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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 W E E K L Y P R E S S E R Is Pitt much different than it was a year ago with the different offensive coordinator and different personnel in the backfield? No, because I think Pat [Narduzzi] is running a program where he has systems that he believes in, and he's going to hire coordinators to come in and run those systems. So although it's a different guy doing it, he went out and hired a guy with a similar philosophy to his. Obviously there are some tweaks, but when you watch, you watch the first two, maybe the first three drives against Youngstown, it looks like the same stuff that they ran last year – trades, shiBs, motions, unbal- anced, fly sweep, fake fly sweep, inside zone, power split zone, those types of things. I think it's very similar. It's very similar. Shareef Miller went out of the game early against Akron, but Ryan Buchholz looked very disruptive when he was in there. Your thoughts on his develop- ment and what his versatility and his athleticism means to the defense. He's also a guy who can help you at tackle in a pinch. What have you seen from him and what do you think maybe his feel- ing is? Well, he's a guy who we've been really kind of excited about from the beginning, through the recruiting process, once he arrived on campus. He's very mature. He's very intelligent. He's a massive human being in every area. I mean, he's 6-6, 275 pounds, carries it really well. You know, he's a very, very good athlete, a fluid athlete. He's flexible. He can change direction. He's a guy who can do a lot of things for you, so he can kind of overpower people at defensive end, but he's not a guy who is just a power guy. He can counter-move, he can flip his hips. Really he's got the athleticism of a defen- sive end but also has the size to move in- side if we need to, whether that's our wild package on third down or we try to get four D-ends on the field at the same time to create a little bit more of a pass rush in obvious passing situations, whatever it is. But we like the maturity, the versatility that he gives us, specifically at defensive end, but he also creates some flexibility, as well. Since the spring, how do you think Connor McGovern has handled the transition back to center, particularly the vocal aspect, as well as being a communicator? I think he's been good. I don't know if I would necessarily call it a transition back. I know he played center in high school, but they pretty much ran goal-line of- fense if you go back and watch his tape. They ran goal-line offense the entire time. He was in almost a four-point stance with the quarterback under center, fullback like two yards behind the quarterback. So obviously going back to center now, all he does, or predominantly, is shotgun snaps the whole time, and running a spread- type system, so it's new. Obviously being in the middle and making the calls and kind of being the captain of the O-line, I get that part of it, but you know, I don't know how much carryover there is from what he did in high school to what we're asking him to do. But he's a guy who played at a pretty high level as a true freshman for us last year, has gotten bigger, has gotten stronger, has gotten leaner, is really doing a good job being verbal. That was an area I was a little bit concerned about him [be- cause] he's not the most vocal guy. So making sure that he was going to take control in there, make the calls with con- fidence [was important]. That was some- thing that I think needed to grow, and I think that was communicated through Coach [Matt] Limegrover and myself, and he's done a good job. So I think you'll just continue to see him get better and better as the season goes on and gain more con- fidence, which will allow him to be more physical. Why did you decide to have Saquon Barkley return the opening kickoff of the second half on Saturday, and what is Miles Sanders' role going to be there? We had it scheduled that he was going to return the first kick of the game. That's what we had decided to do. We didn't get a first kick of the game until the second half. I know everybody keeps talking about that they felt like the game was in hand. Well, if anybody watched college football this weekend, I don't know if you necessarily could say that. I'm very com- fortable with that, and we'll continue to do that. Obviously Miles is going to get opportu- nities at running back and will also get opportunities as a kickoff return guy, as well. We all see how great a player Jason Cabinda is on the field, but I'd like to know what kind of guy he is off the field. What kind of a person is he? Jason has got a really strong mom who's done a great job raising him. He comes from a very proud family, a family that takes education very seriously. Jason is a guy who has very strong opinions and be- liefs, which I like. That's also why he's such a strong leader, because when he says things, he says it with conviction, because he's thought it through. He's going to be getting a degree in eco- nomics. He should be finishing this se- mester. He's done a nice job there. He's in leadership positions on campus, as well. Take athletics and take school out of it and just other experiences on campus, he's been great. He's a guy who is locked in [in meetings]. He's an active listener. He's an active learner. He's on the edge of his seat. He's nodding his head. He's got great eye contact, and he's the guy who you feel really strongly is reinforcing in the locker room and Saturday night what the young guys should be doing. I'm pleased with him. He's kind of what you want at the Mike linebacker. I will tell you, we talk a lot about leaving a legacy here at Penn State, leaving a legacy on the football team, leaving a legacy in your community or from your high school or whatever it is, and I think Mike Hull is a great example. He did that with Jason. Jason talks all the time about Mike and how he practiced and how he was in meetings and how he was academically and how he played the game and how pro- ductive he was and how every single day at practice for Mike, it was the Super Bowl. He approached it like that every single day, and it was funny because I re- member when the NFL scouts came talk- ing about it, they kept saying, well, he's not this and he's not that. I'm like, I'm just telling you, this guy is going to be a player for you. So obviously he's doing it again at the next level, and I think he S E P T E M B E R 6 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 12

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