Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1496986
1 6 M A Y 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Sitting Down With Redshirt Senior Guard Sal Wormley Redshirt senior guard Sal Wormley be- lieves he has a specific responsibility this spring to help a youthful group of Nittany Lion offensive linemen take the next step in their careers. Wormley enters his fifth year in the program with plenty of talent and wis- dom following his best season to date. He became a full-time starter in 2022 after missing the entire 2021 campaign due to an unspecified offseason injury. One of four offensive players to start all 13 games (center Juice Scruggs, tight end Brenton Strange and quarterback Sean Clifford were the others), Wormley developed into an honorable mention All-Big Ten choice at guard. A 6-foot-3, 313-pounder from Newark, N.J., Wormley will man that spot again when the 2023 season begins in Septem- ber. But first, he and the team's other vet- eran offensive linemen — fourth-year ju- nior tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu, redshirt senior tackle Caedan Wallace and super senior center Hunter Nourzad — are look- ing to use the team's offseason drills as an opportunity to better themselves and the younger players in offensive line coach Phil Trautwein's room. Included in that group of up-and- coming linemen are January enrollees J'ven Williams, Alex Birchmeier and An- thony Donkoh. "I know the routine, and I know the things you've got to do. Right now, I'm re- ally focused on my fundamentals and also trying to get the young guys in tune and get them ready to go as fast as possible," Wormley said. "Being an older guy in the room, it's part of my responsibility to help out Coach Traut when it comes to coaching these young guys. He's only one person. So me, Caedan, Olu, Hunter, we've all got to come together to help Traut coach these young guys." Wormley recently took the time to talk to reporters about how spring practice has been going for him and the offensive line as a whole. BWI: In what ways do you think you've been able to help mentor the young Penn State offensive linemen so far? WORMLEY: "Say somebody misses on a combo block. When we're watch- ing the tape in our individual meetings, I can easily tell them to look at how I did it and just repeat the steps. Or if someone is having trouble with something, I can help. "The younger guys already come up to me anytime they're struggling with a play or they don't know what to do. They just come up to me and ask questions, and I answer them as easy as possible so they can understand it better." BWI: What does it mean to you that the Penn State offensive line has received so much praise this offseason? WORMLEY: "I feel like the O-line still has a lot of work to do. We made a big improvement last season, but that was last season. We've got new guys, so our main focus is just to keep the improve- ment going. Keep that physicality. Keep being smart, keep playing disciplined and just keep imposing our will." BWI: How have you improved this off- season? WORMLEY: "Probably with my lead- ership and taking that responsibility. Juice is gone now. He was really that guy in our room, our core. With him going, me, Caedan, Olu, Landon [Tengwall], Hunter, we're all trying to pick up the pieces of where he left off and really get the room pushing in the right direction." BWI: What have you seen from J'ven Williams? And why is his nickname "Meatball"? WORMLEY: "J'ven — Meatball — is extremely athletic. That's one of the most athletic guys I've seen since I've been here. He just has to get the playbook down. "Once he gets the playbook down, I feel like he'll be a high contender to play. [In- terior lineman] Nick Dawkins gave him that name. His head kind of looks like a meatball." After being forced to sit out the 2021 season with an injury, Sal Wormley returned last fall and became one of the Nittany Lions' most dependable players. Manning the right guard position, the Newark, N.J., native started all 13 games for Penn State, one of four offensive players to do so. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE