Blue White Illustrated

P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> that factors in. At the running back po- sition, you could make the same argu- ment. Tight end, make the same argument. So I think we're in a really good position." How good? We'll start to get some an- swers in the weeks to come. Penn State's spring practice sessions were set to begin on March 18, and they will con- clude on April 18 with the Blue-White Game. In between, the Lions will be putting in a whole lot of work to help turn their ambitions into reality. While there are a lot of reasons to feel opti- mistic about the season to come, there are also some areas of uncertainty relat- ing both to the team and its partially re- vamped coaching staff. Here's a look at five of the more pressing questions that the Nittany Lions will be looking to an- swer this spring: 1 How will the Nittany Lions' re- cent coaching changes aect the direction of the oense? Hard to say for sure, but it certainly won't be radically different. Franklin was clear even before he hired Kirk Ciar- rocca in December that he wasn't going to give his new coordinator carte blanche to redesign the offense. He knew he was going to have a veteran of- fensive team returning in 2020, and he wanted his players to look like veterans. That meant sticking with the team's fa- miliar terminology and philosophical approach. When Ciarrocca came aboard follow- ing Ricky Rahne's decision to accept the head coaching post at Old Dominion, Franklin said one of the former Min- nesota OC's most appealing qualities was his willingness to blend his system T aylor Stubble;eld's accomplish- ments as a player are undeniable. In four seasons at Purdue, he set a Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision record with 316 receptions, totaling 3,433 yards and 19 touchdowns. Stubble;eld's career re- ceptions mark stood for seven years before Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles broke it by catching 349 passes from 2008- 11. As a position coach, Stubble;eld's pupils have produced some impressive numbers of their own. At Illinois State, Eyad Salem became a ;rst-team All- Missouri Valley Conference selection with his school-record 92 receptions in 2009, while Stubble;eld's stint at Wake Forest helped bring Michael Campanaro second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 2013. Those accomplishments, both as a player and coach, had everything to do with James Franklin's decision to bring him on board in January as Penn State's new wide receivers coach. "[He's] a guy who not only has coached but also has done it himself at a high level," Franklin said. "You look at what he was able to do in this confer- ence and nationally –pretty impres- sive. And he's also a guy who didn't do it – no disrespect to him – based on raw athleticism. He did it on tech- niques and fundamentals and mental- ity and understanding and things like that. If you go back and check his test- ing numbers from his pro day and com- bine, we're not recruiting Taylor Stubble;eld here to Penn State right now. "But to me, [he's] a guy who, based on his training and his preparation and his mentality and techniques and fun- damentals, was able to play at a really, really high level. Now if you can take the combination of going out and ;nd- ing some really talented, skilled players and then give them the training of a guy who found a way to be successful with- out that, you've got a recipe for a lot of success." With their o<-season now well under way, the Nittany Lions know they have a lot of the pieces in place to ;eld a high-scoring o

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