SPRING PRESS CONFERENCE – HEAD COACH JAMES FRANKLIN

Penn State football head coach James Franklin met with the media on Tuesday to give an update on the team as spring ball approaches

Opening Statement: First of all, just wanted to congratulate Cael [Sanderson] and the wrestling program. Was fortunate last week to go watch a practice and then this year we didn’t have a conflict.

We’ve always had a conflict with spring ball. Also happened to be in Philly, so was able to go down and be a part of it, which was awesome.

Cael and our wrestling program continue to do unbelievable things, wanted to give them a shoutout.

Getting into spring ball, just briefly, we have some new and moving parts that we’re working through, so these 15 practices will be very, very important.

We had a really good winter workout period. I think the guys are in a really good place. Been very, very pleased how the staff has handled some of the adjustments. It’s been a grind, as you know. Just like on offense, the time we have to spend on defense, get everybody on the same page, staff first, players second, has been good.

There is still a ton of work that has to be done during spring ball and over to summer the training period before we open the season up against Nevada.

Q: Kobe King, how do you go about replacing him, not just the position itself, but as a leader of that particular group?

A: Yeah, I think the Mike linebacker in a lot of ways is like the quarterback, you know, of the defense. You’ve heard this before, obviously.

Then also when there is a guy that’s been doing it for several years and a guy that has such a good feel in the box of defeating blocks, slipping blocks, anticipating runs, playing downhill, just a very, very productive player that really ran that position.

So it’s going to be a heck of a competition. We got some guys like [Dominic] DeLuca and [Tony] Rojas that have a ton of experience. Well, I wouldn’t say a ton of experience, but a lot of experience. And then some guys like [Keon] Wylie, who’s coming off an injury, that we’re going to need to get evaluated. Got Ta’Mere Robinson that’s ready to take the next step. [Anthony] Speca is a young player that we’re expecting to take the next step as well. You got [LaVar] Arrington [II], you got [Beckham] Dee, [Alex] Tatsch, who has been impressive since he showed up on campus, him and Arrington. Kari Jackson is a young guy ready to take the next step.

So there are a number of guys, but right now, not sure how it’s going to play out. One of the things that I think helps is we’re probably going to go back, I think you guys know this, go back to my Vanderbilt days, and some years we been here a little bit more than others, but we will probably base more out of 4-2-5, which I think also helps with that.

That doesn’t mean we still won’t go subpackage and go to a 4-3 when it makes sense, when it puts our defense and our team in the best position to be successful. But we were always a 4-2-5 coming to Penn State, and then you get to Penn State and you got really good linebackers and it’s LBU.

Then some years didn’t necessarily make sense doing that. Obviously, with some of our youth and lack of experience at linebacker, this is a way that I think fits our personnel this year, and also fits with what Jim has liked to do in the past. Obviously, these were a lot of our conversations before him coming here.

Q: Curious, how will you approach the workload for your established veterans like Drew [Allar], [Nicholas] Singleton, [Kaytron] Allen, Dani [Dennis-Sutton], those guys? Guys who know what they can do, right?

A: Yeah, very similar to what we’ve always done in the past with our established guys. You guys a saw it with Olu Fashanu. Like with our established guys who have played a lot of football, we will modify their reps. That’s a fine line because they still need to get better. That’s why they came back. So we need to be smart about that.

I also think it creates an opportunity for the guys that are behind them that are competing for more significant roles. It gives a better evaluation on those guys as well. For our established guys, we talk about it as a staff. We go around, each position coach talks about his plan for each of his guys, make sure we’re on the same page, how I see it as well as how they see it. Then we’ll implement that during spring ball.

Did the same thing with Tyler Warren last year. So I would say there is probably about one, if not two guys like that at every position that will have some form of a modification this spring and really in training camp as well.

Q: I want to ask you about Drew Allar. Your senior quarterback, what is his next step in development, particularly with this spring? What are you looking for from Drew as improvement, or how can the spring help him the most going forward?

A: Yeah, so a couple things. I think No. 1, I get this question a lot about a lot of players on our offense and defense. A lot of times it’s not like one thing.

I would say that’s the case with Drew. He needs to take another step this year, which we think he’s done every year he’s been here. He needs to take another step when it comes to his mobility. He needs to take another step when it comes to his leadership. He needs to take another step in it terms of his completion percentage. Needs to take another step in terms of his touchdown-interception ratio.

It’s really all of it. There are some things we’ve had some conversations with Danny O’Brien that those conversations will stay between us, but I would say just being transparent, I will say I don’t think it’s one necessarily specific thing. It’s all of it.

The thing that’s exciting about Drew, and you guys see him, he may be 6’5″, 235 pounds but he has a lot of growth and development. He’s a young kid. He has taken significant steps every single year, as you guys I think are aware. He puts in a ton of time and knows how to prepare the right way, both mentally and physically. I think Danny does a really good job with him as well.

I think the room challenges him as well. When you bring in new pieces, the two new wideouts, that puts him in a position to coach and get those guys ready.

So all those things. I wouldn’t say one specific area that I’m looking for him to grow in this.

Q: At the wide receiver position, Devonte Ross, Kyron Hudson, redshirt freshmen, how do you think they took to winter workouts from your conversation with Marques [Hagans], and how do you and Marques feel about that room, that group going into spring ball?

A: Yeah, as you know, you guys have seen the competition winners and things like that that we post on social media. But, we don’t have footballs really involved. To really judge a wide receiver before you’ve seen them at practice and running routes and creating separation and one-on-ones and making contested catches and catch percentage and radius and those things, it’s hard to say. It’s hard for me to say that.

In term of their attitude, their work ethic, their demeanor, in terms of fit in our locker room, all those things have been really good.