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lot of ways. So it's good to be out there with my teammates and back out there with the tight ends and run around and learn the playbook. I know the playbook, but until you get fast reps in a practice or a game setting, it's a lot different. Being out there doing that kind of stuff has been good." Breneman continued to train last fall even though he was taking a medical redshirt. Out of necessity, his weightlifting regimen was geared to- ward building upper-body strength, and he said he improved his bench press by 60 pounds. He said that even though he initially lost weight after his surgery, he is actually about 10 pounds heavier than he was a year ago, weighing about 255 pounds this spring. That added weight figures to help him with the blocking responsibilities that James Franklin has focused on during the off-season. The coaching staff was dissatisfied with the tight ends' block- As far as James Franklin is concerned, there's no such thing as too much lead- ership. With that in mind, the Nittany Lions' second-year coach has formed the Leadership Council, a group consist- ing of 25 members of the Penn State football team representing all four class- es. The group's job will be to "bring a va- riety of different views to the table," Franklin said, as well as to reinforce the program's four core values: positive atti- tude, strong work ethic, competitive spirit and a willingness to sacrifice. The Leadership Council will meet at least twice a month in Franklin's office. "To me, there's never enough leader- ship," he said. "There's never enough people I can hold accountable. Not only for what's going on in the weight room or locker room, but more importantly, what's going on Saturday night, what's going on when they're out together. We talk about those things all the time. To me, it's imperative for where we want to go." The Leadership Council includes 13 seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen. This year's members are: seniors Matt Baney, Tarow Barney, Kyle Carter, Da'Quan Davis, Jordan Du- das, Brandon Johnson, Ben Kline, Jordan Lucas, Angelo Mangiro, Carl Nassib, Trevor Williams, Matt Zanellato and Anthony Zettel; juniors Brandon Bell, Christian Hackenberg, Austin Johnson, Akeel Lynch and Nyeem Wartman; sophomores Adam Breneman, Jason Cabinda, Grant Haley, DaeSean Hamil- ton and Andrew Nelson; and freshmen Trace McSorley and Troy Reeder. While seniors comprise more than half of the group, the younger classes also feature a number of players who have exhibited strong leadership characteris- tics. Breneman, for example, was hailed for his leadership when, as a verbally committed prospect, he helped hold Penn State's 2013 recruiting class to- gether in the wake of the NCAA's harsh sanctions against the program. "It's hard to be a leader when you come in as a true freshman," he said. "You can't really say much. You've got the seniors, and it's their team. But toward the end of my freshman season, I felt I was taking on a little bit of a leadership role within my class and within the of- fense. It obviously wasn't the leadership role that John Urschel and those [se- niors] had, but I was trying to lead by ex- ample." Breneman said that being voted onto the Leadership Council was "a great honor, because that's your teammates doing that for you. It's the ultimate sign of respect. "Coach Franklin talks all the time about the ultimate team- mate, a guy who does everything the right way and has a great attitude, follows the core values," he added. "That's what I try to be for my team- mates. I'm just trying to go out there and do everything I can to help this team win. I love these teammates and I can't wait to do whatever I can to help them win in the fall." F O O T B A L L Leadership Council to amplify players' voice PLAYER- FOCUSED Franklin will meet with the Leadership Council at least twice a month in his office. Photo by Bill Anderson

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