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P R E V I E W it physiologically and just be like, Oh, yeah, my shoulder ripped out of socket and my Achilles tore in half. I mean, it is what it is. It is poor timing, but, you know, it's part of it. I know you never want to be out, but did that extra year of rest help your shoulders heal up even more? Yeah, I think so. It's been basically al- most a year and a half since my shoulder surgeries, so I think having that extra time, hopefully, will be helpful. (Knocks on the wooden table.) And they'll help me stay healthy at least as far as the shoulders go. [Penn State's training sta7] does a real- ly good job of making sure that every- thing is well-balanced. Especially with the timing of [the Achilles injury], it was- n't like we were pushing it to come back. So they did a really good job of making sure everything was balanced out as we moved through the process, and that in- cluded my shoulders, because my shoul- ders still weren't 100 percent healthy when I did my Achilles. So they did a re- ally good job of saying, "Well, this hap- pened. Let's turn it around the best we can. Let's turn it into the best positive we can. Let's try to make sure we've got everything else taken care of so when you're back, you're ready to go." What are some of the exercises you did for the Achilles? Di7erent types of calf raises. Di7erent types of running and progressing the running from straightforward stu7 to linear-reaction. So it's all one big pro- gression from doing nothing right a8er surgery until you're going back to full- speed and picking up those little steps along the way. Are you at what you'd call 100 per- cent now? I'm feeling really good. They've done a really good job of staying on top of it. I would say there are going to be some bumps and bruises along the way, but as far as major injuries, I feel really good. Speaking of those young guys, they get to play Pitt in a couple of years. If I remember right, you were once com- mitted to Pitt early in your recruiting process. Is there a part of you that wishes you'd still be around to play in that series? I've been around long enough (laughs). Five years is plenty of time. However, that will be a pretty cool game, and I'm sure that when the time comes there will be a lot of excitement for that. Where do you envision yourself be- ing then? I try not to plan ahead too much. I just kind of go with the 6ow and see what happens. We'll see how it goes down the line. School is going really well, and I'm really excited for how that's going to pan out, hopefully. So we'll see what hap- pens. ■ 38 SPECIAL Kline gets pointers from assistant coach Terry Smith during a prac- tice in late March. Photo by Tim Owen

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