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A T T H E 2 0 1 8 N I T T A N Y L I O N S terceptions last fall and is poised for a big season as a fifth-year senior, while Reid is expected back after a spring knee injury forced him to sit out the 2017 season. Once a freshman starter, Reid has the leadership, smarts and physical skills to enable Penn State to overcome the loss of Haley and Campbell. Additionally, Castro-Fields and Wade were key figures at the position throughout the season as true freshmen. Castro-Fields could realistically push the upperclassmen for a starting spot, while Wade gradually progressed throughout the year and is set for a larger role as a nickel back. McPhearson figures to play a bigger role, while redshirt freshmen Brown and Johnson are two of the fastest on the team and will push for playing time. Butler, a walk-on transfer from Abilene Christian who was the 2016 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, is another contrib- utor who shouldn't be counted out, and early enrollee Gordon has ambitions of seeing the field as a true freshman. SPECIAL TEAMS KEY RETURNEES H: Billy Fessler; KR: Koa Farmer, Brandon Polk, Miles Sanders; LS: Kyle Vasey; P: Blake Gillikin; PK: Nick T oward the end of the 2017 season, a familiar face appeared on Penn State's sideline but in an unfamiliar role. John Reid, a junior cornerback with two years of starting experience and a pair of All-Big Ten accolades on his resume, wore a vi- brantly colored Penn State baseball cap and street clothes. Relegated to a coach- ing role for home and away games due to a knee injury he suffered the previous spring, Reid appeared to have acclimated seamlessly to the new experience. But a few days before the Fiesta Bowl, Reid set the record straight. Desperate to be back on the field, he refuted any suggestion that he had grown comfortable as a coach. "I'm a player. Everybody is like, 'What, you about to start coaching?' I said no, I'm a player. I play. I'm a com- petitor," Reid said. "I'm trying to help other people out a little bit more now that I'm not playing and trying to pass along some of that advice to them that I can." That transition was admittedly a jar- ring one for Reid. As meticulous and detail-oriented as any Nittany Lion player, he saw his junior season end during spring practice. He had been a conference All-Freshman selection in 2015 and an honorable mention All- Big Ten pick with 14 starts in 2016, but the injury meant that he would not see action at any point during the fall. That realization was tough to accept. "It's been different. This is my first time not playing football – first time not playing a sport for almost a whole year now," Reid said. "I've had to focus all my attention on rehab and training. I feel like that's been the biggest ad- justment, pretty much switching your focus from improving on the field and getting better to focusing on getting your body better through treatment." Reid said he has been feeling "really good" lately, although some days he admittedly gets frustrated and has to grind through his workout regimen. The first days after his surgery were a humbling experience. His speed and agility had disappeared in an instant, and so he leaned on teammates, coaches and trainers for support. But their reaction wasn't necessarily what Reid had expected. "They know the type of person that I am, that I'm going to get after it. So nobody was re- ally worried about what it was going to be like for me," he said. "For me, it's just a matter of time." Although he struggled to remain pa- tient, Reid trusted the assurances he received from doctors that he would eventually be able to resume his ca- reer. He says that he expects to be bet- ter and faster than he was before getting hurt. Penn State head coach James Franklin expects the same. During a radio show appearance in November, Franklin explained that Reid was healthy enough that he could have played in the season's final weeks. But because he had seen extensive action as a true freshman, Reid had the op- tion of redshirting, and he used it. He still has two years of football eligibility remaining and he expects to get his master's degree along the way. Although he didn't play last year, Reid absorbed an additional season's worth of knowledge from the sideline and in the film room, and he's confi- dent that the experience will ultimately work to his benefit in 2018 and beyond. "When you're helping other people out, you're also helping yourself out. You're getting a different perspective when you're explaining things. You're able to understand it better," Reid said. "It's like in school. To really under- stand something, you should be able to help somebody out with it and help teach somebody else. It's kind of the same thing with football." ■ Reid's comeback: 'It's just a matter of time' | REID

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