Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/847744
2 0 1 7 S E A S O N P R E V I E W at this, we've got to get Koa doing this, we've got to figure out if Torrence can do this, and if he can't, he needs to go over here.' You've got to figure those things out," Pry said. "To me, shoot, that's right there with growing their mentality, and your [objective] is putting them in the right places and highlighting their strengths." Pry is getting set for his fourth season at Penn State and his second as the Lions' defensive coordinator. During his first year in charge of the defense, he was forced to cope not just with the ex- pected graduation losses but also with a wave of injuries that decimated the line- backer corps in September. The Lions had a couple of rough games against Pitt and Michigan, but as their linebackers began returning to health at midseason, the unit started rounding back into form. PSU finished the season ranked eighth in the Big Ten in both total de- fense (367.9 yards per game) and scoring defense (25.4 points per game). Pry recently took the time to discuss Penn State's defensive outlook this fall with Blue White Illustrated web editor Nate Bauer. Here's what he had to say: BWI Let's start on the line. Is the biggest story there the absence of Gar- rett Sickels and Evan Schwan and trying to come up with who you want there? PRY Those guys, they had really good years for us. They were a very important piece of what we did. We were able to do a lot because of their maturity and their experience and football IQ. They got it. And so you could make adjustments weekly how we played those guys, you could make in-game adjustments with those guys. We've got some talented guys ready to step in. But the experience isn't there. Torrence Brown and Shareef both have experience, but not what those [previ- ous] guys had. Torrence is a student of the game. I think he's the closest to being able to handle it. Against these spread offenses, how you play those ends is very important these days. It's something that you look at every week in what you want to do with them. So those guys have to be pretty well-versed. They have some linebacker qualities about them, or they need to, when you're play- ing these spread teams. There are some aspects mentally that are similar to what a linebacker has to learn. There are reads and different things. So there are some talented guys there. I'm excited about Ryan Buchholz, Shareef Miller, Tor- rence, Shane Simmons. Daniel Joseph and Shaka Toney are young guys like Shane. Those freshmen, we're going to need one or two of those guys for sure. We do feel like we've got some good depth inside at tackle. I'm so excited for [Parker] Cothren and [Curtis] Cothran. They are two fifth-year seniors who are experienced and have size and maturity. And they're strong, they feel leverage. There are just so many positives. And then to be backed up by the talent in [Kevin] Givens and [Robert] Windsor, Tyrell Chavis. And then you have an- other young guy in Antonio Shelton. El- lison Jordan redshirted. There's good depth there. Kevin Givens is kind of a swing guy still in my mind a little bit. He can play inside, he can play outside. He's a talented guy. BWI Does that apply to Buchholz as well? PRY Yeah. He's mostly an end right now. He played inside in passing situa- tions, him and Kevin both, and then Kevin kind of grew to be that guy all the time. But Buck is still more of a defen- sive end right now. BWI Do you feel like you've settled on rotations? Does it matter right now? PRY I think that's still a work in progress, how many reps guys are going to merit at all of the positions. I know I want Cabinda to play a ton of snaps. You're not going to want him not out there, but what kind of shape is he in? How many snaps can he handle? And how deserving is the guy behind him? That's part of it. You may have a game where you play 60 snaps, and you may have a game where you play 95, you know? So the rotation, to me that's something we evaluate weekly. You know the guys that you feel like you can win with, and they're going to play. How much they play a lot of times depends on the durability of the guy in front of him, the value of the guy in front of him. Is he a guy you can't afford to not have out there and you're only spelling him for fa- tigue? It's a tough call. And then the op- ponent, the style of opponent. Some guys are geared more toward certain offensive styles, and so you're going to play them a little heavier against certain teams. BWI Does the inexperience of the ends change your outlook on what you can and can't do? PRY I don't think it does. It could, but your goal is to have end play like you did last year. Your goal is to get those guys to a point. And then before that first ball- game, you evaluate and you say, where are we? Can we do what we did with those guys or not? Right now, we're aiming to be able to carry on and we'll see if we can or not. If we can't, that just means you do a little less of what we did with those guys. BWI At linebacker, does it seem like Jason Cabinda in the middle, Koa Farmer as the hybrid guy and Manny Bowen at the weakside spot will stick as your starting group? PRY I think there's some competition behind them. There are a couple of guys who really are going to need to play, and that's Cam Brown, that's Brandon Smith and that's Jake Cooper. Jake's a guy who is finally healthy, I think. To me, those are the six guys right now, and there are some guys sniffing around on the out- side of those six, but I feel pretty good about those six guys. Jarvis Miller has a chance to challenge to get into the two- deep. So it'll be good. We definitely have more experienced depth going into the season than we did last year. BWI Is that a relief? PRY Yeah, it is. And you feel like, heck, we're not going to lose all three starters by the third week again. But you never know. I'm excited about the group. And when you've got a guy like Cabinda in the middle, that goes a long way. He's a true commander. Some guys can run the defense, and he commands the defense. He can be barking out 100 percent the wrong thing and they would 100 percent