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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 F E B . 7 P R E S S E R I wanted to ask you about the way you've been able to upgrade the of- fensive line since you took over at Penn State. In 2014 it wasn't a strength, but going into 2018 with the latest additions, even today, how you feel about that, and how signifi- cant was it was to get Penn State to this point? I'm really excited about it. All the coaches talk about how important it is to be really good up front on both sides of the ball. When we arrived at Penn State, the D-line was a real strength, and on the O-line we just were lacking some depth that we needed. We've worked really hard at that, and I think we've really done a good job of recruit- ing guys who are good fits here and guys who have the measurables and athleti- cism that we're looking for. I'm a big believer in recruiting guys who create position flexibility across the offensive line. If we're going to re- cruit a guard, we would prefer the guard to be a guy who has the ability to be what we call a swing guy – a guy who may not have exact offensive tackle measurables but has the athleti- cism and feel for the position. I think [Ryan] Bates is a really good example of that. Bates isn't your typical 6-6 offensive tackle, but he's got the ath- leticism and feel for the position. I think we've done a good job of that, recruiting tackles, and then guards who have tackle attributes, and then you also have a variety of swing guys inside. So a center/guard combination, a center who could play guard and a guard who could play center, that type of deal. I'm pleased with the length and I'm pleased with the athleticism and I'm pleased with the mentality of the posi- tion. I think Matt [Limegrover] has done a great job. I think the addition of [assistant coach] Tyler [Bowen] with an offensive line background is really going to help us at the tight end posi- tion but also is going to help us up front. Those two work extremely well together, not only on the field, but also in recruiting. What areas of your depth chart do you feel like you addressed particu- larly well with this recruiting class? And are there any other areas where you wish you had been able to do a little more? Looking at it right now, I would say special teams [is an area where more could have been done]. I think we really helped ourselves with a lot of different positions… but I still think we have an issue at punter for our future. We feel really good about Blake Gillikin, but we have to continue recruiting and devel- oping guys at that so we feel good about where our future stands. But really, everywhere else, I think we've done a good job of identifying some issues and going out and recruit- ing. On defense, I think that we really helped ourselves up front on the defen- sive line with some guys, obviously with [Aeneas] Hawkins and [P.J.] Mustipher and [Judge] Culpepper and [Jason] Oweh, and then we got [Nick] Tarbur- ton, who creates flexibility with line- backer or defensive line. That's how he was recruited. I feel really good about that. We have some challenges up front. We lost three senior defensive tackles, so that's an area of concern for us. I feel re- ally good about D-end, but D-tackle is an area that we're going to have to de- velop. We tried to attack that in recruit- ing, but that's a position where typically guys are not able to play early. I love the two corners that we got in [Jordan] Miner and [Trent] Gordon, two guys with length and athleticism. Hav- ing Gordon on campus, I've already been impressed with him. At linebacker, we've got some real needs there. So the combination of [Charlie] Katshir, [Micah] Parsons, [Jesse] Luketa and Tarburton really helps us there. Those guys have a chance to come in and com- pete. And then obviously [Isaiah] Humphries at safety, we feel good about that, as well. And I think we've re- cruited some corners who have some flexibility to move to safety if we need them to. I do think we have some things that we've got to get resolved at D-tackle, some things that we've got to get re- solved at linebacker, and I think this re- cruiting class showed that. P.J. Mustipher is a guy who has the body type that makes you think he may be able to come in and play as a true fresh- man, which is unusual at that position. And from what I'm hearing about Culpepper and Hawkins, they are ap- proaching it the same way. So we'll see. On the offensive side of the ball, you know, we're obviously los- ing some tremendous wide receiver production, but being able to go out and get [Justin] Shorter and [Jahan] Dotson and [Daniel] George, I feel really good about those guys having the opportu- nity to replace some of the production we lost, or at least help compete at that position. Losing [Mike] Gesicki and going out and getting [Pat] Freiermuth and [Zack] Kuntz, who we are really excited about, I think helped us with some of those losses. And then obviously [it was important] to go out and get another high-level quarterback to continue to develop our depth there for competition for the fu- ture when Trace [McSorley] leaves. Obviously it's hard to ever say you're going to replace Saquon Barkley, but I think what you kind of do is you try to do it at every position to make up for the loss of Saquon. But [Ricky] Slade is a highly regarded guy who was very productive in high school. And then obviously on the offensive line, we got Nana [Asiedu], who is at tackle, [Rasheed] Walker, who is a tackle, [Bryce] Effner, who I would characterize as one of those swing guys, a guy who could play guard or tackle, and then [Juice] Scruggs, who we think could play center or guard. So I feel like we addressed a lot of our needs. We probably would have liked to have been able to take another safety in this class. We probably would have liked to take another wide receiver in this class. But besides that, I think for the most part we did very well. F E B R U A R Y 8 , 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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