Blue White Illustrated

At a news conference Tuesday pre- viewing the start of spring football prac- tice, coach James Franklin got things started by rattling off a list of all the areas in which the Nittany Lions had made significant year-over-year improve- ments. He mentioned the strength and condi- tioning program, noting that "we're big- ger, we're faster, we're stronger." He talked about the team's practice routines, which are now familiar and require no re- introduction this spring. He talked about players' academic performance and community outreach efforts, both of which set records in the past year. His list of superlatives was long enough to ren- der the 2014 season, in which the Lions fielded one of the nation's best defenses but also one of its worst offenses and fin- ished above .500 by the thinnest possible margin, a distant memory. And now, with his second spring practice at Penn State set to begin Friday, Franklin is hopeful that the Lions will continue their ascent. "I think we've made great strides," he said. "I think from year one to year two is probably where you see the biggest strides. You probably won't see the same type of strides moving forward as you will from year one to year two. You want to keep growing and keep improving in year three and four and onward." Franklin was particularly pleased with players' performance during winter con- ditioning drills. He said 11 players were able to bench press 400 pounds, five more than last year. He said 23 players were able to power clean 325 pounds or more, compared to seven last year. He said 20 players ran a 4.59-second-or- better 40-yard dash, compared to five last year. "I think those are dramatic numbers," he said. "This is some stuff that is interesting." Midway through his presser, Franklin cited a tweet he saw last week that refer- enced Joe Paterno. The tweet noted that "Joe was here 62 years, and I was here 62 weeks." "So we've got a long way to go," Franklin said. "You want to be improving for 62 years in every aspect. It's putting a staff together. … It's developing a rela- tionship with our administration. It's de- veloping a relationship with our compliance staff. It's fundraising. It's fa- cilities. It's connecting with the commu- nity. You guys have heard me say this over and over again, the thing that makes Penn State special is our people, and we cannot do this alone. "For us to get this program back where everybody wants it to be, it's going to take the players, it's going to take the coaches, administration, alumni, former players and community. It's going to take the fans. That's the way to differentiate ourselves, and I believe that. "I think we're closer to that than we've been in a long time. But having an unbe- lievably supportive fan base, having the administration being unbelievably sup- portive like they have been, having the high school coaches in the region sup- port us and be excited about what's going on at Penn State, it's every aspect. There's not one aspect that's more im- portant than the other. "We have to wear a lot of hats. If you focus in one area too much, you're going to come short in other areas." Here's a look at some of Penn State's other spring storylines: POSITION CHANGES Senior Jordan Lucas is moving from cornerback, where he started the past two seasons, to safety. The Nittany Lions are thinner at safety than they were last year, owing to the de- parture of Adrian Amos, Ryan Keiser and Jesse Della Valle. Redshirt freshman Amani Oruwariye is making the same move, and will presumably be counted on to provide depth. Franklin said the Lions have also moved outside linebacker Jason Cabina inside, where he will compete for the middle linebacker position vacated by Mike Hull, last season's Big Ten tackling leader. In addition, punter Chris Gulla is mov- ing to place-kicker, where he will com- pete with walk-on Joey Julius for the starting spot. In high school, Gulla was more highly regarded as a place-kicker than as a punter, but he may have diffi- culty holding off Julius, whom Franklin referred to as "Big Toe." In addition, walk-on running backs Jack Haffner and Adam Geiger are mov- ing to linebacker and safety, respectively. Franklin said Haffner and Geiger will be playing primarily on kick-coverage units, and the moves were aimed at getting them defensive reps. "They want to have a huge role on special teams," Franklin M A R C H 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 5 Spring fever Franklin sees potential for improvement as spring practice gets under way F O O T B A L L READY TO ROLL Franklin is getting set to begin his second spring practice at Penn State. Photo by Patrick Mansell M A T T   H E R B   | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M SEE SPRING PAGE 12

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