Opening Statement: It was great to have the seniors and get to spend a little time with them before they move on from Penn State. Hopefully they're able to come back and enjoy Penn State football as alumni. We're going to work very hard to make those people proud.
I thought we had a very good Spring. We got a lot of work in. We got a lot installed on offense, defense and special teams. Invested a lot of time on special teams, something we believe can be a differentiator for us. We stayed, for the most part, healthy, which is important and identified some strengths and weaknesses moving into the Summer. Thought it was a great Spring. It was really good having the fans out there. It's something we've talked about possibly doing moving forward, a Friday night practice with some fan capacity, under normal circumstances. It would be great in addition to our normal Spring game.
Before we know it, we're going to blink and be opening training camp and preparing for our first game. I thought we got a lot out of Spring ball and we'll do player evaluations now. I'll meet with every single player on the team, as well as their position coaches, giving them the feedback they need to work on between now and training camp and we'll go from there. Appreciate the opportunity.
Q: Who are some of the guys who have made the most improvement throughout the Spring?
A: That's always hard to do, because when I say a couple and leave a couple off, there's some hurt feelings and things like that. But, I think the thing that jumps out to me is I think [Tariq] Castro-Fields had a really good Spring. But he's also at a point in his career where you expect that from him. So a lot of times with me, it's the guys that either took significant steps from their freshman to sophomore year, or whatever it may be, or guys that we didn't know as much about, like guys that came in early or some of the transfer guys. Those are the people that probably jump out.
[Tyler] Elsdon is a guy that came to camp multiple times to get an offer, an in-state player. I thought this Spring, and it was one of the things we had a question on, he was running sideline-to-sideline making plays. He looked very quick, looked fast, looked explosive. He's a guy that jumped out and probably made as many strides as anybody.
A guy we've talked about a lot, Kalen King, had a really strong Spring.
With [Jaquan] Brisker, it's obvious he came back for a reason. He's so positive right now, he's so coachable. I've been very, very pleased with him. So, there's a number of guys like that on defense.
On offense, Parker [Washington] playing as a true freshman and being able to build on that. I think he's a guy that has flashed. Keyvone Lee is just so much more confident right now, going into his second year.
Mike Miranda has a chance to have a really good year for us, he's flashed. As well as Rasheed [Walker]. I think Rasheed's another guy that came back for a reason. His maturity and positive attitude and perspective now is much different. I'm really proud of him.
So there's a number of guys like that. On special teams, we've got a group of veteran specialists that are returning that we anticipate having big years for us. It's gonna be an important Summer for them.
Q: When you look at different positions, what makes quarterback development that much harder to have a guy go from point A to point B over the course of his career?
A: Well, there's just so many more things on their plate and they also can be impacted more than any other position by the people that are around them. So, offensive line is going to impact those guys. The receivers are going to impact those guys; the tight ends. Having a strong supporting cast around your quarterback is going to make a difference. Obviously, if you have a receiver, like we did here, for a long time, that everyone in the league was scared of, if you have one guy like that it makes a difference. If you have two, it really makes an impact, and especially if you have one at tight end and so on and so forth. So, the complementary pieces are a big part of that. You know, the consistency in the coaching staff and the scheme factors into that as well. But, I think you can also make an argument, having a couple different coaches, we all have strengths and weaknesses and you can learn the best things from each person that you've worked with.
I've been pleased with Sean [Clifford] this Spring. I've been pleased with Ta'Quan [Roberson] and Christian [Veilleux] as well. But, between now and Fall, there's a lot that needs to get worked on. I think that's one of the probably exciting things at the quarterback position. You can work on that. You can throw routes on air all Summer. You can do one-on-one's against the DBs all Summer. You can do player-led 7-on-7's all Summer. You can go back on defense and watch all of our film from last year and watch all of Spring and review that. Our offensive guys and quarterbacks can go back and watch all of Texas' film last year and our film from last year and learn those things. So, there's a lot that can be done that's player-led and player-driven between now and training camp. The quarterbacks, as well as everybody, need to do that.
Q: There's been discussion about limiting padded practices and getting rid of certain drills. How would that impact things going forward for you?
A: I think for us, what I'm most concerned about, is that there's a standardized rule across the country and everybody follows those rules. Getting into the particulars, you know, I think we made some rule changes two years ago based on data that wasn't there. So, I just think we need to make sure that the changes we're making, we're making for the right reasons and we have the data to back it up.
I think we also have to understand what rules in the NFL are in place because of player safety and player health and what are part of the collective bargaining agreement with the players and what they want. You know, a lot of it may come off as health and safety related, but that's really not what it is.
I think at the end of the day, the coaches that I know and the coaches that I've worked with in the programs I've been around, you're not going to run drills that are high-risk drills. No one's doing the bull in the ring and there's no learning that comes from that. There's nothing to gain from that. If players aren't in practice, they're not getting better and you're not getting better. So, I think it's important that, you know, before these rules are made and these decisions are made, that you have doctors, trainers, coaches, administrators; you have all these people in the room at the same time, players as well, and get all these different perspectives before we make changes.
Q: We haven't seen much of John Lovett until today. What have you noticed in him throughout spring camp?
A: Yeah, a little bit of a smart-alec answer here, but you guys have only been to two practices, so you don't have a whole lot to work with. But, you're right. He wasn't able to go the last practice you guys were at. He was limited for health reasons. Early on, he was really flashing some things and we were excited. Obviously, you have a veteran guy. He's been around, he's played a lot of football. He was very respected at the place he came from. So, he is kind of what we thought. He can run. He has the ability to make people miss. He's got that extra gear that we need. He's a guy that we think can be a home run threat for us. I think between now and training camp, I think getting in the weight room and putting a little bit more good weight on, so that you can lower the shoulder. Him and Devin, both of those guys, lower the shoulder and get the ugly three or four yards when we need it. But we've been impressed with him. He's a mature guy. Our players really like him. The coaches really like him. He learns well, so we think he's going be right there in the hunt come training camp.
Q: James, do you feel comfortable with the two-deep at Quarterback? Did one close that gap? Can you assess where that is?
A: Yeah, I think I got asked that question last week and I don't think a whole lot has changed. I think my answer is still the same. I don't think you're ever comfortable at the quarterback position until those guys have gotten game reps.
Obviously, the practice reps are critical and very important. But, having guys that don't have reps and haven't played critical game reps at significant moments, you're never completely comfortable because you never know how guys are going to react when they get in there. That was kind of how I answered last weekend and I think my answer is still the same because that hasn't changed. But, the work that those guys put in between now and game one is going to be really important. We'd like for that gap to be closed between our ones and our twos.
Q: What's the plan for the next month and change here? How will you follow the NFL Draft? When will the guys get back to work? How will you and the staff be ready to maximize June and July as soon as the dead period ends?
A: Yeah, so it's different. Obviously, we'd be on the road recruiting and we won't do that, so we'll do individual meetings with all the players. That will be a priority. The other thing is me and Coach [Brent] Pry will go to the draft to support Micah [Parsons].
Then, this extra week of spring ball that we had, extra based on the calendar, we went a week longer than we had anticipated, so it kind of took up one of our discretionary weeks, so now we have another discretionary week in the summer, which is which is a true voluntary period for players.
Obviously, the players finishing strong academically with finals. And then obviously getting into our summer school, summer preparation, running, lifting, 7-on-7's, those types of things. We'll have coaches meetings. I think we get two hours of meetings in an eight-hour week or whatever it may be like that. So, we'll take advantage of those while also running our summer camps, our summer 7-on-7 with high school programs and trying to balance all that at the same time with official visits, predominantly on the weekends for those four weekends in the month of June. Then we'll try to get a little bit of time in July with our families before we get right back in the thick of things.
Q: I'm wondering if you guys were able to get any live work from Jesse Luketa this spring and where are you at with that middle linebacker competition with him and Ellis Brooks?
A: We view both of them as starters for us. They will both be starters for us at the linebacker position, whether it's mike linebacker or one of the outside linebacker positions. I think there are also some discussions that we've had with Jesse about playing some other positions as well that we think he has the ability to play, which I think is not only going to help our defense, but it's also going to help Jesse in his future with the next level. So, there's some in-depth conversations that we'll get into in Coach Pry's meeting with Jesse as well as my meeting with Jesse.
But, we see both of those guys as starters and have a plan for those guys who are both experienced, really good football players that we are excited about and are going to have significant roles for us. In terms of live work, no. He was not able to get live work this spring.
Q: You brought up going to the draft to support Micah. We know what he can do athletically and teams know what he could do on film. What's the one thing that people don't know that he could do off the field that just jumps out to you and says he's going to be great in the NFL?
A: Yeah, I think a couple things. I think the thing that really jumps out with Micah is how well he is able to retain information and how deeply thinks about subjects like his teammates or like the organization that drafts him. Some of the messages and conversations I've had with Micah over the years were really impressive, thoughtful conversations. I think he's also a guy that that loves to compete. I think whenever the periods in practice when the drills were competitive in nature, he brings a different element to your organization. That was something that always jumped out.
I think you guys know he's a guy that loves bowling and things like that. Whatever you do with Micah, he is going to battle and compete like crazy. So, I just think his ability to have fun out at practices and meetings and his ability to retain information. I think he brings a little bit of an edge to your defense and to your program. But I think one of the things that he's learned here, which I think is an important lesson that so many players need to learn, is when is it the time to have fun and be silly and mess around and laugh? And when is it time to lock in and be focused? And Micah has learned that. I think it's an important lesson to learn and something we talk about a lot with our guys and Micah is in a really good place with that.
