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A T T H E 2 0 1 9 N I T T A N Y L I O N S But it's one thing to put on weight, it's an- other thing to put on strength and dura- bility and those types of things. So we've been very pleased with him." At the opposite linebacker spot, Parsons will be counted on to step into a starting role. He made a major impact as a fresh- man, improving to the point where he was essentially a co-starter with Farmer by the end of the season. His athletic gifts were never in doubt; he came to Penn State as the sixth-rated overall prospect in the country according to Rivals.com. But by the end of the season, he was com- bining that athleticism with an ability to diagnose offensive formations and antic- ipate where the play was going. "He's got some growing to do, some maturing, but my hat is off to him for the year he did put in," Pry said. "He's a young man who had never played line- backer and worked hard to learn it, played hard, didn't allow things to slow him down when he wasn't sure, so he had a very nice year." He should have an even better one in 2019. And so should Penn State's line- backer corps, especially if Smith, a four- star January enrollee, makes a smooth transition to the college game and puts himself in position to earn early playing time. STAFF SAYS Pry on Parsons: "I think the fact that Micah led our defense in tackles, and started only one game, tells the tale a little bit." DEFENSIVE BACK KEY RETURNEES CB: D.J. Brown, Tariq Castro-Fields, Trent Gordon, Donovan Johnson, John Reid; Saf.: Ayron Monroe, ter as the season went on, and in so doing, they primed themselves for what could be an even better performance in 2019. As graduating safety Nick Scott explained, Parsons "has some maturing to do, and he's attacked it. He's really grown first and foremost as a person while being on this team… Everybody, when you come in as a freshman, has a little growing up to do. He was aware of that and he attacked that area head-on. Obviously, we reaped the benefits on de- fense in how he was able to play." Scott added that if Parsons maintains his trajectory, he will be in a great posi- tion to make an even bigger impact next season and beyond. "In terms of his potential, I think we all see the sky is the limit for him. He's extremely talented. He's a freak ath- lete," Scott said. "So as long as he just stays bought-in to what we're trying to do here, what Coach Franklin is preaching and Coach Pry, the infor- mation he's giving him, he'll be an extremely great defensive player here at Penn State." Pry is eager to keep the challenges coming, noting that the multiple in-season and postseason acco- lades that have been bestowed on Parsons do not afford him an op- portunity to relax. "He has a big off-season in front of him," Pry said. "He places very high expectations on himself and he obviously has big potential, so he's going to be ex- citing moving forward." ■ FRESHMAN PHENOM Parsons led PSU in both total tackles (82) and solo tackles (47) in his debut season. Photo by Bill Anderson

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