talking about today out at practice, you know, he caught one one-handed. And usually when a guy makes a one-handed catch, everybody goes crazy. But he's done it so many times that it's almost like it's the expectation for him now to make those types of catches, and you gotta remember to, we're not a program that, you know, that really approaches one-handed catches. We don't want them to catch the ball with one hand, you know, only when there's no other option. And he's done it, you know, multiple times in the appropriate situation. I think that's one of the problems in college football that I see nowadays, and even in high school, is guys want to make the basic catch look exciting. You know, they want to create a basic play into an ESPN highlight. And, you know, the reality is that great ones like Jerry Rice, they make every play look easy and natural. There's going to be a time where you've got no other option, that's the only chance you're going to have to go make a play and we get that. Those are the things that we've seen from Parker, you know, I think the quarterbacks trust him, that he knows his assignments, and he's going to be where he's supposed to be. He's been great in contested catch situations, because I do think he has elite ball skills. I'm interested to see his run after the catch ability, again, because he's built like a running back.
Thoughts on the linebacker room...
Yeah, I think it's a group you guys are going to be very impressed with. In my mind, you look at the guys we lost and what they're doing in the NFL, or what they have the ability to do in the NFL is exciting, but again, we've done a great job at that position from a development and a recruiting standpoint. I look at Jesse Luketa as a returning starter in my mind in terms of the number of plays and experience that he has. I look at Lance Dixon in a similar way. I look at Ellis Brooks in a similar way. And Brandon Smith, and then you know, the two guys that I think are new, that we're excited about in terms of thier role and level of experience are Charlie Katshir, who we're excited about because we think he creates flexibility to play multiple positions. And then Curtis Jacobs was a was a highly recruited young man who's come in with flash and has done some great things for us obviously. We would have loved to have spring ball with all these guys at every position. But we do feel like there's a tremendous amount of talent in this group. Jesse's leadership has been impressive, his vocal leadership and running the defense. Same thing with Ellis. And then when you see Brandon. Brandon is just like, I mean, when you guys see him, he's unbelievable. I don't know if you guys have seen him walk around campus or around town, but you know, when I get off the bus, he's going to be standing right next to me.
