Penn State football is being powered to 'another level' by something in particular this spring
STATE COLLEGE — The first four Penn State football spring practices have produced early standouts (more from Nate Bauer on that here) and a look behind the curtain at the 2024 version of the Nittany Lions. By and large, though, it’s still far too early in the march to April’s Blue-White game to have any overarching takeaways regarding where things stand long before coach James Franklin’s 11th regular season here starts in Morgantown, W. Va., in late August. After all, the program has three new coordinators who are just starting to put their touch on things, a number of former starters who are now off to the NFL, transfer portal additions who have only worn blue and white for about three months, and numerous position battles that are just beginning to play out.
With all of that said, Franklin, his staff, and his players can still share their perspectives on how things are going so far. Two ‘F’ words of the good variety sum it up so far as offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, defensive coordinator Tom Allen, special teams coordinator Justin Lustig, and their new charges all continue to work together for the first time: Flying (around) and fight.
“Right now, we’re flying around and playing with a ton of confidence on defense, which is great to see,” Franklin said after practice on Tuesday night. He later added on the offense:
“I just see a lot of fight. I think our offense is challenging our defense, [and] I think they’re really emotionally invested in having fun with it at practice. We’re doing a ton of different things in terms of how it [the offense] presents … I think are more challenging for our defense.”
More: Notes and observations on defense from Penn State’s open practice
Players on both sides of the ball agreed with their head coach’s point of view.
“From sideline-to-sidline, guys are running to the ball efficiently,” linebacker Kobe King said. “Guys are just having fun out there, running to the ball, flashing around, and having fun.”
Penn State guard Sal Wormley cited overall practice demeanor and battles to back up Franklin’s point.
“Football is a physical sport. And, some guys need to learn that they got to have some pride in themselves,” Wormley said. “Like you can’t just get pushed back. You can’t just let some guy talk trash in your face. And, I really think some guys are trying to step up to the plate more. It’s just guys trying to step up, trying to be known like, ‘Okay, I’m not soft. Like, I’m going to be that guy. I’m trying. I’m working.’ And I think that’s really the competition that’s coming. Everybody wants to be a top dog. Everybody wants to talk trash. I personally love it.”
More: PSU March 19 spring practice observations: Offense
Another 10 practices separate Penn State from its annual spring game on April 13 at Beaver Stadium. Between now and then, we will learn a lot more about how these Nittany Lions will exit their first practice session of the season ahead of fall camp. But, so far, from Franklin’s strained voice to talk from the players and two glimpses of drills, a heightened intensity and a drive to be better have been on full display.
“In the past years, it’d be mainly the first and second team guys talking trash really getting at it,” Wormley said. “But now we got, the freshmen are going at each other, freshmen trying to talk to the seniors, the starters, things like that. And I love the energy that everybody is bringing to the table. I really think that’s another level, another step, that I haven’t seen since I’ve been at Penn State.”
