Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507572
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3 3 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M believe Dennis-Sutton will soon start to post the kind of numbers that raise his profile nationally. He's worked tirelessly behind the scenes, and those who know him best, particularly the offensive line- men he's been battling in practice such as junior tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu, can easily envision his dedication paying off this fall. "I'm really excited about Dani," Fashanu said. "I'm excited about our entire D-line, but I think Dani is really going to be special. There's just some- thing about him. He has some sort of motivation where he's not willing to let anyone outwork him. If we're not on the field, he's literally in the weight room. I think he's going to have a breakout sea- son this year." The way Dennis-Sutton sees it, there isn't much choice but to put in that kind of work. If he wants to unlock his full potential, it's mandatory. "I think at this level, you have to do that," he said. "If you just do the aver- age practice, you're going to get average results. At Penn State University, we're not trying to be average. And if you are average, you're probably not going to get on the field. So, I'm just trying to find any little advantage to get on the field." Although he said he's laid-back in other aspects of his life, Dennis-Sut- ton has quickly developed a reputation for intensity when it comes to football, whether in games, on the practice field or in the weight room. He said Barnes "calls me crazy all the time," and while it might seem difficult to toggle back and forth between the different facets of his personality, it's become second nature to Dennis-Sutton. "I think every guy has that switch in him," he said. "When I get to unleash that, it's super fun." ■ Just before spring practice started in March, Penn State hired one of its football alumni, Deion Barnes, to take charge of the defensive line. The Nittany Lions had to move quickly after assistant coach John Scott Jr. abruptly left the program to accept a job with the NFL's Detroit Lions. Scott's exit put head coach James Franklin in a less-than-ideal spot, since the postseason hiring binge was over by that point. But after nine sea- sons at the helm of Penn State's program and three as the head coach at Vanderbilt before that, Franklin had hit a few curveballs out of the park and was determined to do it again. He didn't panic. Instead, Franklin interviewed candidates from both the college and NFL levels. None could beat out Barnes, who had been serving as a graduate assistant at Penn State and had recently been promoted to a full-time analyst role. Recounting his decision earlier this summer, Franklin said that Barnes didn't necessarily have a leg up just because he was an internal candidate. The initial conversation between the two coaches was "probably one of those interviews where you [talk to] somebody to basically cover your bases," Franklin said. "We interviewed him and a bunch of established college and NFL coaches, and he blew them all away. He dominated the interview. From that point on, I started looking at Deion as a legit candidate for this posi- tion." The big question mark on Barnes' resume was his lack of recruiting expe- rience as a full-time assistant. He had coached on the field during his tenure as a graduate assistant at Penn State. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator at Northeast High in Philadelphia. That experience gave Franklin a feel for how he would fare in his role as a teacher of the defensive line positions. It did not, however, address the question of whether he would be able to battle the nation's top programs for championship-level defensive line talent. Convinced that Barnes was the right man for the job, Franklin took a leap of faith that he would prove to be a capable recruiter. Since Barnes was hired, Penn State has received verbal commitments from six prospects who could end up playing along the defensive line in college, including Liam Andrews of the Dexter School in Brookline, Mass., a four-star player in the On3 Industry Ranking and the No. 87 overall pros- pect nationally. Barnes' strength is that he does not try to be someone he's not. He an- swers recruits' questions in a straightforward manner. If he doesn't have the answer to a question, he doesn't try to bluff his way through. Barnes projects honesty and a genuine passion for the game, qualities that re- cruits can relate to. "I just be myself," Barnes explained. "The person I am on an everyday basis is the same person I'm going to be when I talk to recruits. I'm going to relate in some way, and I'm not trying to sell anything. "This is who I am. If you like who I am, if you like where we are, and what this university can do for you, and what you can do for this university, those are the guys who are going to come here." — Greg Pickel Deion Barnes Fits Right In As Leader Of PSU's Defensive Line Barnes had been a graduate assistant for the Nittany Lions before being promoted to a full-time coaching position in March. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER