Blue White Illustrated

Spencer had been with Franklin since their days at Vanderbilt. Following Rahne's departure in December, he was one of only four full-time assistant coaches remaining from 2014, Franklin's first season at Penn State. On Feb. 8, PSU announced Spencer's successor: John Scott Jr., a veteran coach with experience in the Southeastern Conference, Big 12 and the NFL. Scott coached at South Carolina last season, where he helped develop Javon Kinlaw into a first-team All-SEC performer. His previous collegiate coaching stops were at Arkansas and Texas Tech, and he spent the 2015 and '16 seasons with the New York Jets. He is acquainted with Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry from their time together on the staffs at Louisiana-Lafayette and Geor- gia Southern. In announcing the hire, Franklin said that Scott's familiarity with Pry "ensures that he'll hit the ground running as we enter spring ball." Prior to Scott's addition, Franklin said he was pleased with the three hires that he had already made and wasn't fazed by the turbulence of the preceding months. "Obviously, it's challenging, and I'm not saying I love it," he said. "But also, it's cool when you [see that] we've had two assistants leave to become head coaches, we've had two assistants leave to be offensive coordinators, one assis- tant now at the NFL in Sean. "Obviously, it does create challenges, but I do think it's a really good example of a healthy program. People have seen the success that we've had and want to steal bits and pieces of it." Now entering his seventh year at Penn State, Franklin has dealt with his share of staff turnover. Spencer's successor will be the program's 22nd assistant coach since 2014. But Franklin said that the changes are ultimately a positive for the program and its personnel. "It's a win-win for everybody," he said. "The thing [at which] we have to do a great job is having a great list of people who we are going to be able to hire. … What I try to explain to the players, whether it's this or anything else in life, is that every change that happens is an opportunity. It's an opportunity hope- fully for us to be able to hire someone with a similar skill set to keep things the same, and in some areas maybe even be able to upgrade, which is what we're al- ways trying to do." OFFENSIVE TWEAKS With the arrival of a recruiting dead period, one that will last until Feb. 29, Franklin and his staff have returned to football. The Lions have welcomed a new offensive coordi- nator and two position coaches on that side of the ball, leaving only running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider and tight ends assistant Tyler Bowen as holdovers from the 2019 season. With so many new voices in the room, PSU has started the process of revising its offense. That revision, however, is in no way a tear-down and rebuild. Ciarrocca might have had to do that in his previous stops at Western Michigan and Minnesota, but the Nittany Lions are coming off a 2019 season in which they finished second in the Big Ten in scoring offense at 35.8 points per game. They are bringing back their starting quarterback, their top four rushers and their second- and third- leading receivers, as well as five offen- sive linemen with starting experience. Earlier in his career, Ciarrocca "was a part of two rebuilds," Franklin said. "This isn't a rebuild. So we need to be able to come in and kind of hit on his year threes in year one, if that makes sense. "I also think one of the things that's interesting is that you look at a lot of these hires, whether it's a head coach or a coordinator, and a lot of it is based on timing – when guys get there, and what players are in the program. Trace Mc- Sorley, Mike Gesicki, DaeSean Hamilton, a guy by the name of Saquon Barkley, I could go on and on – that was a really good time [for Joe Moorhead to join]. We were in position to take the next step. Ricky Slade is reportedly exploring his transfer options after a sophomore season in which he began as Penn State's opening-day starter at running back but went on to finish fifth on the team in rushing. Blue White Illustrated confirmed on Feb. 5 that Slade had entered the transfer portal, a move that stands to bring an end to his Penn State career after two seasons in University Park. Last fall, Slade started the Nittany Lions' first two games against Idaho and Buffalo before giving way to Jour- ney Brown in week three against Pitt. Brown went on to start all but one of the team's remaining games, with freshman Noah Cain earning the start at Michigan State. Slade finished the season with 47 carries for 214 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 12 receptions for 105 yards. He had a season-high 58 yards on five carries in Penn State's 53-39 win in the Cotton Bowl over Memphis. Slade became the second Nittany Lion to enter the transfer portal in early February, joining cornerback D.J. Brown, who announced his decision on Feb. 4. In a statement that he re- leased via Twitter, Brown said, "I am truly thankful for being able to attend Penn State these past 3 years. The fan base and the memories have been in- credible. But upon graduation this summer I plan to transfer and pursue another opportunity elsewhere. Thankful for everything, it's been real...." Brown arrived on campus in 2017. He redshirted as a true freshman and did- n't see any game action in the season that followed. He played in seven games last year, making five tackles, including a career-high three in the regular-season finale against Rutgers. With Brown and Slade departing, Penn State's projected scholarship roster for the 2020 season was down to 89 as of early February. The Nittany Lions will need to be at 85 by the start of preseason camp in August. ■ F O O T B A L L Slade, Brown set to transfer from PSU

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