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C O A C H S P E A K | E X C E R P T S F R O M J A M E S F R A N K L I N ' S W E E K LY P R E S S E R Adam Breneman is not one of the three tight ends listed on your depth chart. Is that because of performance or because he's not 100 percent healthy? Adam's a great guy. He's a great stu- dent, great family, was one of the most highly recruited players to come to Penn State. As we all know, he had some is- sues in high school. He's had some is- sues since he's been at Penn State. But we're supporting Adam every step of the way, supporting him academically where he's killing it, doing extremely well. He's graduating, I think, from the business school in two and a half to three years, doing extremely well, and he's got some challenges that he needs to overcome on the football Eeld. As you guys know, I usually don't get into [in- jury reports]. I think it's Adam's busi- ness. I think it's Adam's family's business, and we're just here to support him in every way we possibly can. So I hope we leave it at that. How has Andre Robinson's camp been and what do you see from him so far? Good. Really, really good. I made the comment before: I think we probably have 12 to 16 other freshmen [who] I think we could legitimately play this year and could win from week one. You know, some of those guys that started right now, as we've all heard those dis- cussed as reds; they could change to yellows or could go from yellows to greens real quickly. He's had a great camp. He's got great vision. He's got re- ally, really good balance. He's got an ex- tremely strong lower body – extremely. He does not go down easy whatsoever. But there's still some areas that he needs to improve. But I expect him to have a really bright future here. He's doing great socially. He's doing great academically, laying a really good foun- dation for future success. What were the most important things you saw from Chris Godwin that helped him earn the starting job? The thing that probably stands out the most is the things that we see every day that the media and the fans and even our opponents don't get to see. He is a very, very, very intelligent young man on the Eeld and oA. He's a very, very mature young man. That's what allowed him to play as a true freshman last year, not just his physical ability, but his ma- turity and how he handles himself. I think all those things are showing up even more this year. He ended the sea- son with a real strong bowl game, as we all know. But you know, if you had a list of characteristics that you were looking for – body type, speed, hands, maturity, intelligence, all those types of things – he's going to have a checkmark in al- most every single one of those boxes. He gets it. He really does. He's really doing well in school. He's maximizing his opportunities in the community and on the football Eeld. I've just been re- ally, really pleased with him. You know, I saw his family here recently and tried to convince them to have more children. I think you guys have heard me say this before, but maybe send them on a ro- mantic vacation to the Poconos or At- lantic City or something like that, because he is a sharp, sharp kid. It's not easy raising kids nowadays, and they've done a great job laying a foundation for him. How did you see the rest of the of- fense blend with Christian Hacken- berg this year? I feel much better about it, and I see Christian so much more relaxed and so much more conEdent right now as a player and as a leader because of that. He's really taken control of the oAense and that side of the ball. We've also spent a lot of time talking about our captains being the captains of our whole team and not just on oAense and defensive special teams, but be willing to lead across this side of the ball as well. But I do, I think you look at our wide receivers, all those guys are back. The depth, the body types, the talent, the athleticism that we have, the un- derstanding of the oAense and their re- sponsibilities – I feel good about that. Same thing at tight end. Feel really good about the play makers that we have there. [Mike] Gesicki played last year as a true freshman; now he's a veteran. On our team he's a veteran. He's 255 pounds now, is much more conEdent in playing and fulElling the complete role of a tight end. I feel really good about our running back situation. I think Akeel [Lynch] gives us a veteran presence, but we have four really hungry guys behind him that S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 12 PSUtixman@gmail.com www.PSUtixman.com Get your PSU Football Tickets at go t ti cke t s? k c i t t t e k PSUtixman@gmail.com .PSUtixman.com www www.PSUtixman.com at PSU Football T Get your k c i t t o PSUtixman@gmail.com .PSUtixman.com PSU Football T Get your s t s e k SEE FRANKLIN PAGE 14

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