Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
6 4 A U G U S T 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 / / / / / / / 2 0 2 3 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / A bdul Carter is not the same player as Micah Parsons. Manny Diaz is not the same defensive coordina- tor as Brent Pry. And yet, as Carter and Diaz both prepare for their second season at Penn State, it's hard to avoid the similarities between their col- laborative relationship and the work that their predecessors did together a few years earlier. Carter and Parsons are both Pennsylvania natives who thrived as freshmen while wearing the famed No. 11 jersey, setting up big ex- pectations as sopho- mores. Both possess freakish speed for their size and are sure tacklers who can overcome mistakes with their athleti- cism while cleaning up others' miscues with ease. As for Diaz and Pry, they both have a knack for using baseball as a reference point. During his tenure as Penn State's defensive coordinator from 2016 to '21, Pry often said he wanted his unit to be strong up the middle, just as a baseball team needs to be. Diaz, who took charge of PSU's defense last season after Pry left to become head coach at Virginia Tech, inadvertently picked up on this theme Abdul Carter works to decode opposing offenses, knowing his success in that area holds the key to the next stage in his development G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G. P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Knowledge Knowledge Is Power Is Power