Opening Statement: Appreciate the opportunity to be back. It's obviously great to be in this venue. Excited about the season, excited about the opportunities to get back to what we are used to in the Big Ten, with the type of support and the type of fan bases, the excitement around the league.
We have a challenging schedule, opening up on the road against Wisconsin, a team that we have tremendous respect for as an organization, as a university; a tremendous history and tradition. So that'll be a great challenge to open the season. I think this is good for college football. I see a lot of this, not just in the Big Ten, but across the country, so that there's tremendous games, what people would consider, you know, prime-time, tight games, throughout the entire schedule and throughout the entire season. I think it's really good for college football, we're excited about it. We have had a countdown clock going on in our facility like we do every single year, but I must admit, having Wisconsin's logo up there, I think has really kind of raised the standard for our guys and they understand we better be ready to go come the first kick of the first game of the season against a tremendous opponent.
Offensively, I've got a lot of history with Mike [Yurcich], we go back a long ways. He grew up in Ohio, but obviously most of his career, especially early on, was in the state of Pennsylvania. He coached and played in the same conference than I did and then has had a lot of success. I've been tracking and pursuing Mike for a couple years. So, I had an opportunity to bring him back and couldn't be more excited about having him with us. I don't think you'll see things a whole lot different than who Penn State has been really kind of over our entire time at Penn State, especially the times that we were back in this facility and won the Big Ten Championship, a similar style.
We want people to defend 53-and-a-third. We want to be able to get our players in space. We want to be able to run with power and authority. I know Mike feels the same way. We've got a lot of weapons on offense. At the receiver position, we were young last year. Jahan Dodson will obviously lead that group. I think we probably have, you know, maybe one of the most talented, at least part of that argument, running back rooms in the country. Same thing at the tight end position. Really excited about what we can do with the offensive line position. And then obviously having an experienced quarterback like Sean Clifford, who has now seen it all, you know, two years ago won 11 games, won the Cotton Bowl with a lot of success.
Obviously, as an entire organization, we had some challenges last year and that was an opportunity for all of us to grow and evolve. I know Sean has as well and we're looking forward to watching him play this year.
Defensively, Brent Pry has been with me, really, from day one. We go all the way back. His dad was my college offensive coordinator. So, we have known each other and been together for a long time. He's been with me since day one, my first day as a head football coach. Our consistency on the defensive side of the ball is as good as anywhere in the country and Brent leads that unit.
Obviously, we've got some guys that we got to replace across the defensive front. Feel like we have the ability to do that with the way that we have recruited. We're as talented as I think as anybody in the country at the linebacker position and probably have the best secondary that we have had. There's a lot of pieces there that we're excited about. Obviously, we've got to go out and do it.
Joe Lorig is leading our special teams unit. We've got all those guys back, tremendous experience; snapper, kicker, punter, field goal unit, all those guys are back and we're excited about what they're going to be able to do.
There's a lot of excitement in our program. Our leadership is tremendous and we've had a great summer. On top of that, all the feedback from the strength coaches, as well as from the players has been really good.
We're hungry. I would say, obviously, we've got a chip on our shoulder. We've found a lot of success at Penn State and we're excited to get back to that.
Appreciate the opportunity. It's always great to be here. This is the beginning of it for all of us, right, with media days and looking forward to the season to get going.
Q: What has NIL meant for your program so far? How are you using it in recruiting? What can it mean for Penn State in the coming years?
A: Yeah, for me, I don't really look at it as something to use in recruiting. I don't really look at it as something for Penn State [to use in recruiting] in the coming years.
I think about it, I look at it mainly as, is how do we make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can to support the student-athletes? To me, it's very simple, right, we're providing an opportunity for our student-athletes, to get an opportunity that every other student on a college campus has been able to take advantage of, forever. Obviously, there's a different platform and there's a different opportunity, especially when you're in a place like Penn State, with our fan base and our alumni base.
We're trying to prepare these guys for life after football and this is going to be part of that, you know, for them to be able to use the things that they've learned be able to take advantage of the network and the resources that we have. So, we've embraced it, we want to be bold and aggressive and everything we possibly can do. But for me and for us, it's really about the student-athlete and making sure that they're going to have an opportunity to capitalize on this. Our guys, I've been really proud of, because I think they've showed a very mature approach. Obviously, in the summer, in the spring, we want to be aggressive about this. It is going to be something that we're all going to have to manage in the season, that it doesn't become a distraction and take away from what they're really trying to do, which is to get a great education and play great college football.
Q: How do you plan to manage the COVID-19 situation as the cases are rising again?
A: Well, last year, you know, we got pretty good experience in this. I think the Big Ten handled it as well as anybody and I'm very proud of how we handled it at Penn State.
The one thing that I would put out there, is the one thing I haven't figured out yet, and I don't mean to make light of the subject. But the reality is, I haven't figured out how to wear a mask and glasses. Because the entire game, you know, I was fogged up. That was challenging. But I say that because I took great pride in, as the head coach, setting the tone and setting the example of wearing that mask, which was mandated and wearing that mask as consistently as any head coach in the country and making sure that every decision that we made was in the best interest of our student-athletes and making sure that everything we did was communicated and was transparent.
I had a lot of Zoom meetings with the parents to make sure that they were informed with what was going on. In the Northeast, and in Pennsylvania, we took a very strict, conservative approach with it. I think, you know, the success that we had in terms of, specifically with COVID, I think showed that. We're not going to let our guard down. We're going to continue to be aggressive with that. We're asking our fan bases and our community to continue to be diligent about it. You know, I have a daughter with sickle cell disease. So, it's something that's been that's been very close to home with us. I actually just reunited with my family a month ago during vacation. We've been separated for almost 14 months. It's been something that we take very serious in our home, but also in our community. What I challenge people is, whether you completely agree with it or not, you're making a sacrifice for others that maybe don't have that choice. So, we will take it very serious at Penn State and I know the conference will as well.
Q: What were the lessons learned from last year that you're carrying into this season?
A: Well, I think what it did for me is, it reinforced some things that that I realized, and that that I already knew, but it reinforced it. I am a relational leader. I always have been. I want to connect with people. I want to be face to face. I want to embrace. I want to hug. I want to scream. I want to yell. That's who I am. And having every meeting up until game five over Zoom and not in person and with a mask on, when people can't see the emotion and the connection and the love that I have for them, had an effect.
We made a change after game five, there's no doubt about it, but I also say once again, that you better grow and you better evolve and you better not say that we're going to go back to normal because there's so many unbelievable lessons that we learned through this. We better learn from this and we better grow from the experience both personally and professionally.
I think at the end of the season, we were able to get back to doing things in a way that we are more accustomed to doing, but we did learn some great things going through that early in the season and taking some of those challenges and some of those obstacles and adversity and grow from it and learn from them as well. So, I appreciate the question. I think we'll be better for it. It was painful on all of us, and I get that, but I am excited about where we're headed and what we're going to do this year.
Q: You spoke a lot about the leaders on your team. What do you see as the most important qualities for leaders to have?
A: I think when you talk about leadership, not only within our program, but also throughout our organization, in our in our campus in our community, I think alignment is critical.
So, whether that is the coaches being aligned with the players and the players being aligned with the coaches and us all being on the same page from a leadership perspective on how we do things and how we go about our business. But really, it goes all the way up to the chair of the board, through the President of the University and our athletic director and all the way down. There needs to be alignment that we're all working together to do what's best for the University and that every decision that we make is in the best interest of representing the University and the community the right way.
I just feel really good about that right now in our senior leaders and our young leaders as well that are growing and developing. And again, I think we laid a great foundation over the last eight years and have done some pretty darn good things. Making sure that that we get back to those things and everything that we do aligns with winning and championship habits.
Q: [Lucas Oil Stadium] holds a special place in the history of your tenure at Penn State, but every player from that 2016 team has since departed. What would it mean to take this year's group back here?
A: Yeah, that's the goal, right? That's the goal for all of us, is to get back here and play in a way and a style that's going to give us the best opportunity to win a Big Ten Championship, and then have an opportunity to represent the Big Ten and Penn State in the playoffs. Right?
That's everybody's goal and objective, and we were fortunate and blessed and earned an opportunity to play in a Big Ten Championship and won that opportunity. I'm biased, but we probably played in one of the better Big Ten Championship games that have been played. It came down to a fourth down stop to win the game.
So, I think we understand what it takes to get here. But at the end of the day, it's what have we done this year? What have we created this year? What have we developed this season and this game? I think our approach is going to be very, very critical to that. But your point is really good.
We can't lean on those experiences. We've played in a bunch of big-time games. I think we've been in three New Year's Six bowl games in the last five years and have done some great things. But at the end of the day, it's about championships, it's about getting to Indianapolis and it's about being able to compete for a National Championship. That's our objective and that's our goal. But obviously, it starts with Wisconsin and being 1-0.
Photo Credit: Marc Lebryk and Travis Ellison