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ing out of the tunnel, with 68,000 fans in Beaver Stadium, he was overtaken with a sense of bewilderment. Tight end Kyle Carter looked over to him and said, This is nothing. Wait until game day. "He wasn't lying," Palmer soon found out, saying the size of the crowds in PSU's and other opponents' stadiums was something "I definitely had to overcome." "I never played in front of more than, I'd say, 400 people, maybe," he added. "To go from that to 100,000, it's definitely a step, but I can say from experience that I didn't really put everything in perspective when I first got here. I was wide-eyed and was still amazed about what I was doing [at] practices and stuff like that. That's why that would be my best piece of advice for [incoming players]: Don't let it overwhelm you." With a freshman class arriving June 25, Palmer intends to call upon those struggles from a year ago to help assist the younger players along the way. "Another piece of advice that I would give to those freshmen coming to any D-I program is, It's just college," he said. "Don't let the fact that you're on the bigger stage have you wide-eyed and amazed and let it overwhelm you. At the end of the day you're going to play football. You're going to still have to go to class. You're going to still have to do the things that you've been doing [in order] to be successful. It's just college. It's just football. Don't let it over- whelm you. Don't let it get into your mind that it may be too big for you, because that right there, once you let those thoughts creep into your head, it's going to be a long, hard journey for you." They're rules of thumb that he intends to keep in mind himself this season. He'll look to build upon a season in which the offensive line allowed a Big Ten-worst 39 sacks, including 10 in Palmer's college debut. A few of those were attributable to the newcomer who many had hoped would be a savior of sorts after a 2014 season in which the line surrendered 44 sacks. Perhaps, however, it takes some time to adjust. In addition to the more assured mindset from Palmer this year, he has also worked to polish his technique in pass sets and run blocking. Anthony Zettel took him under his wing throughout the 2015 season, often staying late after practice to show Palmer what kind of weaknesses D-line- men like him look to exploit. In addition, many of Palmer's closest friends on the current squad – Torrence Brown, Antoine White and Curtis Cothran, to name a few – practice across the line of scrimmage from him, so they're always sure to point out any tweaks that he could make to his game. Asked if there's some- thing specific he's focused on this off- season, Palmer replied, "I'm looking to improve on everything. I don't think I'm a master of one thing yet, so I feel like if I can just try to keep it in perspective that I don't have anything down pat yet [the improvement will continue]. So I just try to focus on everything, the little stuff, the technique. Zettel will tell me that I have a great punch because I have long arms and I'm athletic, but sometimes my eyes [are in the wrong spot]." In the weight room this off-season, Palmer plans to continue adding weight to his lengthy frame. He's playing this spring between 302 and 304 pounds, sim- ilar to what he was listed at in the fall. But once summer begins, he intends to pack on more weight, the goal being to increase his body mass by at least 10 pounds before the opener. "I'm hoping to be playing around 315 this season," Palmer said. "Right now we're just trying to maintain this weight right here, because there's a lot more ac- tivity in the spring than there is in the summer. So we're figuring that we can definitely pile on a lot more pounds in the summer." Although his weight isn't much different this spring than it was last fall, the coaches are noticing a change. Said Franklin, "Paris Palmer is a different guy right now. He just is. Physically he is different. His con- fidence is way different." Palmer and teammates agree, and there's optimism that he'll make substantial strides in his second year, especially with Joe Moorhead and Matt Limegrover im- plementing what has been labeled as "an offensive lineman-friendly" system. But no matter how comfortable he is feeling these days, he still takes the time to soak it in. Which means he's still one of the last guys out of the locker room, like he was when he first got here. "You know what? I actually am, now that I think about it," laughed Palmer. "But now I just take long because I don't rush to get out of there. I don't think it has anything to do with being wide-eyed anymore. I think it's just because I like to take my time." ■ Franklin names Leadership Council Twenty-four players have been named to the Nittany Lion football team's Leadership Council, coach James Franklin announced in March. The council, which is comprised of 12 seniors, six juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen, serves as the voice for the team. "I am very excited about our Leader- ship Council this year," Franklin said. "They are a group of guys who are what we look for in Penn State football student-athletes and represent our four core values on a daily basis. The Leadership Council gives the team a strong voice with their teammates and our coaching staff." This year's Leadership Council members are: seniors Brandon Bell, Derek Dowrey, Brian Gaia, Gregg Gar- rity, Malik Golden, Wendy Laurent, Paris Palmer, Evan Schwan, Jordan Smith, Von Walker, Nyeem Wartman- White and Tyler Yazujian; juniors Ja- son Cabinda, Chris Godwin, Grant Ha- ley, DaeSean Hamilton, Andrew Nel- son and Garrett Sickels; sophomores Saquon Barkley, Trace McSorley, John Reid and Nick Scott; and freshmen Ryan Bates and Tommy Stevens. The Leadership Council meets at least twice a month in Franklin's of- fice.

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