Penn State Sports Magazine
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for the camp. We've got a tremendous strength staff that does a great job with those guys. We've got some good leader- ship on the unit. I tell them, we've got to win phase three. You've got to win it as an individual, you've got to win it as a unit. That's what we can control. Your time over here on these fields and in this building, you've got to win it. If you BS through a meeting, you didn't win it, you lost it. If you BS through a workout, you lost it. It's hard for us to win as a unit when we've got guys losing individ- ually. We've got a good group, though. They're very much bought in right now. I'd say our chemistry as a team is at an all-time high. BWI You lost some "erasers" on the defensive line but seem to have some in the defensive backfield. How can you create a scheme that accentuates that defensive strength moving from the front four to the back? PRY That's part of shaping your iden- tity. I think that's another area where it's important as coaches that you recognize what your strengths are. We've got to see, are we going to be able to rush four as much as we did the past two years? Maybe we can. We've got a lot of faith in [Evan] Schwan and Torrence Brown and [Garrett] Sickels. Parker Cothren I think could be a sleeper and really surprise some people. We've got some young guys who are certainly talented and we've seen it, how quickly they mature. All of a sudden, you could have a guy sneak up as a redshirt freshman and have a heckuva year for you. I think everybody was surprised by the produc- tion Anthony Zettel had our first year. Carl Nassib was certainly a surprise. Part of the fun of this thing is that there are guys who emerge. You have known commodities, but every team has those guys who are right there under the radar ready to go. Guys who are hungry and talented. And we've recruited well. We're young, but I think it's an exciting time. I think we've got some young players who are hungry and anxious and have pre- pared well to this point to take advan- tage of their opportunity. Sometimes you have erasers who, if your ultimate goal is just to be a good defense or be a great defense, sometimes it's two or three erasers who help you get there. Sometimes, maybe it's one eraser but the other ten are just darn solid. There are different makeups and different for- mulas that allow you to play great de- fense. I'm sure there have been some years where it's been the plan. You won a game or two because you just had a great plan and the offense didn't adjust well and you win a game with lesser talent. And to me, I think when you have the team chemistry and the work ethic and your guys have sacrificed their bodies, you can go out there with less talent but with a better team and win a lot of foot- ball games. BWI Are you confident about your linebackers this year? PRY I'm very excited. There might have been one other time in my career where I had three guys as experienced and mature as these three. They've been around and they have the experience. But there are guys out there who have experience; with these guys, all three are students of the game. They're not just third- or fourth-year players who have played a lot. They are savvy, they are smart, they get it. And they all are kind of unique. Brandon Bell has more game instinct. He's not the guy in the meeting that Nyeem is, but on the field, he just sees things faster. He recognizes things more quickly. Nyeem Wartman is like a coach. This guy gets concepts, ideas, understands what everybody on the unit should be doing. Jason Cabinda has more maturity and leadership than I've been around in a long time. His de- termination and dedication to his cause are unparalleled. Are there weaknesses with each one from a skill set? Sure. Everybody's got a weakness, but I'm very excited about the makeup of those three. And then you've got some young guys behind them. I couldn't be more excited about Manny Bowen and Jake Cooper. Those guys are tremendous talents that embody what LBU is about. They focus on the right things, they're very com- mitted, it's very important to them. You've got some other guys in the unit who, to me, really help complete the group. Von Walker has played a lot of football at Penn State. He's a very ath- letic kid who is tough as nails. He's a utility guy for me. Brandon Smith is a guy who walked on and has gotten a lot of practice snaps and continually im- presses us as a staff. He's gotten bigger and stronger. He's very smart, and he's got some experience in practice under his belt now. And then we've signed a couple of guys, Cam Brown and Shaka Toney, and we'll see where things go there. Jan Johnson had a really good spring for us. He's a guy who missed most of fall with wrestling and came back and rejoined the team and did some nice things. I like the group we have. BWI The line and secondary have a lot of scholarship players. Do you have to consider some of those bigger safeties at linebacker? PRY That's always a possibility. If you look back over my career, downsizing has always been an aspect of it. We've made linebackers ends, we've made ends tackles, we've made safeties linebackers, corners safeties. You want to get more speed on the field, you want to be more talented. That's what you do when it's the right thing. We've got some guys at the safety position who are big enough and physical enough to play outside linebacker. We've got to have some guys develop and grow at the safety position to where we feel comfortable playing those bigger safeties closer to the box at times. And you know, certainly it's no secret that we play Marcus Allen close to the box a bunch. That's one of his strengths. And we've got some other guys in the unit who have the size and the physicality to play closer to the box. There are ways we do that and they con- tinue to play safety. Sometimes it in- volves a personnel change and move to a new position, but it's exciting. We've got some other candidates on the roster who can help us if need be, I'll say that. ■ 2 0 1 6 P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W