Blue White Illustrated

F A S T F O R W A R D >> A N E A R L Y L O O K Renfro – had only seven drops on 192 targets. The Crimson Tide were even better. They had only 12 drops as a team, and no player with more than 10 targets had a drop rate above 6.3 per- cent. Alabama's stellar numbers are sure to inspire some pangs of regret in Penn State fans, who will no doubt recall that receivers coach Josh Gattis left University Park to join the Crim- son Tide last January. Gattis may well have been on Franklin's mind this past December when he warned that the Nittany Lions can't afford to lose assistant coaches to lateral moves if they are going to leap back to national title contention. Gattis received an added title with the Tide – co-offen- sive coordinator – but the job was much the same as the one he had at Penn State, and that's what made his loss sting so hard. Said Franklin, "There are going to be opportunities that come that I want for our guys. Guys have a chance to be head coaches, and guys have a chance to be play-calling coordinators – very specifically, play-calling coordinators – and I want that for them. But we can't lose guys for lateral moves. That cannot happen with the type of pro- gram that we have and the type of program we want to be." If the cost of Gattis's exit wasn't ap- parent during the 2018 season, it cer- tainly was obvious on the day after the Citrus Bowl, as the Lions wasted no time firing his replacement, David Corley. Maybe if the game had gone better, the need for change wouldn't have seemed quite so urgent. But the receivers' showing against the Wild- cats offered little evidence that things were getting better, and so Corley was axed after only one season in Univer- sity Park. Franklin said in a statement announcing the move, "I appreciate David's efforts this season but feel it is in our program's best interest to make a change at this time." Corley's dismissal was a reminder that while Franklin may prize stability, he views it as a means to an end, not an end in itself. If things aren't working out, he isn't averse to change. He jetti- soned his first offensive coordinator, John Donovan, after two unproductive seasons, replacing him with Joe Moor- head. It must be said, in fairness, that Moorhead inherited a lineup with a lot fewer holes than Donovan did. But if you judge it simply in terms of its re- sults, that change could hardly have worked out better. The same could be the case with Cor- ley's replacement, Gerad Parker. Even with Johnson opting to transfer, Parker has inherited a very promising young receiver corps. Of the eight players who caught at least one pass in the Citrus Bowl, five are set to return in 2019, and four will have either fresh- man or sophomore eligibility. One of the Lions' returning receivers, Justin Shorter, was a five-star prospect com- ing out of high school. Three others were four-star prospects, and another four-star wideout, John Dunmore, will join them next season. Despite the unit's recent struggles, the future here could be very bright. But the Nittany Lions need to find ways of putting those players in posi- tion to succeed. From this vantage point, the passing game is looking like the biggest unknown heading into next season – bigger than the offensive line, which suddenly must find two new starters, and the kicking units, which will be looking to bounce back from a nightmarish afternoon against Ken- tucky. The Lions will have a new starter at quarterback, and as a group, the re- ceivers are going to have to put a disap- pointing 2018 season behind them. The good news is that they've made this kind of transformation before. From 2015 to 2016, the Nittany Lions went from 14th in the Big Ten in total offense to second. It can be done. And with so much talent on hand, it's pos- sible that it can be done fairly quickly. The key will be to make sure that the resources are in place to translate play- ers' abundant potential into produc- tion. This is one ball that Penn State can't afford to drop. ■

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