“I wasn’t concerned with what they did in the past and public perception. “When I met with the (offensive linemen) individually, a recurring theme is we’re going to ignore the past and create a future,” Moorhead said. The idea is to momentarily freeze defenders when making decisions, something that could limit pressure on the offensive line. Moorhead’s offense uses varying degrees of tempo and run-pass options. “You could tell that he has a familiarity with the concepts we run,” Moorhead said. New Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who was head coach at his alma mater Fordham, will likely start Trace McSorley at quarterback. Still, the defense is in rebuilding mode at the same time the offense breaks in a new scheme and quarterback. That could provide a smooth transition on defense for the Nittany Lions, which ranked in the top 15 nationally in yards per play during each of the past two seasons.
You look at it all and make sure you kind of understand what some of the underlying issues may be.”īrent Pry, who worked closely under Shoop, became Penn State’s new defensive coordinator. “I love the way our decommits get talked about, and yet, you look at some of our Big Ten brethren and they had as many decommits as we did,” Barbour said. Barbour said the amount of money thrown at assistant coaches and the desire for players to get more playing time can mostly explain those departures. There was also anxiousness from the fan base this offseason because some players (mostly graduate transfers) left and some recruits decommitted. But yeah, that was a challenge, especially the timing of it (near National Signing Day).” They’re used to staff staying here a long time. I think we haven’t had turnover and that magnifies it and Penn State isn’t used to turnover. “In some ways, yes in some ways, no,” Franklin said. Still, losing three assistants heading into Franklin’s third year hardly seems ideal. How rare had change been at Penn State? In Paterno’s final season, five of the coaches (including Paterno) had not worked at any school except Penn State. Highly-regarded defensive coordinator Bob Shoop took the same position at Tennessee. Offensive line coach Herb Hand left for the same job at Auburn. Last November, Penn State fired offensive coordinator John Donovan, who is now an offensive quality control coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour also cites the scholarship losses as a reason for patience, saying the 2016 season is less about wins and losses and more about how the team competes and plays. Still, that third year is now here for Franklin, who is trying to buy time while Penn State attempts to create a new future against the backdrop of a program still struggling with how it handles the memory of Joe Paterno. The NCAA had imposed on Penn State a $60 million fine, a four-year ban from bowl games, the removal of past victories and a reduction in scholarships - penalties that have since mostly gotten rolled back. When Franklin was hired in 2014, he said Penn State administrators warned him that his third and fourth years would be the most difficult. The chart shows just 15 juniors, some of whom Franklin said normally would have benefitted by a redshirt year if not for the numbers crunch. But Franklin’s chart on his desk projects only 10 seniors in the program this year instead of the 20-25 he desires.
Once at 65-75 scholarships, Penn State will be close to 85 in 2016. Penn State coach James Franklin got up several times during a mid-April interview in his office to review a chart on his desk so he could provide accurate data of what he called “out of whack” scholarship numbers.
The topic was the impact of NCAA penalties on Penn State’s football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation scandal.