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I S S U E very public compliments had managed to elude him. "I didn't know that he thought really highly of me, that's news to me," Amos said. "But, yeah, if the head coach loves you, that's a good thing." Franklin has his reasons. The leader of a secondary unit that has frequently been cited as one of the Nittany Lions' strengths, Amos has played in every game the past three seasons – 37 total – and has started 25 of them. Additionally, he earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors the past two seasons with a com- bined 94 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks to go along with his eight pass breakups and three interceptions. Those are impressive numbers, and yet, as Penn State cornerbacks coach Terry Smith explains, they don't quite sum up the skill set he brings to the 4eld and the advantages he provides the defense. "His athleticism is unparalleled," Smith said, noting that Amos is one of the team's fastest, strongest, most intelligent and most experienced players. "We have de- bates in our sta5 room on how many di5erent ways we can utilize him. He's a guy that clearly can play corner and be the best corner on the team. He can play strong safety and be the best strong safety. He can play free safety, he can play outside 'backer. So we're just trying to 4gure out where is the best place for our football team and for Adrian's success, because he can do it all." Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, who doubles as Penn State's safeties coach, is equally excited about Amos's potential impact this season. He said recently that the Baltimore native has both All-Big Ten and NFL potential. "He has a safety's body and corner's skill set," Shoop said. "You'll 4nd him all over the 4eld. He's embraced everything we are doing. He's been great. He and I have as good a relationship as any player I've ever coached, and I've really enjoyed getting to know him." Amos's versatility might seem like an unambiguous asset, but his ability to play multiple positions has not always worked to his advantage. Last season, for instance, he started the Nittany Lions' 4rst six games at safety before moving back to the cornerback spot he had played as a sophomore. In limbo between positions, unable to truly settle in at either spot, Amos didn't blossom into the standout performer so many had projected him to be leading into his junior year. Now that Franklin is in charge, the Nit- tany Lions are focused on taking maximum advantage Amos's assets. That means re- sisting the temptation to use him merely as a troubleshooter. "He's one of those talented guys who, if you're not careful, you just keep moving him around to solve problems for you. And he probably does that but doesn't end up having the impact that you'd like him to have," Franklin said. "I think if he committed to playing corner, he would be your best corner. If he committed to playing safety, he could be your best safety. And that's no disrespect to anybody else; I'm saying he could be in that argument. He's that talented of a guy in terms of big, strong, fast, great football IQ , all those types of things. "I can't really speak about last year, but I could see based on his skill set that if you're having an issue somewhere, he's an easy guy to move to that spot to solve it. I can't really speak a whole lot on what they did and why, but… the guy has got a pretty intriguing and interesting skill set." The same fate will not befall Amos this season, his coaches have assured. In their scheme, he will not be a jack of all trades. YEAR SOLO ASST TOTAL TFL SACK INT-YDS AVG TD PD FR-YDS TD FF 2011 9 4 13 0.0 0.0 1-46 46.0 0 5 0-0 0 0 2012 31 13 44 2.5 0.5 2-54 27.0 0 5 0-0 0 0 2013 32 18 50 4.0 2.5 1-0 0.0 0 5 0-0 0 0 Career 72 35 107 6.5 3.0 4-100 25.0 0 15 0-0 0 0 THE AMOS FILE

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