Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1390373
P enn State gave up an average of 27.7 points per game last season, the most in school history. Scoring is on the rise just about everywhere, of course, thanks to the increasing potency of college o enses, but Nittany Lion defensive coordinator Brent Pry wasn't willing to write o the unit's struggles as a sign of the times. In his various media availabilities, Pry talked about poor tackling and a lack of accountability among defensive players. This past spring, he said that he and his fellow coaches had been addressing those problems and would continue to do so over the summer months. As Penn State begins ramping up its prepa- rations for the 2021 campaign, Pry is pleased with how things are shaping up on the defen- sive side of the ball. That's partly because he has seen the progress he was hoping to see, and also because the Nit- tany Lions have put to- gether a formidable collection of talent. "We've got a good group coming back," Pry said. "When you look at each position, you're trying to make sure you've got +ve ends, +ve tackles, six line- backers, four safeties, and you want +ve corners. And sitting at this point right now, I think we have the best chance to check all those boxes, as far as having tal- ented guys who are good enough. They just have to get to a point where their maturity and those types of things are where they need to be. And that's what the summer and presea- son camp are about. So I feel pretty good right now. We've just got to stay the course." BWI's Nate Bauer recently had a chance to talk with Pry about Penn State's defensive outlook. Here's what he had to say: BWI You said in April that accountability was lacking last season. What did you mean by that? PRY You're accountable for what's asked of you. So for us, when we look at +lm from the fall, there were too many mistakes that weren't mistakes because somebody didn't know; they were mistakes because of choices or a lack of detail. How we correlated that was, if you're supposed to be at study hall at 11 o'clock, you can't walk in at 11:06. That's just like if you're supposed to take +ve steps on this blitz, and you take two. That's the same, and that's how we put it to them. If you're supposed to be spill blitzer and come underneath a blocker, but you go down the middle or stay outside, you're not account- able. If we don't know that you're going to be where you're supposed to be, it's hard to op- erate. There are enough examples of that last year, and it wasn't because guys didn't know what to do; it was because either they were trying to do too much or they didn't think the details were important. That goes back to us as coaches emphasizing it, and so we're talking to the guys constantly about what you do o the +eld. If you're supposed to be at a tutor at SWEATING THE DETAILS T H E D E F E N S E After a season in which Penn State sometimes got caught out of position, defensive coordinator Brent Pry is emphasizing the need for teamwork and reliability this year