Great article on Cooper Cousins
Penn State coach James Franklin, as measured as he always tries to be when discussing young players, had a hard time holding back when asked about freshman offensive lineman Cooper Cousins.
Cousins — a 6-6, 320-pound behemoth and former No. 1 prospect in Pennsylvania — has impressed at just about every step of his journey to Happy Valley.
On multiple occasions, Franklin has discussed the drama-free nature of Cousins’ recruitment. The Penn State staff offered the McDowell (Erie) product, he and his family walked away to discuss thing and came back minutes later ready to commit — almost two full years before he put pen to paper on signing day.
He was an unranked prospect at the time and simply continued to climb, never wavering in his pledge to the Nittany Lions. As “low maintenance” as Franklin had ever seen for such a highly regarded prospect.
Now that he’s finally on campus, playing one of the hardest positions to break through in as a freshman, Cousins is within range of doing just that.
“I don’t like to talk in ways that are going to create crazy expectations,” Franklin said, “but I could not be more impressed with him, really from the beginning.”
Cousins started the spring playing mostly center, but he’s moved around since and could be a contributor at just about any spot. Somewhere among the three interior positions seems most likely.
He’s gotten this far with a fanatical approach to his training. Almost every night, Cousins is back out on the practice field around 9:30 p.m. to continue drills. Headphones on, no one else around. Just pass sets, and then some more pass sets.
“It’s kind of weird, to be honest with you, but he is as driven and as committed a young player as I’ve ever been around,” Franklin said. “And specifically on the O-line because it’s hard to play those grown-man positions, O-line and D-line, as a true freshman. But he’s gonna be hard to keep off the field.”
Cousins’ late-night habits are also — somewhat comically — starting to become the responsibility of his elder players.
Junior offensive tackle Drew Shelton said he received a text around 11 p.m. one night, a photo of the offensive line room with plays drawn on the whiteboard. Cousins just wanted to ask a question about Penn State’s scheme.
“I actually had to call him the other day to tell him to leave,” Shelton said. “I said, ‘Coop, you gotta go home. Gotta get to sleep. Now is not the time.’”
“He knows what he wants, and he’s willing to put everything on the line to go get it,” Shelton continued. “He’s gonna be a really good football player here. He’s a good dude as well.”
Shelton hosted Cousins when the latter took his official visit to Penn State in high school, so the two have grown plenty familiar with each other.
“Coop is a lot. He’s got a big personality. He needs to respect you in order to really feel like you’ve got his best interest at heart. [I was] building that respect for me to be able to help him, coach him on the field, coach him in the classroom throughout the spring,” Shelton said. “So seeing him grow up has been pretty cool.
“He’s gonna be a really special football player. It’s his work ethic that really drives him to get better. He’s been a leader of this young O-line class,” Shelton added. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are going to play a lot of football here one day. It’s going to be a really impressive class, and it’s going to be led by Cooper Cousins.”
And it sounds like Cousins may already be closer to that “special” status than most would have expected.
“A lot of guys say they want to play as true freshman, but they’re not willing to do what it takes,” Franklin said. “And the guy is either in class or in the building and asking a ton of questions. He’s super aggressive. He’s not intimidated or afraid of anybody.”
Penn State freshman lineman Cooper Cousins pushing for early playing time
- Updated: Aug. 13, 2024, 5:33 a.m.
- |Published: Aug. 13, 2024, 5:30 a.m.
Penn State coach James Franklin, as measured as he always tries to be when discussing young players, had a hard time holding back when asked about freshman offensive lineman Cooper Cousins.
Cousins — a 6-6, 320-pound behemoth and former No. 1 prospect in Pennsylvania — has impressed at just about every step of his journey to Happy Valley.
On multiple occasions, Franklin has discussed the drama-free nature of Cousins’ recruitment. The Penn State staff offered the McDowell (Erie) product, he and his family walked away to discuss thing and came back minutes later ready to commit — almost two full years before he put pen to paper on signing day.
He was an unranked prospect at the time and simply continued to climb, never wavering in his pledge to the Nittany Lions. As “low maintenance” as Franklin had ever seen for such a highly regarded prospect.
Now that he’s finally on campus, playing one of the hardest positions to break through in as a freshman, Cousins is within range of doing just that.
“I don’t like to talk in ways that are going to create crazy expectations,” Franklin said, “but I could not be more impressed with him, really from the beginning.”
Cousins started the spring playing mostly center, but he’s moved around since and could be a contributor at just about any spot. Somewhere among the three interior positions seems most likely.
He’s gotten this far with a fanatical approach to his training. Almost every night, Cousins is back out on the practice field around 9:30 p.m. to continue drills. Headphones on, no one else around. Just pass sets, and then some more pass sets.
“It’s kind of weird, to be honest with you, but he is as driven and as committed a young player as I’ve ever been around,” Franklin said. “And specifically on the O-line because it’s hard to play those grown-man positions, O-line and D-line, as a true freshman. But he’s gonna be hard to keep off the field.”
Cousins’ late-night habits are also — somewhat comically — starting to become the responsibility of his elder players.
Junior offensive tackle Drew Shelton said he received a text around 11 p.m. one night, a photo of the offensive line room with plays drawn on the whiteboard. Cousins just wanted to ask a question about Penn State’s scheme.
“I actually had to call him the other day to tell him to leave,” Shelton said. “I said, ‘Coop, you gotta go home. Gotta get to sleep. Now is not the time.’”
“He knows what he wants, and he’s willing to put everything on the line to go get it,” Shelton continued. “He’s gonna be a really good football player here. He’s a good dude as well.”
Shelton hosted Cousins when the latter took his official visit to Penn State in high school, so the two have grown plenty familiar with each other.
“Coop is a lot. He’s got a big personality. He needs to respect you in order to really feel like you’ve got his best interest at heart. [I was] building that respect for me to be able to help him, coach him on the field, coach him in the classroom throughout the spring,” Shelton said. “So seeing him grow up has been pretty cool.
“He’s gonna be a really special football player. It’s his work ethic that really drives him to get better. He’s been a leader of this young O-line class,” Shelton added. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are going to play a lot of football here one day. It’s going to be a really impressive class, and it’s going to be led by Cooper Cousins.”
And it sounds like Cousins may already be closer to that “special” status than most would have expected.
“A lot of guys say they want to play as true freshman, but they’re not willing to do what it takes,” Franklin said. “And the guy is either in class or in the building and asking a ton of questions. He’s super aggressive. He’s not intimidated or afraid of anybody.”
