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COACHSPEAK | E X C E R P T S F R O M B I L L O ' B R I E N ' S N S D P R E S S E R How do you feel about the class and how it turned out overall? How did the scholarship limitations and sanctions affect what you wanted to do? We have a great staff of recruiters, coaches and teachers and family guys. Then [recruiting director] Billy Kavanaugh, who did an excellent job of really organizing it all, is just a really sharp guy. You have to give those guys a lot of credit. But what we did was, we found guys that came from good families that were smart guys that we think are tough guys. We know they are going to come here and go to class and be good in the community. Time will tell about, obviously, how good they all end up being. You never really know until they actually start playing for you. So we're excited about this class. Certainly we lost some kids because of sanctions. There's no question about it. I'm not going to sit up here and tell you that the sanctions didn't play a factor in some of the guys that we set out to recruit. But at the end of the day, all I'm concerned about are the guys that are here. What in particular did you like about Christian Hackenberg? He's a tall guy. He's got a very accurate arm. He's got a strong arm. He's smart, and we feel good. Again, the jump from high school to college to the pros, those are big jumps. So, he's making the jump from high school to college, and that's a big jump. The system that we run here at Penn State is not the simplest system in the world to learn for a quarterback. So he's going to have to really begin to study and understand what it takes to play quarterback at this level. We've talked about that a lot in the recruiting process. The same can be said of Tyler [Ferguson] and Steven [Bench]. When you play quarterback at Penn State, that's very, very different than really any other position on the team. When you play quarterback at Penn State, you have to really learn how to balance the classroom with being the best-prepared quarterback you can be. Do you anticipate him being able to fight for the starting job as a freshman? I will say this about the quarterback position: Christian, Steven Bench and Tyler Ferguson – any one of those guys could be our starting quarterback against Syracuse. No question about it. F E B R U A R Y STARTING QB? O'Brien said Christian Hackenberg, Steven Bench and Tyler Ferguson will all compete for the starting quarterback position. "Don't expect me to name a starting quarterback at the end of spring practice," O'Brien said. Tim Owen So don't expect me to really name a starting quarterback at the end of spring practice. I might, but I might not. How does losing [former defensive coordinator] Ted Roof change your approach? Ted, obviously, did a great job for us this year and that's what happens in coaching. Guys have decisions to make, decisions that involve their families. He went to Georgia Tech. He's in the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame. That's where I met Ted – at Georgia Tech. His wife is from Peach Tree City and he's from Lawrenceville, so they're going back home, and that's good. He's got a great presence in the South and he's a fantastic recruiter, but we'll still be in [the South]. Charles London is from Dunwoody, Ga. [Mac McWhorter] is from Atlanta – born and bred. He played at Georgia. So we still have some ties in the South. How was your role in recruiting different this year in comparison to your years as an assistant? Was there anything you felt you improved upon throughout the year? It was totally different than being an assistant coach. Totally different. I was basically trying to improve every time I went out – whether it was the message in the home or the message at the high school or whatever it might be. So I think at the end of the day, all I ever tried to do 7 , 2 0 1 3 8 was be myself and be honest with people and with their families. I don't ask them how their girlfriends are doing and when the prom is and all that. I don't really care about that. ... I just constantly tell them that we're just looking for good, tough guys that are smart and that are going to keep their noses clean off the field and go to class. Do you follow recruiting rankings at all? No, I really don't. I respect them. I respect the people that do that. Those people that do that... Some of those guys are my friends and I respect what they do. But at the end of the day, that has nothing to do with how I look at a student-athlete or prospective student-athlete. I look at a prospective student-athlete with our staff and I say, 'Look, this is what we need.' So how does this guy fit what we need? What does he do well? What are his weaknesses? How is he going to fit in with our locker room? How is he going to do in stats [class] his freshman year? How is he going to do working the community for us, because he's going to have to do a lot of that? How does he fit? This is a different place. I'm not saying we're up here; I'm not saying that. Don't get me wrong here. Penn State is a very unique, special place to play college football. So I don't care about stars and rankings. B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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