Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544665
M A Y 2 0 2 6 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he storm is coming. Matt Camp- bell said so himself, using those exact words, during his presser following Penn State's open scrimmage on April 25. Campbell might be new to PSU and to the Big Ten, but he's not so naïve as to think that the generally positive vibes of March and April are going to translate directly into victories come September, October and beyond, even against a schedule that is widely perceived as one of the league's most favorable this year. Eve ryo n e i s u n d e - feated in spring practice, but how long can Penn State stay that way when there are other teams on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage? That's the ultimate question facing the Nittany Lions as they move into the next phase of their prepa- rations for Campbell's debut season, and no one knows the answer. All we know at this point is that the hard part hasn't even begun yet. "We're going to have adversity," Campbell said. "Are we a tight-knit football team? When the tough days come, can we fight through being down 14? Can we fight through a bad quarter? A bad half? The key to our success is go- ing to be, are we together enough to be able to fight through that?" Campbell was speaking metaphori- cally when he said the storm was com- ing, but to see him in that moment, one could be excused for thinking it was real and, in fact, had already arrived. He was soaking wet and was dabbing at his face with a towel in an attempt to dry off after an afternoon spent in rains of varying intensity. The dreary field conditions, coupled with the absence of many key players due to injuries and the reconfiguration of the customary game-like format into a series of drills, made it all but impossible for outsiders to assess the current state of the team. The Blue-White Game has never been particularly revealing at any point in its history, but this year's event was even more inscrutable than ever. However, in totality, Penn State came out of spring practice looking about as good as could be expected under the circumstances. The Nittany Lions ap- pear to be getting healthier at a number of key positions, the most notable be- ing the quarterback spot. They flashed some potential at a couple of position groups like linebacker and running back that have been under heavy scrutiny due to the team's massive personnel over- haul. And in general, they seem to be adapting well to the program's change in leadership. Campbell described the Lions' 15 spring practices as "really positive." Getting the base offense and defense in- stalled was a good starting point, and the coaches — 12 of whom are new to Penn State — had a chance to more fully evaluate the players they inherited from last year's roster. All that bodes well for the future, but, of course, the work is never done. Said Campbell, "The reality — and we all know this — is that the next 16 weeks of summer and fall camp are going to be critical for this team to grow themselves forward." 'You Have To Adapt' A big part of that growth process has been the merger of two separate teams. The Nittany Lions are bringing back 50 players from their 2025 roster, and they've added 40 transfers, 24 of them from Iowa State. The returning players knew the school but not the coaches. The transfers knew the coaches but not the school. That's not a formula for cohesion. One of the Nittany Lions' biggest con- cerns this offseason was that players wouldn't mesh together. It wasn't hard to imagine how cliques could form and resentments fester if the coaching staff were to be perceived as favoring the players they knew from their time to- gether in Ames. The staff knew that strong peer lead- ership would be needed to help bring the team together. That's where redshirt se- nior quarterback Rocco Becht came in. Becht was a team leader during his time with the Cy- clones. When he chose to follow Campbell, offen- sive coordinator Tayl o r M o u s e r and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters from Iowa State to Penn State, one of his priorities was to get everybody pulling in the same di- rection. There was just one problem: Becht was hurt. He had injured both shoulders during his junior season at Iowa State and was forced to undergo surgery in De- cember to repair a torn labrum in his left (nonthrowing) shoulder, a setback that forced him to miss a portion of the team's spring drills. The good news for Penn State was that Becht was able to put in plenty of off- field work with his new teammates and develop the sort of camaraderie that ev- ery team needs in order to excel in the fall. Campbell noted early in spring drills that Becht was frequently in the Lasch Building meeting with teammates on their own time. "What you love about Rocco is ev- ery day you walk past here at 4 o'clock and he's got the entire receiving corps, tight end corps, meeting with those guys and going over practice," Campbell said. "Those are the things you want to see." For Becht, a key part of the acclima- tion process involved listening rather than talking. "You have to adapt to the Penn State players who stayed, what they're teach- ing, what they're preaching," he ex- plained. "We had to adapt, kind of sit back a little bit and then follow their lead." Becht's injury added a degree of diffi- "We're going to have adversity. Are we a tight-knit football team? When the tough days come, can we fight through being down 14? Can we fight through a bad quarter? A bad half? The key to our success is going to be, are we together enough to be able to fight through that?" C A M P B E L L