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erate with the precision and efficien- cy of an elite NFL team. But there are principles that carry over, and O'Brien asked a lot of his players as he worked to instill his system at Penn State this past spring. "Our theory in spring practice was to throw everything at them, so we taught these guys a lot," he said dur- ing the recent Coaches Caravan. "Now, I don't know if it was everything, but it was close. These guys had to work really hard at it, because they've got to balance school and the things that we were throwing at them. But I thought for the most part, these guys handled it pretty decently. But that's a ques- tion going into training camp that I'm going to be working on over the next couple of months of how much we need to do." It's safe to say the offense will evolve as players become more comfortable with what they are being asked to do. And maybe that's the line O'Brien stares at when he looks at his game plan offense. It's an offense that evolves week-to-week, throwing kinks in along the way to surprise whatever opponent happens to be in front of it. Players will be challenged to run this offense efficiently, and O'Brien is un- likely to see exactly what he wants to see at first. But that was to be expect- ed anyway. Think about the Patriots' offense again for a second. Each week, a me- thodical game plan was laid out, and each week O'Brien was able to put Brady in a position to be effective. Trust developed between Brady and of- fensive skill players, such as tight end Rob Gronkowski, running back Ben- Jarvus Green-Ellis and receiver Wes Welker. O'Brien used his backs as receivers 37 times during the season. Brady tar- geted Gronkowski, a tremendous mis- match for any linebacker or defensive back, 90 times. Welker often lined up in the slot and caught 122 passes. Aaron Hernandez, an athletic pass catcher and hybrid tight end, hauled in 79 passes. At Penn State, O'Brien doesn't have a batch of proven tight ends at his dis- posal. The player who has attracted the most attention the past few months – Garry Gilliam – sat out last season while recovering from a major knee in- jury. But that hasn't stopped Penn State watchers from speculating about how the Nittany Lions will use players such as Gilliam, Kyle Carter, Kevin Haplea and Jesse James. "People have asked me about the tight ends over and over again, because of the success we had the last two years in New England," O'Brien said. "But every year is different, every team is different. We're still evaluating this team. We'll spread the ball to the tight ends, the receivers, the backs. Hopefully, it will be very balanced. But again, the tight ends will be a big part of what we're doing, and we'll keep de- veloping them in training camp." O'Brien estimated that Penn State used only about 10 percent of its of- fense in the spring game. He pointed out that a lot of work remained, and it's clear that much of that work cen- ters on the play of quarterbacks Matt McGloin, Paul Jones and Rob Bolden. McGloin was officially named the starter in June, while Jones, who has plenty of potential, was named his backup. Bolden will likely only see ac- tion if both are injured. "I understand everything they've given us so far," McGloin said after the spring game. "He's thrown the whole playbook at us. We've run a million things in practice and we understand it very well. … It's an exciting offense. It's going to take the whole summer to learn it again, and camp. But I think once we get it down, it's going to be very fun to watch us play." McGloin equated learning the offense with learning a foreign language. He added that it was totally different than the 2011 offense, which fin- ished 11th in the Big Ten in scoring (19.3 points per game), 10th in aver- age yards per game (342.4) and last in pass efficiency. Much of the offense will be based on tempo, but the desire for a faster pace will require patience on the sideline and in the coaching booth. "You've got to be patient," Fisher said. "That's our job as coaches. You've got to demand excellence, but you've also got to understand patience and giving them a chance to succeed. "Sometimes they're going to fail. They've got to learn from their mistakes and move forward, and the guy who does not make repeated mistakes – he's the guy that obviously we'll want on the field." Fisher said the terminology is differ- ent for the players, and he hinted that the quarterbacks will have the chance to audible frequently at the line of scrimmage. If O'Brien's goal is to spread the ball around like he did in New England, it might mean fewer touches for Silas Redd, but that could also mean a healthier Redd later in the season when the weather starts to favor the ground game and Penn State may need its lead running back to carry 25 times or more. Whatever the case, the offense will evolve during the season. It's a work in progress now, and O'Brien will continue to strive for further progress in-season. "Not only does he know offense, he knows defense. So he knows how to make defenses adjust, and it's good for us to go against that offense every day and his play-calling because it forces us to adjust and to stay up with it," defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. Roof was asked if the offense was op- erating at a faster tempo during spring practice. "Oh yeah," he said emphat- ically. "At times it is. [It has] all the el- ements, and it forces you to do some things defensively." tight end from Camp Hill, Pa., will have to recover from a significant setback. Breneman suffered a torn ACL during a seven-on-seven drill in June. Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State's director of athletic medicine, is set to perform surgery July 10, and as a result, Breneman will miss his senior season at Cedar Cliff High. BWI's Ryan Snyder recently caught up with the nation's top-rated tight end prospect to find out about the injury. Here's what he said... On having to miss his senior season: My teammates are my brothers. So not being out there with them this season is going to be tough. Honestly, it probably won't really set in until the season comes around. But again, I'm someone who has to look at things in a posi- W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Breneman stays positive after knee injury A dam Breneman could end up be- ing a big part of future Penn State offensive game plans, but first the tive way, and now I know that my main focus has to be on Penn State and my future. If I plan on coming back and being 100 percent in 2013, I know I need to keep a posi- tive attitude and just work hard once I'm able to, because that's what got me here in the first place. On the severity of the injury: My [high school] team doctor said it's a clean tear of the ACL, so it's actually the best possible tear you can have. The surgery shouldn't be too diffi- cult, and I should be able to start rehab right away, so that's a posi- tive. On the possibility of enrolling early at Penn State: Nothing is set yet. I have to talk to my high school counselors and the Penn State advi- sors, but since I can't play basket- ball now, I would like to enroll early. I still have to figure things out, but enrolling early at PSU could end up being a positive. I'm just trying to look at all the positive things right now. I don't want to get down on myself. That's not going to do me or anyone any good. On how Penn State's coaches re- acted to the injury: I know ACL in- juries aren't what they used to be, and talking to Coach [Bill] O'Brien, Coach [John] Strollo and Coach [Larry] Johnson numerous times over the past couple of days, I know they're very supportive. Coach O'Brien was telling me that he's coached guys with ACL problems multiples times. He was talking about how Tom Brady had an ACL injury and came back to win MVP two years later, so I know that with their support, my family's support and all the support from the Penn State fans, I'll be fine when I finally get up there. What's next: My focus right now is to just keep a real positive attitude about everything and go from there. A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 33

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