Penn State Sports Magazine
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M A Y 2 0 2 2 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M seasons on campus, Isaac totaled three sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss. This year, the Nittany Lions are de- pending on the redshirt junior. "Adisa is the one guy [at defensive end] who flashes consistently," Franklin said. Diaz, too, has been impressed with what he's seen from Isaac in the first few months of his tenure as Penn State's defensive coordinator. "He just has some things you can't teach," Diaz said, "in terms of his ath- leticism, his ability to bend, turn the corner, his length, the way he can get his hands on offensive linemen. We're excited to see him grow into this role every day." In addition to Isaac, Franklin offered an assessment of two other Penn State defensive ends during his April 6 media session. Vilbert has shown the ability to de- velop into an impact player, Franklin said, citing his performance in the Out- back Bowl. But his pass rush isn't as re- liably effective as the coaches would like it to be. Said Franklin, "It needs to be more consistent." Meanwhile, senior Nick Tarburton is coming off a 2021 season in which he started eight games and finished with four tackles for loss and a sack. Franklin described him as "a guy who's going to wear people down and do it with effort, do it with motor. "His skills and his technique continue to grow," the coach added. "We probably need to continue to grow his toolbox of moves on the perimeter." Penn State added two potential im- pact players via the transfer portal early in the offseason, but both were on the offensive side of the ball. Wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley joined the Lions in January after two seasons at Western Kentucky, while interior of- fensive lineman Hunter Nourzad is set to arrive this summer after winning FCS All-America honors at Cornell. Both are expected to make immediate contribu- tions at Penn State, with Tinsley hav- ing already earned praise during spring practice. On the defensive side, Penn State missed out on twin brothers Grayson and Gabriel Murphy, both of whom en- rolled at UCLA, prior to Robinson's an- nouncement. Even with Robinson now headed to Penn State, the Lions might not be done adding players. One of the players they are believed to be interested in is former West Virginia defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor. A second-team All-Big 12 pick as a sopho- more, Mesidor already has been to cam- pus. The Nittany Lions were the first to host him for a visit, but they won't be the last. USC is expected to host him, while Auburn, LSU and Miami are among the schools pushing hard. One of the factors that Franklin pointed to when discussing Penn State's ability to land transfers was the speed with which some of its competitors are able to gauge a player's academic fit. "One of the challenges we have here is trying to get the credits evaluated," he said. "Some schools have a central office that handles all transfer students and evaluates prospects. We send it around, and each separate school [within the university] has to evaluate its classes. We've been told that can take up to 40 days, which can make the transfer pro- cess challenging for us. "But we try to be as thorough as we possibly can to make sure we're get- ting the right fits and bringing the right people in here." ■ Ryan Snyder contributed to this report. Penn State has added another letterman as a football analyst. This one comes with nearly 40 years of coaching experience. Danny Rocco joined James Franklin's staff in March just before the start of spring practice. Rocco was most recently the head coach at Delaware. He was 31-23 overall with the Blue Hens but was let go after a 5-6 finish in 2021. The Huntingdon, Pa., native played at both Penn State and Wake Forest. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the latter school. Rocco then earned his first on-field role with the Demon Deacons as a defensive line coach in 1986. He later served as a position coach at Colo- rado, Tulsa, Texas (where he was also special teams coordinator), Maryland and with the New York Jets before taking the Liberty head job in 2006. He left for Richmond in 2012 and then started with Delaware in 2017. All- time, Rocco has a coaching record of 121-65. "When you get guys like Danny Rocco to be able to join our program [it's valuable]," Franklin said, "not only because of his experience in the NFL, but his experience as a head coach, his experience as a coordinator, and he's also a [PSU] letterman." Rocco and Dan Connor are two lettermen who have recently returned as analysts. In addition, former lettermen Deion Barnes and Wendy Laurent are serving as graduate assistants, while Alan Zemaitis is working in the recruiting department, and two on-field coaches previously played at Penn State: Ty Howle (tight ends) and Terry Smith (cornerbacks). — Greg Pickel Former PSU Letterman Returns As Football Staffer Demeioun Robinson had 19 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks, in his true freshman season at Maryland last fall. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL