Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472993
1 1 4 A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State is entering a pivotal sea- son in 2022. The football program is stable at the top, with James Franklin having signed a 10-year con- tract extension that figures to ensure he remains the face of the Nittany Li- ons for a long time to come. However, an 11-11 record over the past two seasons has fans yearning for a re- turn to the 2016 Big Ten championship season and the New Year's Six bowl vic- tories that followed in 2017 and '19. On the field, there are many questions but not as many answers as one might prefer entering the fall. Can super senior Sean Clifford stay healthy and be a more complete quarter- back as a fourth-year starter? Will the offensive line finally live up to expectations? Is a running backs room featuring third-year sophomore Keyvone Lee and highly regarded freshmen Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen ready to produce a bounce-back season for the Nittany Li- ons' ground game? Are the tight ends going to be better? Will someone rise up to help third- year sophomore Parker Washington and Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tin- sley in the receivers room? Can fans expect the Lions' rebuilt de- fensive line to feature a strong pass rush and a stout interior? With experience lacking at linebacker, is third-year sophomore Curtis Jacobs ready to lead the way for that group? Who will step up and keep the second- ary among the Big Ten's best alongside redshirt junior cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and super senior safety Ji'Ayir Brown? And, last but certainly not least, will the special teams units be game changers in a positive way for Penn State with do- it-all talent Jordan Stout now competing to become the Baltimore Ravens' starting punter? Throughout the preceding pages, BWI has provided possible answers to the concerns listed above. However, another way to tackle them is by asking yet an- other question: Is this Franklin's best coaching staff yet, and is it ready to lead the players to a level that will have fans on the edge of their seat for good reasons from opening day until the final Saturday of November? Assistant coach turnover is common these days. If you have a hot coordinator, there's a good chance he's soon going to get a head coaching opportunity. Also, that position coach who crushes it on the recruiting trail will someday parlay his gift for talent acquisition and player development into a coordinator gig or maybe even shoot right to the top of a college football program without ever choosing a pivotal fourth-and-goal play. That's not how it used to work, but it's certainly the case now. At Penn State, this past offseason saw coaches come and go, as has been the case every year of the Franklin era except 2014 and 2015, when everyone returned. This year's 10-man on-field contin- gent includes two coordinators with head coaching experience. New de- fensive coordinator/linebackers coach Manny Diaz joined the Lions after a three-year stint as the top man at Miami (Fla.), while special teams coordinator Stacy Collins spent four years in charge of the football program at South Dakota Mines, a Division II school. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich doesn't have any head coaching experi- ence on his résumé, but he has long been seen as one of the game's smartest minds and game planners. While it's fair to say his first year in State College was a disap- pointment, we would bet against a repeat of that. Beyond those three, there is a College Football Hall of Famer leading the safe- ties in Anthony Poindexter. Terry Smith is the longest-tenured member of the staff and a top developer of cornerback talent. Defensive line coach John Scott Jr. has shown in both the SEC and at Penn State that he can turn potential into on- field productivity. The same goes for receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield, who mentored Jahan Dotson for two seasons and just saw him go in the first round of the NFL Draft. Ja'Juan Seider is known best for his re- cruiting abilities, but he has also devel- oped numerous top-level running backs, even if last year was an uncharacteristic struggle. Tight ends coach Ty Howle was an assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator at Western Illinois before joining the Lions in an off-field role two seasons ago and eventually moving into his current job. His group must be better this fall, but there's reason for hope. Looking over Penn State's recent staffs, it was obviously a blow to lose Brent Pry, a top-flight defensive coordi- nator and longtime Franklin confidant who is now head coach at Virginia Tech. When you put it all together, though, there's a case to be made that Franklin has assembled the most complete top- to-bottom staff he's ever had at PSU. Be- cause of that, fans can reasonably expect the questions listed above to be answered in a satisfactory way. The task ahead is for coaches and players to make that a reality, starting at Purdue on Sept. 1. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM Staff Is Seeking Answers To Lions' Many Questions THE LAST WORD Penn State hired two new coordinators this offseason, bringing in Manny Diaz (above) to oversee the defense, and Stacy Collins to take charge of the special teams. Both have head coaching experience. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER