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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 Has the early signing period created a new challenge with coaches who are coming and going and being discussed while you're trying to button up a re- cruiting class at the same time? I think for us, I've been very open about staff change [with our recruits]. When guys committed to us months ago, I told them they need to be committing to Penn State – the university, our football pro- gram and myself. I want to keep our staff together for as long as we possibly can, but there is always going to be some of that in college football, and for me to say there isn't would not be truthful. I think for the most part, with our guys, we've had multiple conversations before this, and then as things come up, I com- municate it with them. I actually think the early signing period, I'm a fan of it. I think it's a positive, but I'm not a fan of the early visits that are going to start next spring. I have concerns about that because we need to be able to do a great job with our current players in our program and on our roster, and then our coaches still need to spend some time where they can be husbands and fathers and those types of things. I'm a little con- cerned about that. I think there is a sense of urgency with athletic directors and with coaches. When you lose the head coach, that's a different situation. I think that is really challeng- ing. I think for some programs like Penn State that have a lot of stability, I don't see it. I see it as a positive for us. What is it that you like about the early signing period? Well, I think what happens is, in major- college football, for a long time now, I'd say 85 percent of your recruiting class has been committed for nine months. So there's an aspect of it toward the end where you're just kind of going and checking on a guy who you really don't need to be checking on. It's like, he's solid, his family is solid, his high school coach is solid and they're coming, but you still feel like you need to keep going back and dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Matt Limegrover and I were just talking on the ride in, he called a kid just a little bit ago to say hey, and he was talking to the dad and said, "Hey, I'd like to come to the house Wednesday." The dad was like, "Why?" "I just want to make sure that we've got everything covered and you guys are really comfortable and feel good about this whole process." The dad was like, "Coach, I could not be more comfortable, and I really don't want you coming to the house again." It was like a leave-us-alone type of deal. I think there are some benefits to it in that you can get those guys signed. They're sick of the process at this point, as well, to be honest with you. In the begin- ning, recruiting is awesome and it sounds great, and by the end everybody's had enough of it. So, [the early signing period] allows you to kind of move on from those guys and start filling the last few spots you have and start working on that next re- cruiting class and those types of things. It's funny, I was telling a kid and his par- ents on the phone the other day that this process can be as easy as you want to make it or as hard as you want it to be. I look at the kids who have been com- mitted to us for a long time and their fam- ilies. When I go to do the home visit, those kids, it's like a celebration of their high school years and a celebration of their future. I was at one house the other night and there were 30 people in the basement, and it was like being at the Phyrst. I've never been there, but you guys get the point. It was a like a party in his basement, and to me that's what it should be. Then I see other guys they are stressed out. So I think there's some ben- efits to [getting] those situations over, so you truly know where you're at. Different guys have decided not to play in their bowl games. Take us through the process. What communi- cation have you had with Saquon Barkley to make his decision? It's not my decision, and as you guys know, we got into it a couple weeks ago, I don't really love the question. I get that you have to ask the question, but I don't love the question. It's not my decision. Saquon's made a decision, and we didn't really have a whole lot of conversation about it. We've had a little bit of conversation, over probably the last year, but I don't really get into that one a whole lot. I don't really love the whole topic, to be honest with you. I get it. I understand there's a business aspect to this and we have to be aware of these types of things, but we're excited about going to play the University of Washington and the Fiesta Bowl as a team. Tommy Stevens is listed at his own "Lion" position. What went into that? Is it something Ricky Rahne did or something you wanted to put out there? We want to treat him like a starter, be- cause that's really what he is for us. You know, talking to our defensive coaches, talking to our offensive coaches, we see his role expanding. Especially now that we're in a situation where we're creating more and more depth at the quarterback position. Very similar to Trace [McSorley in 2014], our third-team quarterback is redshirting and I prefer to leave it that way. Tommy creates some opportunities for us and cre- ates some matchup problems, for us and that's something he's wanted to do. He has brought it up in the past about playing special teams. He's brought up in the past about playing defense. He's brought up in the past about coaching. He's brought up in the past about every- thing. He just wants to have as big of a role as he possibly can. The reality is, it makes sense. I thought it made sense to list him on [the depth chart] as a starter, because that's how we view him. That's how his teammates view him and we expect his role to continue to grow. When I say of- fense, defense and special teams, I'm seri- ous about that. There's really nothing off the table in terms of his opportunity to have a bigger role on our team. What was the conversation like be- tween you and Ricky Rahne when you decided to promote him to offensive coordinator? As a former coordinator yourself, how long does it take to de- velop a personality or a style as a play caller? Ricky and I have been talking about these things for 10 years. He called plays at the bowl game a couple years ago when D E C E M B E R   2 7 ,   2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 10

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