Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1082442
T H E M O N T H I N . . . O P I N I O N S Change has been everywhere in this program during the Franklin era, not all of it welcomed by its followers. But one area where Franklin has executed something close to a miraculous transformation is in how the Penn State brand has been perceived by the football playing youth of America. And, to me, it is nothing short of remarkable. The Nittany Lions are now seen as a fast, fluid and athletic program. And that is due almost entirely to the job the PSU head coach and his staffs have done recruiting in the last five years. Kids now think of Penn State as not just a good football team but a cool one where long, speedy and lithe players want to play. I don't think that has ever been true before. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM [Noah Cain and Devyn Ford] could be a thunder-lightning type of combination. Penn State has to look at what Georgia has done with multiple talented running backs and how they've utilized them. If it can do that, you're talking about two really good run- ning backs who can bring different things to the table. Ford could be the Sony Michel- type and Cain would be the Nick Chubb-type. MIKE FARRELL RIVALS.COM The Nittany Lions appear to possess the talent and depth to reclaim their position as Linebacker U. Micah Parsons, a top-10 recruit nationally a year ago, flashed stardom as a true freshman and figures to emerge as an All-America-caliber defender with a more steady role in the defense. Newcomer Brandon Smith arrives with the same kind of po- tential to complement Penn State's mix of depth and experience, featuring the likes of senior Cam Brown and sophomore Jesse Luketa. MITCH SHERMAN ESPN.COM It's already a new era of Penn State football. James Franklin has moved on. As have the 69 players who were on the Nittany Lions' official roster for the 2018 Fiesta Bowl a little more than a year ago. (Not to mention a handful of assistant coaches.) Of that 120-man roster, only 51 remain from the core of a group that went on a 21-5 tear that included a Big Ten title. Of course, constant turnover is the nature of college sports. Still, it's the kind of rapid flipping that we usually see on HGTV, not at PSU in Lasch. Not even in the sanction era. It's a lot. Too many? We'll see. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM I'm perfectly aware of the challenges. Hopefully, I'm equipped to kind of carry those for them and get the room wired to be able to handle tough times. That's what we're supposed to do as adults: stare down the barrel with them and help them become better, help myself become better and see what kind of product we put on the field in a year. GERAD PARKER on his new job as coach of PSU's wide receivers It's an interesting time. But, again, our focus is that we're going to embrace it. We're going to evolve. We're going to grow. It looks different to our fans. It looks different to our lettermen and also to the media. It looks different to me, but we're going to embrace it. We're going to grow and we're going to keep loving these kids. And we're going to keep helping them to grow and develop as students and as players and as people. And we're going to find a way to run out there in Beaver Stadium and play an exciting brand of football and work hard at making every- body proud. JAMES FRANKLIN on the changes brought on by the NCAA's transfer portal Q U O T E S Senior Bowl that he displayed throughout his Penn State career, in- sisting that he deserved a place among some of the top NFL prospects in the country. "I wholeheartedly be- lieve that," he said. "I want to prove to everyone else that I belong and that I'm among the best of the best." Cornerback Amani Oruwariye was also chosen to play in the Senior Bowl but saw limited action in the game due to a minor injury he received in practice. Oruwariye is expected to be selected in the first three rounds of the draft. Also seeing postseason action in January were former Penn State line- backer Koa Farmer and long snapper Kyle Vasey. Farmer was chosen to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Jan. 19 in Pasadena, Calif., and finished with two assisted tackles for the Na- tional team, which lost to the Ameri- can team, 10-7. Safety Nick Scott was also chosen for the game but did not get on the field. Vasey took part in the Tropical Bowl on Jan. 13 in Daytona Beach, Fla. LIONS HEADED TO COMBINE Seven Penn State football players – offensive linemen Ryan Bates and Connor Mc- Govern, defensive tackle Kevin Givens, defensive end Shareef Miller, quarterback Trace McSorley, corner- back Amani Oruwariye and running back Miles Sanders – will participate in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. The Nittany Lions have had 15 NFL Combine participants in the past two years, with eight athletes in 2018 and seven this year. The combine is set for Feb. 26- March 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indi- anapolis. The NFL Network and NFL.com will have coverage of the event. This year's draft will take place April 25-27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The on-field workout schedule is as follows: running backs, offensive line, kickers and special teams March 1; quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends March 2; defensive linemen and linebackers March 3 and defensive backs March 4. ■