Blue White Illustrated

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 M A R C H 1 4 P R E S S E R You lost three really good players on the defensive line, and you also lost a key backup in Tarow Barney. When you look at the defensive tackle posi- tion, who are some guys you think might be able to step up this spring and later this summer, and where does a kid like Kevin Givens factor into the equation? Yeah, they are going to have to factor in. Obviously, we did some things in re- cruiting. Those guys are going to have to factor in when they show up. But for the spring, you look at Antoine White. He's been a guy who really is the model that you would like, a guy who's sat behind some veterans and been able to get some game experience and build some confidence as he's matured over time. [Robert] Windsor is a guy who on scout team really kind of opened some eyes and really caused some struggles on the scout team and really is a com- petitive, powerful kid. You look at Ka- monte Carter, who was a high school quarterback and now I think he's 305 pounds and maturing in a lot of differ- ent ways. Curtis Cothran is the one I think a lot of people are intrigued by. We are mov- ing him to defensive tackle and people are saying, I don't really understand that. Well, I remember a lot of the same discussions about [Anthony] Zettel, when we first moved Zettel, and that worked out OK. I'm not necessarily say- ing Curtis is going to be Zettel, but he is a long, powerful athletic guy. He's 270 pounds right now and still looks skinny. We obviously still need him and Kevin Givens to put some weight on before camp. But we feel comfortable that's going to happen. So you've got Curtis and you've got Givens. The guy who I kind of have a man crush on right now – as you guys know, every year there seems like there's one guy who we talk about a lot – is [Ryan] Monk. This Monk guy, I'm telling you, his work ethic, his attitude, his demeanor are unbelievable. I'm re- ally, really proud of him. I think he's a great example for our entire team about how, when you get an opportunity, you take it and you run with it. He's done great in the weight room. He was a pain to deal with on the scout team. He is as driven and as motivated as any guy that I've been around. Carl Nassib and a lot of the guys who came even before Carl have started a tra- dition for some of these walk-ons. Carl used to throw the "U" up in practice all the time. His deal was that this was "Walk-On U." That's what he used to say. He had this little following of other walk- ons who looked at what Carl was able to do and embraced it. I think Monk's that type of guy. So he's another guy who I think is going to factor in for us. So we've got those six guys in there and we're excited to see what they are going to do this spring, and then there's going to be obviously a large number of guys coming in during the summer, as well. Some of those guys are going to have to factor in. You installed new offenses as a head coach and coordinator. What have been maybe one or two of the most important things you've seen that helped smooth out that transition? A couple things. I think one of the things that helps is that even last year, the last two years, we taught concepts, and Joe [Moorhead] teaches concepts. So although everybody is focused on this being a new offense – and it is – it's not like Joe is coming in here and run- ning plays that have never been run be- fore in college football or the NFL. Everybody's running the same plays. You're running inside zone, you're run- ning outside zone, you're running power, you're running horizontal stretch, you're running vertical stretches, you're running high-lows, or whatever it may be. But I think the important part is how you package things, how you comple- ment things and how you're able to take things that may seem complex and make them seem easy to other people. And Joe has got a really good way of in- stalling things and making it look like you're doing a lot of things when you're really not. Tempo helps with that. For- mations help with that. We're not a big motion team, but I think Joe's got a re- ally good feel for his system and how one thing complements the next. I think that one of the important things is how you install it from day one [and ensuring] that the guys have a chance to go out and be successful. Where the art comes is, how much do you give them? Do you give them too much on day one and [run the risk that] they don't have success and aren't confident? Or do you give them too little? That's where the art comes, finding that blend right in be- tween the two of them. From what I've seen, I feel really good about that. I think the other thing is Joe's passion for his offense and him being a former head coach. If you look at football com- pared to a lot of other sports, the coach- to-player ratio is completely different. SPRING FEVER Franklin fields questions dur- ing a news conference previewing the Nittany Lions upcoming spring practice sessions. Photo by Patrick Mansell M A R C H 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 9

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