Everything Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith said at his bye week news conference

Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith met with the media on Tuesday night. His Lions are continuing to work during their second and last bye week of the 2025 regular season. They did so, in part, yesterday with reporters on hand. But they only watched the defense work as the offense went through drills inside Holuba Hall, behind closed doors. Why?

“We just had a new install period for those guys,” Smith said. “We had a shortened practice, so we just wanted to make sure we got that install in today.”

What is Smith seeing from the offense?

“Like I said, we just had a new install period,” Smith said. “I thought we ran the ball really well on Saturday. So we want to fine-tune that. We want to get Nick Singleton going. We need both of those backs to really be at their very best. And we’re just kind of tuning that up.”

You can read everything else Smith said on Tuesday night below. And, you can watch his comments on BWI’s YouTube page. Click here to see it.

Will Koby Howard and Tyseer Denmark get more time at receiver? 

“They’re competitors,” Smith said. “We need guys that are willing to compete and lay it on the line to win. I think those guys can help us.”

How does Penn State get Nick Singleton going while still staying dedicated to Kaytron Allen? 

“Obviously, Kaytron’s running the ball really well,” Smith said. “We want to try to get Nick the ball out in space. You know, he’s the faster back. He has the home run hitting capability. So, just trying to be strategic in getting the ball to him in space. That’s going to be a focal point for us.”

How are the Lions handling recruiting this week?

“Yeah, we’re going to recruit this week,” Smith said. “We’re going to touch base, especially with all our commits, and the guys that are kind of on the fringe of, they were committed and now they’re kind of looking around. We’re going to touch base with all those guys. And our message is: ‘Penn State’s had three coaches in 60 years, or whatever. We’re going to hire a great coach. And this place is still Penn State.”

Jaxon Smolik injury update

“We got this bye week, so we’re going to take that time to see where he is. But there’s no update right now,” Smith said.

Is there an emergency QB? 

“[Bekkem Kritz] is coming off the [injury] list, and he’ll be listed as one of the quarterbacks on the roster,” Smith said.

What’s the emotional state of the locker room? 

“The message right now is, stay together,” Smith said. “We went and fought [at Iowa]. I told you guys last week, we will get those guys to play hard. They played extremely hard. They left it up there. Now, the key is, finish. There’s plays on the offense, the defense, the special teams, just lead[changing plays out there. We’ve got to close.

“And you know, the defense has to get off the field when the offense scores and puts us up. And the offense has to score touchdowns instead of field goals late in the game. We can’t have bobbled, mishandled punt return, kick return. So, we got to get all that cleaned up. And those are all the little things that are keeping us from victory.”

Does Smith have a sense on why the transfer receivers haven’t been as productive as expected?

“Not really sure why,” Smith said. “You know that’s a good question. My job is to just try to change things up. And you know, the success was the success that they had. I’m coming in with a new set of eyes and lenses to see this thing. I’ve seen Koby and Tyseer, because I coach the DBs, and I see them every day and I know what they’re capable of,. So, I’m going to give them a shot.” 

What’s it like being the leader of the Penn State program?

“I think the transition has been really good,” Smith said. “This week has slowed down tremendously from last week. This is a big job. This is a CEO job. It is so much more than coaching guys on the football field. It’s all the organization, it’s the media, it’s; you’re running everything. So, all of that was kind of rehashing some old memories from when I was a head coach times 10,000. I think this week is slowing down. This week, I’ve already watched more film on Ohio State than I watched on Iowa the whole week last week. So, we’re ahead of the curve. And I think now we’re going to settle on in and kind of get into a routine and just keep putting our best foot forward.”

Chaz Coleman update 

“Chaz was sick going into, I think, it was the UCLA game,” Smith said. “He’s just now getting healthy. And then with the Iowa game, Chaz is more of a pass rusher. And, he didn’t fit the game plan for what Iowa was going to bring. They were going to run the ball. That’s why Yvon played a lot more.”

On injured defensive ends Zuriah Fisher and Jaylen Harvey

“Yeah, there’s no updates on them. With the bye week, I fully anticipate those guys will be back at some point.”

On the Penn State DBs watching film with the staff 

“Yeah, those guys come in there,” Smith said. “Sometimes, when we watch the film after practice, there’s a lot of combination calls, right? If the offense does this, we’re going to do that. And there’s like, six different options to a single play. And, sometimes there’s not really right or wrong.

“They got to just confirm a call so we’re all on the same page. And then you obviously want to be in the perfect call. And so those guys are trying to learn that. I think they have a good grasp of it. But, they’re still learning it. It’s still a work in progress. We just got to get the mental thinking out of it, where our guys can play fast and be more athletic and better players.”

Can the Lions speed up the defense’s learning process?

“It’s complicated,” Smith said. “It’s very complicated. It’s pro-like. So this is really good for our guys that dream or wish to go to the NFL. This is what they’re going to get. And they got to understand you have to apply yourself. Where football may have been so easy, where I can grab that, I can grasp that. I can grasp that. Now all of a sudden, you have to study this like education, going to math class.”

Will other assistants get more play calling input on offense or defense?

“The play callers are the play callers,” Smith said. “We do have opinions from everyone else. That’s kind of been one of my roles here this last week, just getting ideas of how everyone thinks of the offense and what we think we should be doing, and how everyone thinks of the defense and what we think we should be doing. There are subtle changes that are taking place.

“We’re just going to continue to try to tweak here, tweak there. We’re not trying to blow this thing up. At the end of the day, man, we’ve lost four games, and in any game, one play could make a difference. We’re trying to close the gap for that one-play difference. That’s what we’re grasping on to.”

Can this Penn State team find a way to play complementary football?

“We have to. It’s the only way to success,” Smith said. “All three teams have to be clicking on all cylinders. Obviously, we go up to Ohio State, they’re the best team in the country. They’re the most talented team in the country. We have to be clicking on all cylinders to give ourselves a chance for that game.”

How can the Lions get more explosive passing plays?

“Yeah, we had those conversations last week, and we continue to have those conversations. That’s going to be a part of, Tyseer and Koby as a part of that, right? Like, how can we get the ball in different areas of the field? We’ve just got to continue to grow our pass game beyond the intermediate zone, right? So that’s your digs, your curls, your comebacks, and then vertically, deep.

“With our run game starting to click, and starting to hit on all cylinders, we’ve got to be able to play action off of that and go in behind the linebackers and develop that pass game. So we’ve been talking about that, a little last week, and a little more this week. We have to execute that to have a chance.”

Does this team still have fight?

“Yeah, they don’t have a choice if they’re going to play for me,” Smith said. “They have a choice if they’re gong to play for me. Quit isn’t in my vocabulary. We all have a job to do. Everyone’s got to play to the end. You got to give your soul. Things aren’t going our way right now, but the only way to get out the storm is to run through the storm. And we’re going to run through the storm until we get out the storm. We’ll come out and the sun will shine on us, and we’ll all be better for it.”