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"I think offensively, we're in a similar position right now, except for obviously the question mark that we all know: wide receiver. I think we've got a chance to be better on the O-line. I think we have a chance to be better at quarterback in year two. Whenever you're a first- year starter, that factors in. At the run- ning back position, you can make the same argument. Tight end, make the same argument. So I think we're in a re- ally good position." Franklin said the staff has been exam- ining the offense that Ciarrocca oversaw at Minnesota, figuring out ways of in- corporating some of its elements into the scheme that Penn State has been running in recent years. And as that process continues, Ciarrocca is adapting his plans to fit the talent that Penn State already has on hand. One element the Nittany Lions have that Minnesota didn't have last year is a quarterback in Sean Clifford who is adept at running the football. Clifford finished last season as Penn State's third-leading rusher with 402 yards. "The thing that I think is going to be interesting – and I know Kirk is excited about it – is that he has never really had the running quarterback aspect of the game plan," Franklin said. "We have the personnel to do that. We have the expe- rience to do that, which is something he hasn't done. So I know he's excited about that. It was a big part of our dis- cussions during the interview process." PRIORITIZING THE WIDEOUTS Following the announcement last month that red- shirt sophomore receiver K.J. Hamler would forgo his final two seasons of eli- gibility at Penn State to pur- sue a career in the NFL, Franklin was asked about the players who remain at the position. The bottom line, Franklin said, is that the Nittany Lions have to be better in the passing game this season. That critique encompasses both the quarterback posi- tion and the receiver spots. "We've got to be more consistent," Franklin said. "That's in throwing the ball, in accuracy. We've got to be able to make the defense defend the entire field. "We've got to do a better job getting the ball to our outside receivers, and that is accuracy, that is aggressiveness, that is consistently catching the ball, that is consistently creating separation. It's not one thing, it's a little bit of all of it. But we need more production, there's no doubt about it. Being more explosive, being more productive. I think at the end of the day, we have to throw and catch for a higher percentage. I think that's the biggest thing that we can do, and that production will create more explosive plays just based on opportunities." Stubblefield comes to Penn State from Miami (Fla.), where he helped the Hurri- canes reach the Independence Bowl in Manny Diaz's first season as head coach. As a player at Purdue, Stubblefield had been a Biletnikoff Award finalist, as well as a first-team All-Big Ten performer and consensus All-American as a senior in 2004. He got into coaching three years later at Central Washington, be- fore moving on to Eastern Michigan, Illi- nois State, Central Michigan, New Mexico, Wake Forest, Utah and Air Force. He also spent a season on the staff of the Toronto Argonauts of the Cana- dian Football League. The sheer number of schools on Stub- blefield's resume gave pause to some ob- servers following the announcement on Jan. 19 that he had been hired to replace Parker. The Nittany Lions are looking to develop some stability at this position group after going through three re- ceivers coaches in the past three sea- sons, and Stubblefield hasn't stayed anywhere for more than two seasons. Franklin admitted that Stubblefield's many professional moves were a con- cern during the hiring process. "We had a lot of conversations in hiring him about the stability aspect of it," Franklin said. "We need stability. The interesting thing is, he needs it, too. One of the sto- ries that a lot of people have talked about is that he hasn't necessarily shown that in his career. So it's some- thing that he needs and we both need right now. So I think that helps. "And then, obviously, he's a guy who not only has coached but also has done it himself at a high level. You look at what he was able to do in this conference and nationally, and it's pretty impressive. And he's also a guy who didn't do it – no disrespect to him – based on raw ath- leticism. He did it on technique and fun- damentals and mentality and understanding and things like that. If you go back and check his testing num- bers from his pro day and combine, we're not recruiting Taylor Stubblefield here to Penn State right now. But to me, he's a guy a little bit like we're talking about with Coach Trautwein, a guy who, based on his training and his preparation and his mentality and technique and fundamentals, was able to play at a re- ally, really high level. Now if you can take the combination of going out and find- ing some really talented, skilled players and then giving them the training of a guy who found a way to be successful without that, you've got a recipe for a lot NEW COACH Scott was hired earlier this month to take over the Nittany Lions' defensive line. He was at South Carolina last season. Photo courtesy of University of South Carolina Athletics

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