Paraphrased responses from Penn State head coach on his weekly radio show tonight. If anything needs to be elaborated on, just let me know here.
Obviously, the big news here is Franklin finally acknowledging himself that Andrew Nelson is likely to be back this season.
Prepping for Army:
It’s so important. Penn beat ‘Nova for the first time in 100 years. This Army team knocks someone off every year. You have to understand the type of men these Army guys are. They’re willing to give lives for what they believe in. That’s how passionate they are, so they’ll play harder than probably any team PSU plays this year. Football is probably the easiest part of their day. They have a ton of respect for servicemen and what they provide. And the young men at the academies and what they have to do on top of it - a five year commitment - it’s unbelievable. What these young people do is unbelievable.
Andrew Nelson:
Thinks he can get back this season. Has had nagging injuries for a while, since high school, but anticipating him back. When? He’s not sure. Would love it to be Saturday. There’s a lot of time between end of game and the next game for guys to heal. Only injuries he’s announced are the seaosn-ending ones, and that’s just Nyeem Wartman-White, but have had a number of injuries this year.
Scout team duplicating Army:
They did a good job this week. But scout tackles are Chasz Wright and Sterling Jenkins. That’s completely different from what they play with, which are 265 pound guys. Ended up taking Bowers and Holland and put them at OT to duplicate speed Army runs on offense. It’s hard for scout to be able to do it as efficiently as Army does it. Bob Shoop and Brent Pry did a good job this week, though.
Policy to not disclose injuries and where it started:
Football coaches are paranoid. He’s less paranoid than most. In the NFL they force you to do it. In college, they don’t. For him, he wants to know who is playing at each position, what they do, strengths and weaknesses, for every opponent. As early as you can get that information, the better, because it impacts how you game plan and what you’re trying to do. It’s going to change things. Knows what he values and tries to take those things away as much as he can from opponents. Can cause issues for them in the long run because people don’t understand why someone isn’t playing. There’s give and take to it. Knows as a coordinator that you want as much information as you possibly can get.
Sellout this weekend:
If you look at attendance numbers, top five every year. One thing that is helpful with that is how good the weather has been this year. 82 degrees. Blue skies. But no, it’s been impressive. Having 78,000 at spring game. Fact they’ve sold out this week shows support from community and how they’ve taken hard earned money to buy 10,000 tix to donate to service members to be part of the game. Gave them an opportunity to talk to team this week about being appreciative of being at Penn State, and also, opportunity to live and be blessed to live in USA.
Improvements to Beaver Stadium:
Right now, his focus is just on Army. Those discussions are big picture thinking of what they need to do. Once season is over, will get involved in discussions. But right now, Populus has come in - just worked on Texas A&M. Just about gaining as much research as they can to get the right direction. Will make recommendations from a football perspective, but stadium is about the fans. (Fan: Paterno field at Beaver Stadium?) “Everything is up for discussion.”
Balance on offense:
Were able to pass the ball in the preseason in 7-on-7, but that was a mistake they made early because that’s not what football is. Thinks they’ve developed an identity around running the ball the past few weeks.
Practice pace on Thursday:
Thinks they’re adapting to it. Tomorrow they won’t do anything. Doesn’t want to go two days without having speed and tempo they want before a game. Full speed, quick whistle, get off the field. Instead of doing two long drives down the field, do three shorter drives of 12, 12, 12 plays. Ones, twos, then ones come back and take a drive. Defensively, they’re doing similar things as well. A couple of scout team guys did 50 up downs today. One just joined the program. Emmanuel Ike looks like he’s played in NFL for 15 years. A marine for five years, having school paid for by the Marines. He’s playing DT. One guy that made the team out of 150 that tried out. But, he had to do up-downs today because he didn’t understand how they practice.
Can they replicate downfield shots w/new RBs:
That’s going to be the question. With Barkley and Akeel, people were getting concerned and that created one on ones on the perimeter. Will stay committed to running game and hopefully that provides opportunities to throw the ball downfield. Will have to continue to do both. Stay committed to running game, which should create shots down the field. The deep ball is in the game plan every week. It depends on what the defense does. Being able to protect. All of it plays a factor.
Army defense:
They’re a team, maybe not as chaotic as last week, but they’re a 3-4 scheme, and will change to a four down front. Three down, one standing up. Will treat that like four down at times. A little undersized, but they blitz a lot too.
Communication improvements:
It’s really getting better. When you lose QB of defense in Wartman-White, that had an effect right away. Had three freshmen on field at the same time because they also lost Bell for some time that game. Then had Paris Palmer and in the first game, everyone goes out there and they’re so concerned with themselves that they can’t pick up slack for Palmer. Communication has improved dramatically on both sides. Cabinda is very good player, but is a natural leader. He’s a special guy. Has a great way about him. Then on top of that, he really takes control of the defensive guys on the field.
Biggest difference between Vandy and PSU stadiums:
Jobs are both big jobs. PSU because of history, traditions, and running major program. At last place, it was different. Had a hard time filling up stadium. Would go to the union each week and try to convince students to come to the game. Those things are different. Special place, but a small private school. It’s just completely different. At PSU, have a true home field advantage, which he’s never experienced before. Especially for DL. Imagine trying to get 11 guys coordinated on offense without any verbal indicators. That’s a huge advantage for them.
Obviously, the big news here is Franklin finally acknowledging himself that Andrew Nelson is likely to be back this season.
Prepping for Army:
It’s so important. Penn beat ‘Nova for the first time in 100 years. This Army team knocks someone off every year. You have to understand the type of men these Army guys are. They’re willing to give lives for what they believe in. That’s how passionate they are, so they’ll play harder than probably any team PSU plays this year. Football is probably the easiest part of their day. They have a ton of respect for servicemen and what they provide. And the young men at the academies and what they have to do on top of it - a five year commitment - it’s unbelievable. What these young people do is unbelievable.
Andrew Nelson:
Thinks he can get back this season. Has had nagging injuries for a while, since high school, but anticipating him back. When? He’s not sure. Would love it to be Saturday. There’s a lot of time between end of game and the next game for guys to heal. Only injuries he’s announced are the seaosn-ending ones, and that’s just Nyeem Wartman-White, but have had a number of injuries this year.
Scout team duplicating Army:
They did a good job this week. But scout tackles are Chasz Wright and Sterling Jenkins. That’s completely different from what they play with, which are 265 pound guys. Ended up taking Bowers and Holland and put them at OT to duplicate speed Army runs on offense. It’s hard for scout to be able to do it as efficiently as Army does it. Bob Shoop and Brent Pry did a good job this week, though.
Policy to not disclose injuries and where it started:
Football coaches are paranoid. He’s less paranoid than most. In the NFL they force you to do it. In college, they don’t. For him, he wants to know who is playing at each position, what they do, strengths and weaknesses, for every opponent. As early as you can get that information, the better, because it impacts how you game plan and what you’re trying to do. It’s going to change things. Knows what he values and tries to take those things away as much as he can from opponents. Can cause issues for them in the long run because people don’t understand why someone isn’t playing. There’s give and take to it. Knows as a coordinator that you want as much information as you possibly can get.
Sellout this weekend:
If you look at attendance numbers, top five every year. One thing that is helpful with that is how good the weather has been this year. 82 degrees. Blue skies. But no, it’s been impressive. Having 78,000 at spring game. Fact they’ve sold out this week shows support from community and how they’ve taken hard earned money to buy 10,000 tix to donate to service members to be part of the game. Gave them an opportunity to talk to team this week about being appreciative of being at Penn State, and also, opportunity to live and be blessed to live in USA.
Improvements to Beaver Stadium:
Right now, his focus is just on Army. Those discussions are big picture thinking of what they need to do. Once season is over, will get involved in discussions. But right now, Populus has come in - just worked on Texas A&M. Just about gaining as much research as they can to get the right direction. Will make recommendations from a football perspective, but stadium is about the fans. (Fan: Paterno field at Beaver Stadium?) “Everything is up for discussion.”
Balance on offense:
Were able to pass the ball in the preseason in 7-on-7, but that was a mistake they made early because that’s not what football is. Thinks they’ve developed an identity around running the ball the past few weeks.
Practice pace on Thursday:
Thinks they’re adapting to it. Tomorrow they won’t do anything. Doesn’t want to go two days without having speed and tempo they want before a game. Full speed, quick whistle, get off the field. Instead of doing two long drives down the field, do three shorter drives of 12, 12, 12 plays. Ones, twos, then ones come back and take a drive. Defensively, they’re doing similar things as well. A couple of scout team guys did 50 up downs today. One just joined the program. Emmanuel Ike looks like he’s played in NFL for 15 years. A marine for five years, having school paid for by the Marines. He’s playing DT. One guy that made the team out of 150 that tried out. But, he had to do up-downs today because he didn’t understand how they practice.
Can they replicate downfield shots w/new RBs:
That’s going to be the question. With Barkley and Akeel, people were getting concerned and that created one on ones on the perimeter. Will stay committed to running game and hopefully that provides opportunities to throw the ball downfield. Will have to continue to do both. Stay committed to running game, which should create shots down the field. The deep ball is in the game plan every week. It depends on what the defense does. Being able to protect. All of it plays a factor.
Army defense:
They’re a team, maybe not as chaotic as last week, but they’re a 3-4 scheme, and will change to a four down front. Three down, one standing up. Will treat that like four down at times. A little undersized, but they blitz a lot too.
Communication improvements:
It’s really getting better. When you lose QB of defense in Wartman-White, that had an effect right away. Had three freshmen on field at the same time because they also lost Bell for some time that game. Then had Paris Palmer and in the first game, everyone goes out there and they’re so concerned with themselves that they can’t pick up slack for Palmer. Communication has improved dramatically on both sides. Cabinda is very good player, but is a natural leader. He’s a special guy. Has a great way about him. Then on top of that, he really takes control of the defensive guys on the field.
Biggest difference between Vandy and PSU stadiums:
Jobs are both big jobs. PSU because of history, traditions, and running major program. At last place, it was different. Had a hard time filling up stadium. Would go to the union each week and try to convince students to come to the game. Those things are different. Special place, but a small private school. It’s just completely different. At PSU, have a true home field advantage, which he’s never experienced before. Especially for DL. Imagine trying to get 11 guys coordinated on offense without any verbal indicators. That’s a huge advantage for them.
