Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 5 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M meyer now stands, BWI caught up with him in mid-November to to discuss the coaching change, his conversations with the staff, and where he stands moving forward. B W I : W h a t we re yo u r i n i t i a l thoughts on Mike Yurcich being let go? How did you learn about Penn State's decision to part ways with him? ETHAN GRUNKEMEYER: It defi- nitely came as a surprise. I got on the phone with Coach O'Brien and Coach Franklin not long after it happened but before the news dropped. They explained the whole process to me and what is going to happen mov- ing forward. They were checking to make sure that I still felt comfortable with everything and were just trying to make sure we're still good moving forward. I told them right away that I'm still comfortable with them and that I'm committed to the program, to Coach Franklin and the rest of the people there. So, there wasn't too much change going on. I don't see anything ever really changing between me and them. I still love Penn State and want to be there. BWI: What have you been talking about with Penn State's staff in recent weeks? Has there been more commu- nication, or has it been the same as be- fore? I'm just curious to know if any- thing was different after the change. GRUNKEMEYER: I wouldn't say much has been different. After the first initial conversations, they said if I have any concerns, reach out. But everything has been normal with Coach Franklin and Danny and their whole staff. So, we're just moving forward and we keep building our relationship. Honestly, most of our talks have been about wrapping up my season and my film. … It's really been all of our normal communication. BWI: How important has Danny O'Brien been in all of this? I know you've communicated with him a lot. Everyone expects him to continue to be in that quarterbacks room moving forward. GRUNKEMEYER: He's been one of my main communicators throughout my entire recruitment. I definitely feel comfortable with him being the quar- terbacks coach, as of right now, and him still being in the room. That's another big thing, for sure, just knowing he's still going to be there. BWI: I assume other schools were reaching out to you after Yurcich was let go. I'm not going to press you on which schools, but is it fair to say some coaches were texting you, seeing where you stood? GRUNKEMEYER: Any text I got [in the week after Yurcich was fired], I just responded by saying that I'm still locked in with Penn State. I said that I appreciate them reaching out, but I'm keeping my word with them and I'm still 100 percent locked in. I'm happy with where I'm at right now and always want to stick with my word, which I made back in the summer. That's how I handled it with everyone. It wasn't a ton [of programs that reached out]. A lot of schools already have their commits. So, I couldn't really give you an exact number, but it was the same thing to all of them. I'm locked in. BWI: Let's switch to your senior season. You got knocked out of the playoffs with a loss to Springfield in the Region 2 semifinals, but you had an excellent senior year. You led Olen- tangy to its best season in about a de- cade. What did you take away from this year? GRUNKEMEYER: I thought we had a super-talented team coming into the year. I didn't want to make any ex- pectations coming into the year. Obvi- ously, you're always shooting for 10-0 going into the playoffs. Most importantly, looking back, the relationships I built with all my guys have been awesome, and that's some- thing I'll take with me for the rest of my life. I'm super thankful for all of those guys making this a special senior season with how it all went. I wish we were still playing, but now I get to start training before I get on campus soon. BWI: Are there any areas of your game where you felt you made big im- provements this year? When you com- pare your senior season to your junior year, where do you think you made the biggest strides? GRUNKEMEYER: Staying more calm in the pocket was huge. I felt like when I was un- der pressure, I wasn't trying to get out of the pocket so quickly. Instead, I was stepping up and making some big-time throws. I thought that's something I def- initely improved on this year, just my overall comfort in the pocket. I'm super happy with how I improved there. I'm still grow- ing and improving and learning. It's all a process, but I felt like I improved a lot there. BWI: What's the plan moving for- ward? You've been working with quar- terbacks coach Brad Maendler. I as- sume that will continue over the next few weeks before you enroll at Penn State in January. GRUNKEMEYER: I took this week off from throwing, but I started work- ing out again, and I'm getting back into full swing with that. I'll be working out five or six times a week. I plan to work with Brad at least once or twice a week. I'll also be getting ready for the Under Armour All-America Game [Jan. 3 in Orlando]. Once I head out to that, it pretty much just rolls right into enroll- ing at Penn State and getting to work with those guys. ■ "Any text I got [in the week after Yurcich was fired], I just responded by saying that I'm still locked in with Penn State. I said that I appreci- ate them reaching out, but I'm keeping my word with them and I'm still 100 percent locked in." G R U N K E M E Y E R