Opening Statement: Let me give you a little bit of an update so you guys have some news on Jack [Ham]. We've gotten a lot of inquiries. I want to make sure everybody knows what is going on there.
Talked to him a little bit yesterday, talked to him a little bit today. Number one, he's talking. He's in stable condition. He's still out at Washington. We got to see him after the game, which is awesome. He was doing really well. Again, I think that is great progress. We hopefully get him back here sooner than later.
But I want to just say from my end a sincere thank you to so many people that have reached out. Obviously, what Jack and his family mean to Penn State football, on behalf of our program and obviously the athletic department, the love, the care that we have gotten on behalf of Jack, we really appreciate it greatly. I will finish with that.
Q: If you can indulge us with another Koby [Howard] update. It struck me how involved he was in everything there. What does that mean to a team, to have a guy who isn't able to play and is that involved?
A: Yeah, let me give you a little bit on Koby's situation.
Nobody, as you can see, is pressing more to get back on the football field. I think we kind of came to a decision a little bit Thursday, Friday of, we're kind of in a pause state right now on where Koby is at.
Again, we were trying to beat a timeline coming back. I think the reality is I've continued to say I refuse to put Koby on the field until he's 100% ready to go back on the football field.
Whether that pause means the end of the season, whether it's postseason play, I can promise you I will let you guys know. But right now, I think we're in a pause state to make sure we get him fully 100% back to health.
On the other note of it, I think my challenge has been the last couple weeks. I think it's really hard to be injured in college football, right? We've got some great players. Max Granville, Alex Tatsch. We have guys that, man, they were coming of age of their careers. You face a setback again in your career, and Koby's first, that these are the future leaders of our football program, great players, you have to keep growing.
I just got done telling our team nobody really cares, nobody cares you went on a trip, you don't feel great, it's Tuesday, nobody cares. There has to be a sense of urgency to grow.
It's what I love about those guys. Watching what Max has done. Watching what Alex Tatsch has done. Watching how Koby has been involved, an elite teammate. The week before you saw Chase Sowell doing the same thing.
I've been appreciative of our guys buying into what does it mean to be a great teammate, a future leader. Everybody is going to see how you led when it wasn't going well for you. It gives you the tools and that firepower when you do come back and you got the ability to use your voice in a powerful way. Koby is doing a great job. So are the rest of those guys.
Q: With Koby's absence more extended, what does that mean for Amarion Jackson? How have you seen him grow?
A: I really don't think it changes anything, right? We've been in this wheelhouse now for the last seven weeks. I think the bigger piece is it's been really awesome to watch both Amarion and Zay Robinson step in and actually make some really splash plays and show their youthful talent grow forward.
It hasn't all been perfect for either of those guys. I think you've seen, man, some really exciting moments from both those guys. It's exciting, because that's what you hope happens on good teams: you lose a good player, now other people have to step up.
From watching Chase step up into this critical role that he's played, played great football, for the last couple weeks. To watch some of these other guys step up and take some of those really critical reps, it's been awesome to watch. I think we're really excited about the growth of both those guys.
Q: Back to Saturday. When you got the ball back before the half, the three timeouts. What was going through your mind?
A: They had three timeouts, too (smiling). Let's get into it. The first thing is get the first first down. The last thing I wanted to do is go three-and-out and give them the ball back. We got our first first down, but we took a negative play. We took a sack. Made it second and 11. From my end, we had the momentum.
To me, the last thing that I wanted to do, we weren't still in a great field position standpoint, probably would have taken one more first down. If we would have had a positive completion there, I probably would have taken the timeout, knowing that usually those timeouts, once we get under a minute, I'll start using those timeouts in a two-minute situation.
I think my bigger fear was us having to punt the ball back. Number one, punting the ball in that situation, something poor could happen. Number two, we were getting the ball coming out in the second half. I just didn't want to make a mistake there.
Again, I think it's a really fair question. We talked about it after the game. If you don't take the negative play there, then I probably don't put ourselves in that situation. But with the negative play, I just felt like it was risky with the lead that we had and us getting the ball back.
Probably if we weren't getting the ball back, I would have thought about that differently to come out. We were getting the ball to start the second half. I thought with all those things in mind, man, we could maybe dictate the momentum the rest of the game.
Obviously didn't work out in our favor that way, but it's certainly a fair question.
Q: Now that you had a chance to watch the tape, Garrett Sexton spelled Malachi [Goodman] in the second half. What did you learn about Malachi being able to give you a little bit more than a half? How do you think Garrett did in extensive duty?
A: I wish I would have talked more about Garrett after the game, to be honest with you. I think both those things are highlights for me.
I think you see Malachi growing. To not be 100%, playing against a really talented freshman defensive end, a really good interior front. A couple of those big runs, the big run that Cam makes is off of his block, which is outstanding. It was great to see him. Kind of like I said, kind of wore down.
To watch Garrett go in, honestly the big block that happens at Carson's run at the end of the game is because of Garrett Sexton.
I think both those guys, for Garrett being a young player that's growing, and Malachi being a very young player that's growing, I thought it was a really huge step forward for both those guys on Saturday.
Q: There's a pretty big disparity in how you're getting outscored in the second half. Can you just put your finger on why you feel that is?
A: Yeah, that kind of goes to the nobody cares question on that piece of it, right?
It's a real problem. I'll be honest with you. My concern is I think there's times where it's a mental maturity piece of it, in my opinion, that you're up in some of those games, and like it's a mental relapse. We’ve got to figure it out. It starts with the head football coach making sure.
My bigger concern isn't the fourth quarter. If you really do your research, if the games are a one-score game, 92% of those games, you go back and you study, and we had this study because we lived in this world for my entire career the last 10 years, that if you win the third quarter, you're going to win the game, in a one-score game.
That is probably my biggest frustration. That is an area we have been very good, and we have not been so far. I think it's 42-9 right now in Big Ten games that in the third quarter we're getting outscored.
Why is that? What is that? Believe me, there is an elite sense of urgency from the head football coach, our staff, then, obviously, our players understand it's not okay. It's an area that we have to demand a pathway forward.
Whether that's we’ve got to do a better job at halftime, whether we have to have better schematic plans coming out of the second half, or we have to do a better job mentally getting our guys ready to go play the second half. Whatever those things are, I think it's fair to shoot holes in all of it because it's not getting done. We have to be better.
Really it's a great question, and something we have talked about extensively, especially again after what happened last Saturday.
Q: Over at linebacker, a question on the depth a little bit. I asked D'Anton [Lynn] about Marcus [Neal]. He says trying to grow confidence, maybe some more first and second down work. What does it look like to you, that transition for him? What does his future with your program look like? Cam Smith, we've seen him resurface. Is he someone you see impacting defensive plans?
A: Great questions on both those guys. Marcus got in a little bit on third down on Saturday, which was great to be able to give him a role on top of some of the special teams' roles that he's had. I think Marcus is only going to continue to grow at Will linebacker. I think he is a guy that you go to practice every day and you kind of notice just the growth he makes on a daily basis.
I think the same thing, I've sat here and raved about Cam. The hard thing is Cam is playing behind one of the best players on our team. I said this a couple weeks ago. Man, if I'm the best player, I don't really want to come out. I want to play.
I'm a big believer in the best players play. You're in a spot like that. Tony has really grown even in the last two weeks. How that guy is playing in the third and fourth quarter, I think he's playing his best football this time of year right now at the end of the game.
Believe me, we want to get Cam in because we have great belief in what he's about and how he's practicing. It's why you see him getting in now on special teams, is he's kind of gotten himself back to full strength.
I think both those guys we certainly would love to get in the football game because we believe in them and we're excited about their future.
Again, I think the priority for us right now is making sure we're doing everything in our power for the team to play its best football in November and making sure our best players are on the field in those critical moments.
He is backing up Tony right now. That's the deal there.
Q: I'm going to go back to the second half again. Ten of the first 12 plays from scrimmage were pass plays. There was one run from Carson, bad exchange on the other one. End of the game, you ran the ball extremely well. In a case like that, do you say something to Mouse [Taylor Mouser]? Does he say something to you?
A: You sound like you were in the headset and you were in the Sunday staff meeting (laughter).
Yeah, again, really the first play is an RPO, which is hard because I do think it's the right read. If you hand the ball off, it's kind of like, man, it's going to be a good run. I think after that, then you're in second down, second down, trying to get to the third and medium, then you're kind of against the eight ball.
I say the bigger thing is getting ourselves back into great rhythm. I think we've played a lot of really good football here the last, especially offensively, in terms of the last 8-to-10 quarters of playing in the rhythm that we want to play football in. That obviously is with a foundation of the running game being a great foundation of it.
I think we take the lessons learned, again, in that game, in those situations, where could we have been better. That certainly was a talking point for us. That wasn't just, per se, always a Mouse call. Sometimes it is an RPO. If those are situations, then we shouldn't not call the RPO with it, we should just call the run. I think a lot of good conversation from our end.
It's obviously a really fair and great question.
Q: We've talked rhythm at times this season between Rocco being in and out of rhythm. You're talking about it somewhat on offense and defense as well. Anything you can point to as to why sometimes that is the case at this point in the season?
A: Yeah, well, I don't know what point of the season; I think that's just part of football, right?
There's going to be times you're in it and there's going to be times you're out of it. The reality is how fast can you try to get yourself back in it. Especially on the offensive and defensive side of the football you're trying to do that.
Again, I think from an offensive standpoint, you feel like we've been able to do that at a really good pace here the last couple weeks, which has been great.
There's times where we did that even before that, and it just wasn't as consistent as we needed to do to win the football game.
Then on the defensive side of the football, I'd say the same thing. When you feel like, man, you're not in rhythm, what are those characteristics that are getting you out of it? Sometimes, man, guys are trying to do too much defensively. That happened a couple times in the second half, where instead of doing your job, you got out of rhythm. You're trying to make a play, you put yourself kind of against the eight ball.
I think the reality is that's what you're constantly trying to build a football team of ‘how do you play complementary football’, ‘how do you try to get yourself quickly back into rhythm’.
One side's not into rhythm, how does one side support the other side until they get themselves back into rhythm because that is the sport we play.
We are growing a lot closer to the team that we want to be, who we've got the ability to become. I think that part's impressive.
This group has continued to get better every week. There's not been a week you haven't seen this team make a great improvement, which that part is a credit to our seniors and the young men that continue to grow forward, and, honestly, our coaches finding the ability to put our players in the best situation to grow forward.
I think it's always a work in progress. I don't care who you are, where it is, what point of the season it is, that's always the challenge, trying to get in the most consistent rhythm to win the football game. That's what our job is and trying to do everything in our power to gain that, for sure.
Q: When you look at your cornerback group, you've talking about Ibn [McDaniels] the past couple weeks. Jahmir [Joseph] has had a little bit larger role as the season goes on. How have you seen him come along with that? Having starters like Audavion [Collins] and Daryus [Dixson], how do you coach a rotation, get guys to buy into rotating?
A: I think that position is very different than probably a lot of the other positions just with the amount of man coverage at times that we have played this year, the amount of running that is going on. It's almost like sometimes more like basketball than it is football, when you have to, man, the amount of 40-yard runs, sprinting, ability to play man coverage. I think you have to have a rotation. It's critically important.
I think the great thing is, what you've seen from AC has really set the tone, in my opinion, in that room. How consistently he has prepared and played. I know I keep talking about AC, but he deserves to be talked about like that. How that guy practices, how that guy prepares, how that guy shows up.
Then I think what you've seen is the other guys in that room really kind of grow forward in some of those areas. I don't know if I could be more impressed, when you have a leader, a bell cow in the room that kind of leads that way, I think it's a trickle-down effect. To me, that's been really awesome.
I think Daryus has always been intrinsically that kind of football player, too. Having those two guys at the top has been awesome.
To be honest with you, I think the guy that's been the surprise of our whole team on defense has been Ibn. That guy has played as good as anybody the last two weeks. The play he makes in a critical moment in the football game on Saturday is unbelievable. It's awesome. That play is great. The play I was talking about on Sunday is the tackle he makes. He push-cracks, does an unbelievable job, two-yard gain on second-and-eight. To do those little things, that's been impressive because that's what those two guys at the top have done a great job of.
Q: You just mentioned Ibn. Cam Wallace we talked a lot about. Ty Blanding has a role on defense. How important is it to have examples of young guys earning spots or time or roles when you have a new team that you're trying to put together?
A: I think that's a really great question.
I think for me, I go always back to this. From day one that I got here, I said the whole thing we're trying to build in our football program is the value of trust. Now, it's really hard to find trust in our world, let alone college football.
If you can build that value system, and, again, trust has to go player-to-player, player-to-coach, coach-to-coach, coach-to-player, which again is really hard to find in football, I think those things are great. Man, those are great value systems. To be able to have these young men be able to step up this late in the season and keep getting better.
Again, it's the one thing that I'm proudest of this team so far. We'll see if we have the courage and perseverance to keep doing that. But can you keep getting better every week? Can you play your best football at the end of the season? Can you be your best when it matters the most? I think those things are values of a trusted football program that is going in the right direction.
I think Cam's story is great. Ty Blanding's story is great. Ibn's story is great. When your best players are starting to play like they're playing, which is awesome to watch, I think it says you're buying into the process of what it takes to become your best.
It's exhausting in college football to do it, let alone we're asking 18- to 22-year-olds, they are not pros, they're growing into men, trying to become their best. That is our job as coaches, how do you create a program and platform that will allow that to happen?
I think it's been great wins for us, that those guys got that opportunity, but they took advantage of it. I think those things are certainly really positive in our program.
There are some other young guys. [Tyrell] Chatman is doing a great job on special teams. There's just guys that are showing up in some different moments.
If we're going to be a great team, you need all those young guys to be growing forward, especially as injuries mount up and you're going to need some of those guys to step into bigger roles. The confidence they build when they have some success, I think those are big wins for everybody.