Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1390373
>> 8 o'clock, you need to be at the tutor. If you're supposed to get eight hours of study hall, you get eight, you don't get 7:15. So we're on them about the little things. During the season, we do a production chart. And we talk about it every Sunday with the team, with the defense. The production chart rewards guys for positive plays: tackles for loss, sacks, PBUs, tackles, all of that. And it takes away points for negative plays: mental errors, execution errors, foolish penalty, missed tackle, loaf. So at the end of the game, let's just say Brent Pry had 30 snaps and he had 20 positive points, but he also had 16 negative points. So he ended up with four total production points. That's not good enough in 30 plays. So what we did for the spring was, we did an accountability production chart. And it was the weight room, it was aca- demics, it was community [service], and it was all those things where you could be rewarded for positive things. If you got a positive email from a professor, you did community service, you went above and beyond and helped a teammate with some extra drill work or something, you got positive points. If you missed a class or you missed a tutor or you were late to something, you got negative points. We put that up once a week in front of the whole defensive unit and we kept track of percentages: D-line is at 97 percent, safeties at 87 percent. Out of the oppor- tunities, who are meeting the most? And then at the end of it, the D-line was the winner and we rewarded them with these nice pullovers for the accountabil- ity piece. So that's how we're addressing it. Our big focus this o5-season is ac- countability. BWI And it's working? You feel good about it? PRY Yeah, I do. BWI Last year, before the season, you seemed to indicate that the defense wasn't prioritizing sacks as much as in previous years. Was that an accurate read, and was that approach re9ected last season in the decrease in sacks? PRY Well, you're right. I want to be careful how I say this, because it's not that we don't love sacks. But we were giving up some things that we just don't feel we're willing to give up anymore. They created more opportunities for sacks but also created some liabilities. So we tweaked it just a little, where maybe it [results in] not as many sacks but helps us in some other areas. That's still a work in progress. I think we saw some of it last year, but last year was just such an oddball year. I'm anxious to see [what happens] with another o5-season of that mindset. Again, we're just trying to control quarterbacks a little bit better and minimize rush lanes and do a better job getting the ball out a little sooner. So that's kind of where the emphasis is, but yeah, you're correct. I think it's a work in progress. What I've seen so far, I like. BWI You wanted to emphasize take- aways last year, but it didn't come to fruition. Why do you think that was the case? PRY Honestly, I think you've got to catch the ones that are thrown to you, and we're dropping those right now, too many of them. You go back even two years ago, the drops by Micah [Parsons] and Jesse [Luketa] and Cam Brown. We've got to catch the ones that are thrown to us. We put a bigger emphasis on it. Every- body is on the JUGS machines like crazy HOLDING THE LINE Although he's played his entire college career at linebacker, Luketa (40) could see some action at defensive end this fall. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics