Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
NEW AND IMPROVED T H E D E F E N S E Penn State must replace six defensive starters, but coordinator Brent Pry has ample reason for optimism as his unit looks to the future P enn State has assembled what looks to be one of the better defenses in the country heading into the next sea- son. The Nittany Lions return only five starters, a list headlined by consensus All-America outside linebacker Micah Parsons, but there are a number of rising stars, such as linebacker Brandon Smith and defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher, who are eagerly awaiting their chance to play bigger roles. The Nittany Lions had their ups and downs last season, particularly against the pass. They tumbled to 100th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in pass de- fense a year ago, allowing 251.5 yards per game. However, they were stout vs. the run, allowing an average of 95.0 yards on the ground to rank fifth in the country, and they finished eighth in the country in scoring defense at 16 points per game. With coordinator Brent Pry heading into his fifth season in charge of the defense, the Nittany Lions appear to have the po- tential to improve on those numbers when they return to action. Pry recently discussed Penn State's defensive outlook with BWI's Nate Bauer. Here's what he had to say: BWI What is the impact of a missed spring practice session on the defense as a whole? PRY It's challenging like it is for every- body. The spring is about guys stepping into roles and improving fundamentally, maybe separating themselves a little bit, but more than anything, guys getting a ton of reps that maybe they didn't get before. [It's about] having a chance to improve fundamentally, learn the de- fense and compete. But the nice thing about all this mess is, it's a level playing field. And there's nobody that got a jump and had a spring ball, or some- thing like that. So everybody is dealing with it. I will say, we installed our entire spring plan virtually with the guys over about a month and a half, three and four meetings a week, and slides, and videos and quizzes. So we tried to stay on par with that from a mental standpoint. And now it's just about getting them out there when we finally have a chance and running them through it. We've got a good mix of vets, but obviously we lost some maturity off our defense, not just production, but some guys who had been in a lot of battles. We had some leaders in that group that left us, so we've got some of that to work on. We had a chance this winter before COVID hit to really push the guys in winter training and take care of some things like that and let some guys emerge. There will be a lot to get done in short order [during preseason practice] but that's what football coaches and players do. It's about adversity and how you deal with it. [The programs that] deal with it the best usually come out on top, and we've been pretty good about that stuff. BWI You have a new coach in charge of the defensive line in John Scott Jr. Is the technique there being rebuilt like it is on the offensive line, or is it a different process? PRY No. John and I, if you remember, this is [our] fourth stop together. John played for me. John was a GA for me. John was my D-line coach at Georgia Southern. So his techniques and what he's doing, I would say are about 85 to 90 percent what we were doing. I'm ex- cited about the other 10 to 15 percent he's bringing to the table that he's picked up along the way. He's been around some great coaches. But it was an easier transition than normal hiring John. He's like-minded in what Coach [Sean] Spencer and I believe with the front. And having worked with him pre- viously, he understands the expectations for the defensive line. He knows what my expectations are. So it's been a smoother transition, and we're fortu- nate that way. BWI Does it get harder to maintain the standard of success that you've had there on the defensive line year after year? PRY I don't know. I think that's a little bit who we are defensively. I'm a D-line guy at heart. I cut my teeth at Virginia Tech as a defensive line guy. It starts up front, and as a play-caller, I know that. We're going to make sure we service that the way we need to. And that's how we roll each week. We recruit that way. We coach that way. And I think our defen- sive kids, when they really think about it, they're going to know that's where we go. We go the way the front goes. So it's just a big emphasis for us. When you blitz 40 percent on first and second down, you're giving those guys opportunities to do a lot of different things. They're not just coming off and banging their head on somebody. They're moving in, they're moving out, they're dropping, they're jumping two gaps, they're standing up, they're stay- ing square, they're surfing, they're showing up in the alley. We just do a lot with them. And I think that helps them be a group that's been able to be very productive and raise some havoc. BWI What level of competition do you expect at defensive end? Shaka Toney is >>