Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83706
the team's summer depth chart in early June, Carter appeared at the top of the "F" flex tight end position. At William Penn High School in Delaware, head coach Bill Cole used Carter in a similar way. The young player thrived as a flex-end, a position at which he was constantly in motion, blocking and splitting out wide on straight passing routes. "He's not the fastest kid in the world, but he has great spatial awareness," Cole said. "He just knows where he needs to be, where the people are and how to position his body so that he has people on his back and they have to try to play through him. He has a big body to try to play through." Though Carter filled a variety of roles in high school, he had been groomed by Penn State's previous staff as a tra- ditional tight end. Undersized for that type of role, Carter admitted that he likely would have been an afterthought this season had O'Brien not taken over. But after the coaching change, he learned O'Brien's system as a slot re- ceiver, at the "Y" traditional tight end spot, and at the "F" flex tight end role. "He got it," O'Brien said. "In order to do all that, you have to have a heck of an IBM up there." Said Carter, "I knew that I was going to be in a lot of different situations. That's something that I like to do. We practice it, getting to be in the backfield, getting to be in the wing, at receiver, on the line. I've just gotta understand my playbook to know where I have to be." All summer, Carter put in the work. Although he had performed well and already had O'Brien's attention, Carter studied his playbook and spent extra time out on the practice field. Throughout the summer months, he worked with starting quarterback Matt McGloin. The two players looked to get their timing down and McGloin's con- fidence up. Carter was already a gifted athlete with a mind for the game, but the rep- etitions helped. "Kyle had a great summer," McGloin said. "He was out there alongside me each and every day throwing." By the time preseason camp started John Beale