Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 31 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T H E O F F E N S E / / / / / / / wanting to give our guys time to let loose and be kids and go fish and golf and do stuff. You want those guys to be able to reload. But at the same time, with us going into Year 1, we have to make sure we're building the chemistry, and we prob- ably used more of an NFL model than we've done in the past, just to get our guys reps where they're communicat- ing and getting the chemistry together, giving those guys different tests in the classroom and then making them go out there and line up versus different looks and talk and communicate. We've installed slowly throughout the summer and tried to really dig into the details. That way, when it's not per- fect and [the coaches aren't] out there, those guys have the trust in each other to make it work. BWI How has that process gone so far? MOUSER Really good. We're chal- lenging the older guys and challenging the new guys to just hold everybody ac- countable to an elite level. … We have the coaches on defense give them a lot of exotic looks. I play the Sam, and [of- fensive line coach Ryan] Clanton plays up front, and [running backs coach Sa- von] Huggins is one of the lineback- ers. We throw a lot of stuff at them and make them talk. I've been impressed with their com- mitment. We've challenged those guys to study this stuff before they get here, because we don't have a ton of meeting time. You get a half-hour meeting to go through a couple of things. We want those guys to be pros and take pride in how they do everything. BWI What would you say is the nature or personality of your Penn State of- fense? MOUSER First and foremost, I tell people we're like a spread pro offense. It's the same kind of thing you see when you watch the Rams or the Niners or the Eagles. We want to be in the gun most of the time, but we want to be under center for probably 30 percent of the offense and be able to mix and match between that and being a multi- personnel, multi-tempo offense where we're no-huddle but we don't go super, super fast. We're old school. We want to run the football. We want to win the time of possession. We take a lot of pride in be- ing in the top of our conference or being in the top of the country. Coach Camp- bell cares about it, so I care about it, and the team cares about it. With that, you have to be physical up front. You have to be nasty. You have to be detailed. We won a lot of games at Iowa State not because we were better than a lot of the people we played, but because we found a way to do things better than they were done before. We've got to be the best at all the things that take no talent, and then you can put a little bit more on those guys. BWI How have you been able to put your own stamp on this offense? MOUSER It's about being creative with the personnel that you use and how you do it and when you do it situation- ally. … We're going to be unique, and it's not going to work all the time. You hope that it does most of the time. The most important part is to give our guys the opportunity to go execute whatever it is, whether it's a trick play or a quarterback sneak. We got really good at the quarterback sneak the last couple years, so now what are our wrinkles go- ing to be off of that? We have a bunch of different ones. But situationally, I think we've been different the past two years than we were before. BWI When Rocco Becht runs the ball on those sneaks, you look at it and go, how did he get those yards? He's not a big guy, he's not overly physical, but he seems like he's a great runner. If he needs 6 yards, he's going to get 7. Is that something you identified in him and wanted to emphasize? MOUSER I think we're just better with the ball in his hands. And he's so competitive. He knows exactly what he's got to get. If you go watch that Pop-Tarts Bowl against Miami [in 2024], the last drive, it's third down and the right guard gets beat bad. He's in the backfield and spins out [of an attempted tackle], makes the guy miss, extends the drive. Then he goes and scores [the go-ahead touchdown in a 42-41 comeback win]. A lot of it was just him extending plays. He's far more athletic than people think. We're going to run that guy a lot more than we probably did before, be- cause we're better with the ball in his hands, and it's his last year. I want to give him as many different ways as we can to go win football games. BWI What are your personal goals long-term? Do you want to be a head coach someday? MOUSER I've gotten that question a lot more than I did before. I think at some point I would like to, but I really like wearing an old T-shirt and being able to come and go and eat lunch with the tight ends. I like being a position coach more than I like being an offensive coordi- nator. I didn't really even try to be the offensive coordinator. I've been with Campbell for a long time, and we talked about it. It worked, and I've always just tried to be where my feet are. At some point, if it happens, awe- some. But if I could sign a lifetime con- tract to be with Coach Campbell forever and be here and ride my bike to work every day and take my kids to Wing Fest and be at Penn State and never leave, I would sign it tomorrow. ■ "We're old school. We want to run the football. We want to win the time of possession. We take a lot of pride in being in the top of our conference or being in the top of the country. Coach Campbell cares about it, so I care about it, and the team cares about it." M O U S E R