Dom Deluca Talks Walk-On Journey, Manny Diaz vs Tom Allen & Penn State’s Defense

Intro obviously you're coached by coach Allen now you came from coach Diaz what are the differences between uh coach Manny Diaz and Coach Allen coach Diaz will make you run through a wall and Coach alen make you show you the reason why to run through the wall and I feel like that really helped us in explaining everything why we do everything why we why we run this defense and when we run this defense I feel that helped a lot what's the linebacker room how do they feel about the new changes and and how's it going so far as a leader we have a lot of depth in the linebacker room I mean we're all very competitive and we all really want to play and I'm really excited for everyone in the room too and we're really excited about this defense and uh we're playing fast and we're playing physical that's all coach Allen preaches what's going on folks we are launching the retain the roar campaign here at State media in partnership with Happy Valley United this is extremely important to me personally and the entire program moving forward I came to Penn State in some of the darkest times I deeply care about this University and this football program that is why I'm done talking I'm going to lead by example and I'm working to pull a bunch of other Letterman together to get behind this campaign is integral for us to participate in nil and not only participate but dominate to match the expectations that we all have for this program we're in it to win championships so let's put our money where our mouth is I'm taking the first step I hope that you all follow me our goal is to raise $500,000 to close this spring transfer portal cycle and ensure that we retain the roar college football te's college basketball te's whatever you need mercury has you covered with the best merch out there we're talking about high quality clothing inexpensive and the best part is I have a 15% discount for everybody who goes and gets some right now use the code below hit the link in the description and go get your merch now use the code to get 15% off what are you waiting on go do it what's going on Catching Up we are back I am B Bell Brandon Bell here with my guy Jason cabinda and our guy here we're all with the linebackers today and kind of want to kick this off because every time we speak to anyone we say who's making making plays making splashes at practice they say d deuca d deuca so we're here with you today we're excited to get into your story and really just kick it as linebackers for sure I'm excited thank you for having me Dom’s Motivation me and uh B we talk about you a lot we talk about one of our guys Von Walker who we came up with he was a walk- on as well fast agile made a lot of plays just a damn good football player but he was a walk on and also earned a scholarship as you have as well so you guys have similar stories but we talk about you we're like you know he he's kind of like a bigger V you know can make plays you've made a lot of Splash plays you know what keeps that chip on your shoulder obviously I know you're a walk on all those kinds of things but what exactly has brought you the motivation to get to this point that you're at now in your career uh my parents for real I mean they always told me like work for what you want and always have that chip on your shoulder and always have that walk on mentality because like don't lose it I mean yeah you got to put on scholarship but you still fighting for a job every day every year so keep that mentality yeah we' talked about you Mindset obviously playing Sam you said you're learning a little bit of will now what are you noticing are the kind of the differences in Sam and will and how you feel more involved when you're playing the will Etc I mean Sam and will are very similar in in their ways just like in coverage of drops but now I'm spiking more gaps I'm hitting the hole I'm reading lineman more so I'm really enjoying it and uh feel like it's bringing me closer to the game yeah yeah I definitely feel that you know coming from saying myself you know you get pulled out the game a lot you know nowadays the nickel's coming in the safeties are coming in you know we're competitors we want to make the plays so I know you feel good about being on the field more and kind of what excites you to kind of I know you're a leader as well named the team captain also coming from walk on like V I think is a big deal what do you kind of look forward to Bringing to this defense this this upcoming season just our mentality of having that killer mentality and uh just like having that hard-nosed football and keeping the standard of lbu I I feel like that's also a big thing for we try to preach in the linebacker room and uh just always having that chip on your shoulder and ready to play I love that Tom Allen and how has coach Allen helped or what has he implemented to kind of keep on that lbu mentality oh he he preaches that a lot every every day every meeting he always says we the defense we are the captains of the defense and everyone goes through us and we have to get everyone right get everyone set and I feel I really like that about him I know LBU for me um the linebacker you tradition was was so so huge to me and it was it was a pivotal thing that I thought about all the time you know in terms of keeping my standard and how I worked and you know I had guys like B Bell I had a guy like Mike hole who I really watched and I felt like kind of show me the way in that sense who is that for you as a young guy coming up and who you're now kind of upholding that tradition that you saw or that mentality that he had Alice Brooks and Jesse Letta I mean my first semester here they were the two old guys in the in the room and I really just try to learn everything from them and uh learning from them was uh a little bit challenging because I came from safety so like they were speaking a language I didn't really understood yet yeah but once I started to like pick it up fast and uh they helped me a lot extra meetings extra talking even on the field I mean I asked them so many questions and they were probably D with questions at the time but they helped me a lot and I really try to hold that standard for them yeah that that's good to hear I mean uh obviously you're Diaz vs Allen coached by coach Allen now you came from coach Diaz what do you feel like are the Stark differences either in their approach their mentality maybe how they coach you how they speak to you guys what are the differences between uh coach mny Diaz and Coach Allen I feel like Kobe King hit this one very well he he said coach Diaz would make you run through a wall and Coach alen make you show you the reason why it's to run through the wall and I feel like that really helped us in explaining everything why we do everything why we why we run this defense and when we run this defense I feel that helped a lot so you say coach Manny have you will Coach you to run through a wall coach Allan will have you understand why you're running through the wall okay I get that so you you're LB Room grabbing these Concepts how do you think it's going so far Spring ball what's the linebacker room how do they feel about the new changes and and how's it going so far as a leader what's going on y'all Christian Hackenberg with State media in the pocket this segment is brought to you by UTS UTS has a phenomenal line of potato chips and other snacks we were fortunate enough to be able to enjoy them all weekend they kept us fed and ready for all of these interviews that you all are about to enjoy they've been a fantastic partner of ours and we're looking forward to continuing to bring you guys exclusive content here at State media we have a lot of depth in the linebacker room I mean we're all very competitive and we all really want to play and I'm really excited for everyone in the room too with like Tony Roos Kobe King Tyler Ellen Keon Wy all of them I mean we're set a linebacker and I think anyone who's on the field is going to make a play and uh we're really excited about this defense and uh we're playing fast and we're playing physical that's all coach Allan appre and as teammates how do you guys balance that because obviously you know you guys are friends you guys will come up together all those kinds of things but at the same time you all want to play you know you all want to have as big a role as you possibly can so you know how does either the leader in your room or coach Allen kind of help you guys to manage y'all's friendship while at the same time being as competitive as can possibly be because at the end of the day iron sharpens iron so the competition that's what Rises the room when you have that competition you have guys who want to play over each other so how do you guys balance in terms of your relationships with each other coach Allen actually has us rank each other as a linebackers see who's who's one who's two who's three and like all that and I really I really like that too so that's uh the hard truth right there I mean he he's giving to you straight up like this is what your room thinks and this is what we think I really like that and uh the way we we balance it is we always talk I mean we're always gaming on after after practice but getting on the video games hanging out talking just messing around just still having that friendship that is like separate from the football aspect M and know is that ranking is that daily just like from practice to practice or kind of at the end of camp at the end of you know a week status or we did it uh halfway through I think we did after like practice like six or seven and then we're about to we're probably going to do it afterwards as well he hasn't really told us that yet I like that I do like that it's kind of different different that's cool you got to respect game it's hard true you know it's hard true cuz who's going to argue with it right exactly theend of day this what your team sees and this is what uh your coaches sees right right now we Number 0 talk about lbu and the standard you kind of a part of this new standard with number zero you know what have you taken on with that you're you know we call them what sharks special team Sharks special teams demons Neons back in our day shout out to Marshall and Old Coach but you know what's what's it been like rocking that zero it looks sweet i' tell you that for sure I mean I I love uh having that prestigious number zero I mean it's a standard I gotta live up to John sou set a high standard and uh just like following his footsteps I mean I always looked up to him as a freshman so seeing how he went through the program did everything right was always on time and early uh always doing something in the facility I mean just living up to that standard is uh it's an honor I mean coach lustig is a great coach I love learning from him learning the new scheme and everything and uh I just hope I can make come plays for him this year yes sir I appreciate it last thing I'll Expectations leave you off with what can we expect out of D Duca this year playing different positions special teams I'm sure of course what are we looking for from you we've seen you make a ton of plays so hopefully we see it well hopefully more picks and more sacks this year that's that's what that's my goal I love it big plays baby big plays sure appreciate talking to you man