Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
LAST WORD N A T E B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M enn State will have a quarterback competition on its hands when preseason camp arrives. In fact, that competition is already well under way and has been for months. Redshirt sophomore Sean Clif- ford has shared reps with redshirt freshman Will Levis through the spring and summer, and a third, yet-to-be- named true freshman, either Michael Johnson Jr. or Ta'Quan Roberson, will join the mix in preseason camp. With one of the program's all-time greats, Trace McSorley, having gradu- ated and fifth-year senior Tommy Stevens having transferred to Missis- sippi State, it makes sense that James Franklin is approaching the position battle with an open mind. As the head coach again emphasized this summer, that push toward competition is his de- fault setting going into every preseason camp, regardless of the status or experi- ence of those vying for the opportunity. If it hadn't already been clear through the first five years of Franklin's tenure, it should be readily apparent now: Com- petition is truly a core value of the pro- gram. Asked by a reporter how the conversa- tions went following Stevens' decision to transfer, both with Clifford and Levis, Franklin again illustrated his point. "The conversation doesn't change a whole lot," he said. Both Clifford and Levis had been groomed to understand that they would have the same opportu- nity to win the job as anyone else, and what had been true before Stevens' de- parture remained true after it. "That's what we believe in. The same things I say to you guys are the same things I say to the team. This is going to be a competition, and it's going to be earned," Franklin said. "Football is, to me, a direct reflection of life and of everything else. You're going to have to compete and you're going to have to earn it." Long before he took over Penn State's program, Franklin had established that concept as central to his approach to coaching, and its foundational nature becomes especially relevant in situa- tions such as these. The presumption of a starting job was never part of the equation for Stevens and, quite likely, had something to do with his decision to finish out his colle- giate career at Mississippi State rather than in Happy Valley. But even then, Stevens acknowledged before the start of spring practice that he understood the competition would be open and that Clifford believed himself just as worthy of the starting nod as anyone else. "I don't want to speak for Cliff, but I bet he's probably approaching it the exact same way as I am. And at the end of the day, it was how me and Trace ap- proached it when the job was up for grabs then, too," Stevens told BWI in March. "I would say this if he was sit- ting right there: There's no way that he doesn't think that it's his job as much as I think that it's my job. … To be blunt, both of us are going to come in, compete as hard as we can, and whatever hap- pens, happens." By heading to Starkville, Stevens might have reduced the size of the tal- ent pool at Penn State, but Franklin's comments this summer again revealed that it didn't alter the nature of the competition itself. Players' advantages and disadvantages will be assessed until the time comes to make a choice. "I think if everything is even, you're going to typically go with the older, more experienced player. You know what you're going to get a little bit more. If it's not even, then it solves it- self. You go with the more productive guy. So that's kind of where we are again," Franklin said. "Sean's in a situa- tion where now he's the more experi- enced guy, but he's still going to have to compete and battle and make it obvious to everybody, and then the decision will be made. I think the decision would have probably been made a little bit ear- lier [if Stevens had stayed], but now that we're in this situation, we probably will let it go a little bit further." That being the case, Penn State fans and the team itself should settle in and get comfortable. A sense of urgency will no doubt be a critical component of the preseason competition, but Franklin and his staff won't cut short their opportunity to ex- amine all of the angles before making their pick. Dedicated to the idea that constant competition breeds success in a variety of areas, not just on the field but away from it, too, Franklin very much intends to see this battle through to its conclusion. "Obviously, when a guy leaves and there's one less guy, that's part of the equation," he said. "It magnifies his op- portunity, it creates more reps and all of those types of things. But I actually think that Levis, that Sean, and that Tommy were all going into it feeling like they were going to have to compete and that they were competing for the start- ing job. I would hope that they're ap- proaching it that way." Regardless of the number of competi- tors now challenging each other for the opportunity, Franklin has ensured that those players will continue to do exactly that. ■ Duel identity P