Blue White Illustrated

he last of his Friday classes had just ended, and Penn State de- fensive tackle Brian Gaia was heading home for spring break when his phone rang. It was James Franklin, calling to tell him that by the time he returned, he might not be a defensive tackle anymore. "We're thinking about moving you to o.ense," Franklin said. "We're going to talk it over during spring break as a sta. and we'll let you know." Gaia told Franklin he would do whatever the team needed him to do. His proposed move to o.ense wasn't a hardship, nor was it much of a surprise. Everyone knew Penn State would have to rebuild its o.ensive line, and everyone knew, too, that the coaching sta. might have to raid its fully stocked defensive front to -ll some of the gaps on the opposite side of the ball. Gaia's roommate, Derek Dowrey, had made the same move a few weeks earlier, so it was clear that Franklin hadn't just been thinking out loud when he picked up the phone. The following Sunday, everything became o/cial. Gaia was handed a playbook shortly a0er returning to campus, and he spent an hour going over it with graduate assistant Tyler Bowen. The next day, he began his new career, manning a guard position in the -rst of Penn State's 15 spring practice sessions. It went surprisingly well. "I had a good scrimmage. I did better than I thought I was going to," Gaia said. "That night, I was like, 'I think you can actually do this. You can actually be a great play- er here.' " A 6-foot-3, 291-pound redshirt sophomore, Gaia is looking to help shore up an o.ensive front that will look very di.erent this fall, no matter how things shake out T | ON THE LINE PSU's retooled oensive front looks to silence the skeptics Laying it QUICK STEP Hand oversees an offensive line drill during the first day of pre- season practice. The Nittany Li- ons must fill four vacancies in their starting five this fall, with Donovan Smith the team's only re- turning starter up front. Photo by Patrick Mansell

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