Blue White Illustrated

How much do you look forward to seeing the guys you redshirted the previous season in a competitive situ- ation, at practice and in the spring game? Who are some of the guys you are most excited to see? That's probably the thing [the coach- ing staff is most excited about]. You have two different groups of people. You have a group of guys who have played a lot of football for us and we kind of know who they are. And then we've got a group that we're trying to figure out, find out how big of a role are they going to have next year and if they are ready. And if they are ready, how much are they ready for? Are they ready for situational foot- ball or are they a package guy? Are they a starter? Are they a two-deep guy? Are they a special teams guy who's going to grow into a bigger role on offense or de- fense? That's what we're trying to figure out, and a lot of those guys are the red- shirt guys. An interesting guy right now, through testing and last year, is Shaka Toney. Shaka's nervous system is unbelievable. His speed, his quickness, his jumping ability are really good. I mean, really im- pressive. And he's a guy who really showed flashes but was undersized, and he's getting bigger, but he's still got a ways to go from that standpoint. But he's shown some real flashes. I think the last couple offensive line recruiting classes have really gotten our staff excited and have our team excited, and they will all be available now. You look at some of the other positions, some of the other guys who we've had an opportunity to evaluate. One other guy who, during the recruiting process, was talked about a lot but who [hasn't been] talked about much lately is Ellison Jor- dan. We haven't really seen him do any- thing since he's been on campus, because he came in with an issue. So I am looking to see what Ellison is going to do this spring and whether he's going to have an opportunity to factor in. There are a number of guys, and I hate to point out individuals because I'm going to miss somebody and I can't cover them all. But there are some ex- citing guys out there who were on scout teams and there were conversations about them, like, are you going to bring them up? Do they factor in? Do you stick with the redshirt? Do you play them? Everything in this program is getting more challenging and more competitive, and I think you're seeing it in every posi- tion across the board. The linebacker situation, losing a guy like Brandon Bell, how do you get over that, because you seemed like a different defense when he was on the field last year? Yeah, there's no doubt, I think your point is correct. Brandon was a play- maker. He always kind of found a way to defeat the block, to get his hands on a ball and to make an interception. He was a natural playmaker. That's why he was so successful for so many years here. That production, that playmaking is al- ways difficult to replace. Fortunately, we do feel like we've got a pretty good two-deep, and within some areas even a three-deep on defense and with some exciting players coming in. I think Koa Farmer at the field backer and Jarvis [Miller] at the field backer, as well as Brelin [Faison-Walden]; that's an ex- citing three-deep. Different than Bran- don, but exciting. You look at middle linebacker with Jason Cabinda and the experience that he brings. And Brandon Smith is a guy who we think can play Mike linebacker or the Will. I'm kind of excited about those guys. And then at the other line- backer, we have Cam Brown and Manny Bowen. Manny is a guy who has played a lot of football and been successful. He's a guy who has played to the field, as well as in the box. And Cam as a true fresh- man really did some nice things. I think when you've got a guy like Manny who has played a lot of football, a guy like Cabinda who has played a lot of football, and then Koa for the second half of the year played a lot of football for us, we have a starting point but B L U E - W H I T E G A M E P R E V I E W 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 S P R I N G P R A C T I C E P R E S S E R POSITION CHANGES Three players have been moved this spring, with Jarvis Miller going from safety to linebacker, Johnathan Thomas from linebacker to running back and Josh McPhearson from wide receiver to running back. Miller, who is listed at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds this spring, looks to be a good fit for the star linebacker position, a hybrid that combines elements of the line- backer and strong safety spots. Thomas is moving back to his original position after spending last year at linebacker. And McPhearson is being groomed for a role on special teams. "We're really looking at him being a return specialist," coach James Franklin said. "That's one of the reasons for moving him to running back, [because of] the ball security [drills] and things like that. We're really hoping Josh can factor in and compete as a kick returner and a punt returner. He's a dynamic guy when he gets the ball in his hands, so we're going to give him an opportunity there." THREE PLAYERS DEPART Offensive linemen Noah Beh, Brendan Brosnan and Adam De Boef have left the team. Beh and Brosnan were members of Franklin's first recruiting class in 2014, while De Boef was a walk-on from State College. Franklin said all left under good circumstances. "There are different reasons for all of them, and we are very appreciative of what they did with their time while they were here," he said. ■ P R A C T I C E N O T E S

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