Let's get this underway.
I've got some ribs in the crock pot, and well, let's just say they're calling me.
As is the case each and every Wednesday evening through the football season, Penn State opened the gates to the media at the Lasch complex for the tail end of practice, plus interviews with James Franklin and this week, senior wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton. We'll go through some of my impressions and notes here as well as takeaways from Franklin's 13-minute Q&A.
Without further ado:
1) Tonight's practice was interesting, both based on what I saw as well as the context of what Franklin discussed afterward. Basically, Franklin was asked how practice this week had gone, and his answer was pretty blunt:
"I think it's been good. I think the first week of kind of being in scout team, I don’t think a lot of the freshmen who are being on scout team for the first time understand the intensity that we would like at practice," he said. "I think the older guys, guys who have been there before and been in that situation, they understand. But we have too many young guys who don’t understand the intensity of how we want, especially Tuesday and Wednesday practices to be.
"I think we had a very business-like approach the last two days. I’d like to see us have a little bit more energy and I’d like for the young guys to understand what it takes on scout team. But I’m not probably stating anything that probably isn’t expected when you first go to scout team. I’d like to see the freshmen step it up a little bit and the guys who are on the scout team for the first time."
The disclaimer that always has to go with a note like this is that we saw just a few minutes of actual practice time, and it was essentially live action between the first and second team units of both the offense and defense, but separated into their own groups working against their scout team counterparts. (As an aside here, Sean Clifford was the scout team quarterback... which might give you a bit of an idea of what their plans are for him this season if they're able to avoid disastrous injuries at that position)
But, there did seem to be a little less pop out of either of those scout units. Truly, for the scout team offense against the first and second-team defenses, they looked somewhat lost. Again though, you're talking about both the realization and acceptance for those guys of having to be on the scout team as well as the difference of reading plays off a card and trying to provide a good look. Clearly, there are some challenges associated with that and in the first week in particular, they can be more noticeable than they might be at other points in the season.
To the video:
2) No major standout alterations from what I could tell among the first and second teams on offense or defense.
Defense:
DE - Shareef Miller
DT - Parker Cothren
DT - Curtis Cothran
DE - Torrence Brown
LB - Manny Bowen
LB - Jason Cabinda
LB - Koa Farmer
CB - Grant Haley
CB - Christian Campbell
S - Troy Apke
S - Marcus Allen
The note to take here though is that the DL is going to, and did, see plenty of rotating in. Shelton and Chavis were in there with the first team, Shane Simmons and Yetur Matos in there as well for at least one rep with the first team that I saw. Windsor and Givens were the straight second-team DTs.
OL:
LT - Ryan Bates/Will Fries
LG - Steven Gonzalez/Mike Miranda
C - Connor McGovern/Zach Simpson
RG - Brendan Mahon/Mike Menet
RT - Chasz Wright/Andy Nelson
3) Kind of as I mentioned yesterday, and might be most interested, was Franklin's comments about his comfort level and confidence coming into this season. I noted after the press conference just how uncharacteristically up he seemed to be about this team, and he came back tonight and was asked directly by a colleague if this is the most confident he's been about a team in his coaching career.
Now, Franklin kind of went out of his way to throw in all of the caveats that factor into his comfort level. Being at Penn State for his fourth year - which is a sort of record for him in his coaching career outside of his stint as an assistant at Maryland - was a big factor. So are, to no surprise, the number of players with both talent and experience that have made their marks in setting a high standard for the program this preseason.
"I’d say I feel confident about this season and I feel confident about our team and our coaching staff and where we’re at for a number of reasons. I think we’ve had a lot of guys who have played a lot football for us. I think because of their approach, their approach in meetings and their approach with the practice and their approach off the field," said Franklin. "I don’t think it’s one factor that gives a coach confidence, like practice. It’s so many other things. It’s how are guys did academically. It’s all those things. So I’m confident.
"This is my first time, really second time in my total career, and the first time as a head coach, being somewhere for more than three years. My last head coaching position I was there for three years. Besides Maryland I’ve never really been anywhere than what I am here. I think that’s the other reason why you have confidence. We’ve kind of almost been through a full cycle now. One more year we’ve been through a full cycle so I think everybody kind of understands – the coaches, the players, the staff – understands the expectation: how we work, how we compete, all those things. It’s not just one thing like camp, it’s all those things."
4) There was no one individual being asked about in the question, but Franklin discussed at length the reality that this is a team with enough depth and experience and young talent to allow some of its players to really get their feet wet handling one particular role. Now how that exactly shakes out on Saturday or through the season remains to be seen, but the idea of a pass rush specialist at defensive end for a Shaka Toney or a nickel responsibility are certainly out there and will be utilized.
"We’ve got some guys that were sitting at and looking at it and saying, he may not be the starter that you guys see on the depth chart but he’s our starting nickel and that’s a big role in this day and age and the way football has evolved," said Franklin. "I think you can look at Yetur and specifically Shaka and say they might not be ready to be every-down players but can Shaka Toney get up and get in and rush the passer on obvious passing downs? There’s no doubt about about it. Now I think that’s a little bit more difficult to do with the tempo offense. Sometimes it’s hard to get people in the game. The old days when you go and huddle up every single time you could do a little more of that.
"But yeah, there is definitely some guys like that who we think can factor. We’ve talked about possibly using a punt returner as that’s kind of his deal. That could be a young player. It hasn’t necessarily worked its way out like that. But I don’t think there’s any doubt specializing is a way to get a young guy some reps in some games and gain some experience while you're also creating depth. That’s something we’re all in favor of doing."
Definitely something to watch on Saturday.
5) Kickoffs are going to go to Tyler Davis, as Franklin said yesterday, but he left open the possibility that Davis and Barbir could alternate the responsibilities. He acknowledged that he still likes his specialists to specialize, but Barbir apparently has not shown enough consistency.
"Consistency, strength – all those things. (Barbir) is still a redshirt freshman so he’s still young but, yeah, I’d like to be able to get in that situation where you have guys specializing," said Franklin. "In Tyler’s defense, Tyler doesn’t want to specialize. He wants to kickoff. He wants to do field goal. He wants to show he has the ability to do all those things. We have confidence. I do think for us as a staff when you can have guys specialize and just focus on one thing then they have the best opportunity. to maximize that opportunity and that role. The other thing you like about it is, now when Tyler does move on, you don’t have a kicker who doesn’t have any experience. He’s done some things and gained some experience so now when he steps into that other role it’s not his first time playing."
Some of my information this preseason has suggested that kickoff consistency has been a real concern through the preseason. Not that it's the worst thing in the world when that's one of your major concerns in the preseason, but it will certainly be something to watch on Saturday.
That's going to do it for me for now.
Please feel free to post questions or comments here and I'll get to them.
PHOTO GALLERY
I've got some ribs in the crock pot, and well, let's just say they're calling me.
As is the case each and every Wednesday evening through the football season, Penn State opened the gates to the media at the Lasch complex for the tail end of practice, plus interviews with James Franklin and this week, senior wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton. We'll go through some of my impressions and notes here as well as takeaways from Franklin's 13-minute Q&A.
Without further ado:
1) Tonight's practice was interesting, both based on what I saw as well as the context of what Franklin discussed afterward. Basically, Franklin was asked how practice this week had gone, and his answer was pretty blunt:
"I think it's been good. I think the first week of kind of being in scout team, I don’t think a lot of the freshmen who are being on scout team for the first time understand the intensity that we would like at practice," he said. "I think the older guys, guys who have been there before and been in that situation, they understand. But we have too many young guys who don’t understand the intensity of how we want, especially Tuesday and Wednesday practices to be.
"I think we had a very business-like approach the last two days. I’d like to see us have a little bit more energy and I’d like for the young guys to understand what it takes on scout team. But I’m not probably stating anything that probably isn’t expected when you first go to scout team. I’d like to see the freshmen step it up a little bit and the guys who are on the scout team for the first time."
The disclaimer that always has to go with a note like this is that we saw just a few minutes of actual practice time, and it was essentially live action between the first and second team units of both the offense and defense, but separated into their own groups working against their scout team counterparts. (As an aside here, Sean Clifford was the scout team quarterback... which might give you a bit of an idea of what their plans are for him this season if they're able to avoid disastrous injuries at that position)
But, there did seem to be a little less pop out of either of those scout units. Truly, for the scout team offense against the first and second-team defenses, they looked somewhat lost. Again though, you're talking about both the realization and acceptance for those guys of having to be on the scout team as well as the difference of reading plays off a card and trying to provide a good look. Clearly, there are some challenges associated with that and in the first week in particular, they can be more noticeable than they might be at other points in the season.
To the video:
2) No major standout alterations from what I could tell among the first and second teams on offense or defense.
Defense:
DE - Shareef Miller
DT - Parker Cothren
DT - Curtis Cothran
DE - Torrence Brown
LB - Manny Bowen
LB - Jason Cabinda
LB - Koa Farmer
CB - Grant Haley
CB - Christian Campbell
S - Troy Apke
S - Marcus Allen
The note to take here though is that the DL is going to, and did, see plenty of rotating in. Shelton and Chavis were in there with the first team, Shane Simmons and Yetur Matos in there as well for at least one rep with the first team that I saw. Windsor and Givens were the straight second-team DTs.
OL:
LT - Ryan Bates/Will Fries
LG - Steven Gonzalez/Mike Miranda
C - Connor McGovern/Zach Simpson
RG - Brendan Mahon/Mike Menet
RT - Chasz Wright/Andy Nelson
3) Kind of as I mentioned yesterday, and might be most interested, was Franklin's comments about his comfort level and confidence coming into this season. I noted after the press conference just how uncharacteristically up he seemed to be about this team, and he came back tonight and was asked directly by a colleague if this is the most confident he's been about a team in his coaching career.
Now, Franklin kind of went out of his way to throw in all of the caveats that factor into his comfort level. Being at Penn State for his fourth year - which is a sort of record for him in his coaching career outside of his stint as an assistant at Maryland - was a big factor. So are, to no surprise, the number of players with both talent and experience that have made their marks in setting a high standard for the program this preseason.
"I’d say I feel confident about this season and I feel confident about our team and our coaching staff and where we’re at for a number of reasons. I think we’ve had a lot of guys who have played a lot football for us. I think because of their approach, their approach in meetings and their approach with the practice and their approach off the field," said Franklin. "I don’t think it’s one factor that gives a coach confidence, like practice. It’s so many other things. It’s how are guys did academically. It’s all those things. So I’m confident.
"This is my first time, really second time in my total career, and the first time as a head coach, being somewhere for more than three years. My last head coaching position I was there for three years. Besides Maryland I’ve never really been anywhere than what I am here. I think that’s the other reason why you have confidence. We’ve kind of almost been through a full cycle now. One more year we’ve been through a full cycle so I think everybody kind of understands – the coaches, the players, the staff – understands the expectation: how we work, how we compete, all those things. It’s not just one thing like camp, it’s all those things."
4) There was no one individual being asked about in the question, but Franklin discussed at length the reality that this is a team with enough depth and experience and young talent to allow some of its players to really get their feet wet handling one particular role. Now how that exactly shakes out on Saturday or through the season remains to be seen, but the idea of a pass rush specialist at defensive end for a Shaka Toney or a nickel responsibility are certainly out there and will be utilized.
"We’ve got some guys that were sitting at and looking at it and saying, he may not be the starter that you guys see on the depth chart but he’s our starting nickel and that’s a big role in this day and age and the way football has evolved," said Franklin. "I think you can look at Yetur and specifically Shaka and say they might not be ready to be every-down players but can Shaka Toney get up and get in and rush the passer on obvious passing downs? There’s no doubt about about it. Now I think that’s a little bit more difficult to do with the tempo offense. Sometimes it’s hard to get people in the game. The old days when you go and huddle up every single time you could do a little more of that.
"But yeah, there is definitely some guys like that who we think can factor. We’ve talked about possibly using a punt returner as that’s kind of his deal. That could be a young player. It hasn’t necessarily worked its way out like that. But I don’t think there’s any doubt specializing is a way to get a young guy some reps in some games and gain some experience while you're also creating depth. That’s something we’re all in favor of doing."
Definitely something to watch on Saturday.
5) Kickoffs are going to go to Tyler Davis, as Franklin said yesterday, but he left open the possibility that Davis and Barbir could alternate the responsibilities. He acknowledged that he still likes his specialists to specialize, but Barbir apparently has not shown enough consistency.
"Consistency, strength – all those things. (Barbir) is still a redshirt freshman so he’s still young but, yeah, I’d like to be able to get in that situation where you have guys specializing," said Franklin. "In Tyler’s defense, Tyler doesn’t want to specialize. He wants to kickoff. He wants to do field goal. He wants to show he has the ability to do all those things. We have confidence. I do think for us as a staff when you can have guys specialize and just focus on one thing then they have the best opportunity. to maximize that opportunity and that role. The other thing you like about it is, now when Tyler does move on, you don’t have a kicker who doesn’t have any experience. He’s done some things and gained some experience so now when he steps into that other role it’s not his first time playing."
Some of my information this preseason has suggested that kickoff consistency has been a real concern through the preseason. Not that it's the worst thing in the world when that's one of your major concerns in the preseason, but it will certainly be something to watch on Saturday.
That's going to do it for me for now.
Please feel free to post questions or comments here and I'll get to them.
PHOTO GALLERY
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