Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/480817
these things. We're excited about the guys we have now and what they're going to be able to bring to the table. I know they're hungry. When you look at the le# tackle po- sition, how do you address that going into the spring? Do you intend to move somebody? Can you count on a redshirt to make an impact there? I think we're going to have to. We re- ally don't have any other choice. The guys we're kind of looking at right now are [Albert] Hall, [Paris] Palmer, [Chance] Sorrell and [Sterling] Jenkins. That doesn't mean that [Andrew] Nel- son couldn't go do that as well. Right now you're looking at those guys. Sorrell is a guy who was a little bit limited at morning workouts, missed some time. We're excited about him. Those are four guys we feel really good about. You guys know how I feel about Hall. Love the guy. When I got the job last year, he was a 238-pound tight end. I think he's about 292 pounds right now. You have five or six walk-on kick- ers. Where do you feel you stand at that position? Any guys who have stood out to you going into the spring this year? [Chris] Gulla is not going to punt. He's going to focus on kicking. He came in as a kicker and moved to punt to try to get an opportunity to get on the field. He feels more comfortable as a kicker. [Daniel] Pasquariello and [Robby] Liebel are competing for that [punting] job. Liebel's probably the most athletic guy we have in terms of weight room. He ran in the 4.6s, did some nice things, is powerful and strong. I think those two guys are going to battle for that spot. I think they're two legitimate guys. If you're talking about kicking, [the focus is on Joey] Julius, or as the guys call him, Big Toe. Big Toe is about 5-9, 278 pounds now, can kick it out of the end zone. He punches at the ball, but the ball really jumps off his foot. He ended this season with tremendous confidence. We would do competitions at the end of practice and he was im- pressive, really impressive. From what I hear from the guys, Gulla is really hit- ting the ball well. So I'm excited to see those guys. Last year you talked a lot about building a team around Christian Hackenberg, giving him the help he needed. As the guys around him get more experience, what do you want to see from him during the spring? I want Christian to be able to work on his development and his role in this of- fense, fundamentals, technique, under- standing of the schemes, being demonstrative with other offensive players about how specifically he wants a route run, what we're doing in protec- tion and why, checking out of runs into passes or passes into runs. I think that's probably one of the things that's most valuable. Christian is going to be able to take this offense and these players, and with the coaches' help and support, really get a lot of work done this off‑season. 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 9