Penn State Lettermen On Tom Allen’s Culture Shift, Beau Pribula’s Role & Julian Fleming’s Potential

Intro you know there's no 21-point play in football so you knew it was going to have to be chip away at it one one drive at a time and we just kind of kept our eyes focused on that next drive that next play defense went out bbell Jason they were making plays started stop in Wisconsin run and there's that play where bbell is jumping over the blocker and knocking it out of quarter that and you started to feel that shift and once that momentum shift to the team we were we just grafted it and and we let it roll college football te's college basketball te's whatever you know 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 first of all appreciate everybody who's Catching Up stuck around for this extra panel we've got four pen State football legends in the house we're going to ask some questions we got to go to practice on Thursday we got to sit there and talk to a lot of the coaches the players and feel the vibe of the team so let's get Penn State’s Offense right into it we'll start offensively with you Haack we got to talk to Coach K I got to hear a little bit more about his philosophies and his plans going into this season what was the overall Vibe and the feel after your conversation with him yeah CH and I got to talk to him I don't want to let two much out of mtic every Dr more than any of you but I really appreciate the fact that you guys heard what he's talked about what he had Med access he's a teacher first man I I I'm a firm believer he he get you have to be a fantastic teacher you have to be able to motivate the team you can tell that he has the right energy he has the right Focus he knows what he's doing comp stuff so obviously there's no magic button the implementation and that's why slate law so report is getting activated for the new terminology the philosophies that he has the validations of his office but I'm really excited to see how it progresses today is obviously accumulation of the screenwork but how it progresses to the training camp and it old timately how it progress the pr season because again it's not going to be an instant switch but the familiarity and ability to get rest of this Personnel be able to put them in unique situations and you know he kind of C he's like I got a lot of toys so I'm really curious to see how he puts these guys in positions to be successful and Trace let me ask you since you're getting the microphone now a buzz word in the off season has been explosion everybody wants the offense to be more explosive than it was last year tons of talent still in the building what does it take for an offense to go from being efficient to also being explosive as well um yeah so I think part of it obviously will be what Coach K can bring and he had kind of talked about it the the creativity he has with really diving into what they have Personnel wise and being very multiple being in 11 12 13 personnels I you've talked to a couple people like they're trying to utilize and get the best 11 on the field at one time and really Force the defense to be in uncomfortable situations and I really think that's one of the things that will really help them become more explosive and then you know even the the couple practices that I've been at you can see the mentality in that quarterback room is efficiency and you know playing within the system and playing within uh you know within themselves but at the same time when those opportunities are there to to push it down the field and give The Playmakers on the outside those opportunities that's what they've been doing uh so I really think it's a little bit of it goes hand inand with the Personnel that they have and being able to those quarterbacks mentality like I Pro when I was here I probably went a little too far with it at times but you know Drew and Bo they they understand the time and place to make those shots and you've seen them pushing it down the field a little bit in practice we'll Tom Allen switch to the to the defensive side of the ball here we got chat with Tom Allen um he's he's your quintessential culture guy in that defensive room we played for Bren fry we saw what Manny Diaz was able to accomplish after the conversation with Tom Allen Jason how do you feel about the direction that the defense is heading into I mean I absolutely love the conversation I have with Coach Allen and even when I spoke to the players the the surrounding talk around coach Allen that every single player had mentioned was just how meticulous he was about the details and how he how he installs the defense how he talks about the scheme and I think a lot of coaches don't always get the players to understand what the why behind why we're doing certain things and I think as a player that's so valuable for players to understand why we're doing things and to get guys to buy in in the way you need them to buy into a scheme and I think that's one of the things this spring I feel like he's done a really good job of is making the players understand the why and then also making sure they understand the details behind the defense so I'm really excited about Coach Allen that's what the great coaches do they find a way to get guys to understand the why and understand why they're actually doing the things that they're being asked to do Brandon the Linebacker Room linebacker room loses Curtis Jacobs to the NFL draft obviously a big leader in that room when you look at the linebacker unit who are a couple of the young guys that you're excited about I know everybody here has read articles on Tony Roos and what he's been able to do uh so what's your take on that room now yeah I mean starting with Tony I mean he looks the part the kid looks good number 13 I said it before on the pocket podcast his favorite player is Fred Warner he kind of has a similar build I'll just say that as you know uh ways to go to get there but I'm looking forward to see his progress everyone keeps talking about him and then uh Keon Wy uh Philly kid you know I'm excited to see what he brings as Jason said earlier the competition is high in this room so guys are battling for snaps I'm not sure if we'll see you know a constant starter there may be guys rotating which I wasn't really a fan of as a player but I understand it there's a lot of talent everyone has to see the field so those probably the first two got uh Kobe King coming back he seems to be the guy that's going to run the show Dom Duca I'm looking forward to seeing him make a lot more plays he's been grinding and get on the field more and more and as we've seen he's he's produced when he's on the field yeah and I think the best thing about that room right now now when you look at it is even whoever ends up being in backup roles it really seems like those players are starter caliber players that's kind of what you want to see out of your depth yeah the depth that pen State football has right now at least since I've been around in 2018 is better than it's ever been at every position across the board there's a true two to three deep of people that you can rely on to go win you some games now I'd Big 10 Championship be remiss if I didn't ask three of you this you guys were all a part of the Big 10 Championship I remember being 16 years old being on my couch falling asleep and you guys were down 287 don't make us feel old like waking up waking up and you guys have tied the ball game so Trace we'll start with you down 287 what was the mindset what was the approach that the offense had to fight back into that game and ultimately win yeah uh down 287 I I think this is kind of the mentality of our team at that point was you know we were a second half team so there was never a a panic button that got pressed I remember you know we're down 20 s still first half and I walked up and down the sideline you know trying to be like all right I got to get guys going they were already up like there was no Panic there was no like you know you could potentially see guys get down like damn this is a big game this is our chance and we're blowing it there was never any of that it was a confidence that we had in on that team and then you know from the offensive mentality was you know there's no 21o play in football so you knew it was going to have to be chip away at it one one drive at a time and we just kind of kept kept our eyes focused on that next drive that next play defense went out bbell Jason they were making plays started to stop in Wisconsin run there's that play where bbell is jumping over the blocker and knocking it out of the quter that one and you started to feel that shift and once that momentum shift and the team we were we just grafted it and and we let it roll first throw the the post one yeah it was one of those that I I could see the safety beine in back to get him and I had a little bit of pressure in my face so it was one of those that you know trusted guys that we had downfield that laid it up to him and let him go make the play and you could like said I can see the safety kind of running back at an angle and S even set his angle a little bit flat across the FI boy had 200 yard crazy I saw him going high out I'll add some color I I think it's one of those things that like you gave your guy a chance you knew you knew he understood General vicinity the body control that you gave this guy a chance it was going to be a I didn't purposely under throw like I I put everything I had in that throw but it was one of those that you know like I said give the guy a chance knew that it was probably going to be a jump ball type situation and then s made with his body control and what he was able to do he made that last second adjustment to catch it be able to cut under the safety and go Abdul Carter I want to I want to ship gears here a little bit there's a kid playing today in Beaver Stadium that's made a position change he's going from linebacker to defensive end he wears number 11 he's got all in the world Jason you have gone through your own positional changes speak to some of the challenges that that may entail and what we should expect for Abdul Carter today and this segment is brought to you by Family clothesline they kept us looking sharp all weekend I'm currently wearing one of the Lulu polos it's a family clothes line exclusive make sure you guys check out family clothesline for all of your Penn State apparel needs yeah I mean um you know luckily Abdul is not switching sides of the ball like I've had to do but uh you know going from a you know a stand up off the- ball linebacker to kind of being on the ball more playing that defensive end type of position now I expect a lot of the pass rush stuff to come to Abdu very naturally even as a blitzing linebacker he was always very good blitzing uh uh uh running backs so I see him you know using his hands well having being natural in his moves and stuff we talked to Coach Barnes about him Coach Barnes kind of echoed that same sentiment and told him you know I don't even have to over Coach this guy too much the pass rush come to him naturally I think what's going to have to come with reps is kind of defending the Run game working the hands shedding blocks from that standpoint always dealing with tackles who are typically the bigger of the offensive lineman in general um but from that standpoint man I I really expect Abdul to make a big splash at the end yeah I'm I'm not sure if the staff learned from michah Parson going to the NFL and moving to the end but they're not making the same mistake twice with that Carter seems like um I Transfer Class want to ask you Bell a lot of transfers uh I think the Spring ball is a great opportunity to see young guys get more reps in a game like environment obviously with the portal we brought guys in uh new to the team are there any of those young guys or transfers that you're excited to watch for the first time today man we talked with Coach Terry Smith Jason and I and not a transfer but the Young quarterback number 29 Collins team's been making it Mark oning spring game really uh you know locking down guys and coverage and that's the the guys we look for to put out there against these Elite receivers that we're going to play against this season so I'm looking forward to see what he brings to this team this year you know we got the two transfer corners from uh the SEC Georgia Florida those guys look good as well you know really just looking for a crisp clean operation defensively offensively you know I don't think we're going to show Too Much out there so don't expect too much pretty vanilla but I'm looking forward to the defense for sure it's going to be a lot of fun and hack let me get to you drew Drew Allar Aller uh has had a lot of success in Penn State already as a young player um still a lot of room to continue to improve and people are going to expect so much from this guy who was such a big recruit and has had so much promise throughout his career when you watch Drew's game what are some areas in which he can continue to get better heading into year three yeah I've said this I think I think Drew has done a fantastic job Distributing football in the shorter to intermediate in the passing Concepts obviously similar to what that question was just asked about Trace giving guys chances down the field and being confident in get guys Chances with the understanding that sometimes the defense is going to make a play whether that results in an interception or a pass breakup or or something you have to be all right to live with that you have to you got to understand that's part of it it's going to be so I think from a game perspective playing physical at that's that's kind of the the want to see being more comfortable you guys chances down the field and I think it's going help the whole offense now I think the biggest dve through we talked about his at L with him on the side playing golf like I think the biggest strides for Drew is going to be more mentally and really stepping into that role as not only the leader of the offense but the leader of the entire football team and how his play at specific points of time not only motivated Elevate the play of the offensive side of the ball but transversally on the defensive side of the ball as well and I think you guys can add some color to that like playing with both Trac and myself there was points where we pick something up made a play that motivated you guys and that helped that helped the whole process the beauty of football being the ultimate ke the best SE ever created is that that momentum backer the quarterback has a massive part of being able to dictate that so for Drew I think that's the biggest step for him if I could add into that like you said coming into the defensive side you know you see 14 or nine come after a big play let's let's fing go whatever it may be you feel that energy from the leader of the team and it only instills into the rest of the guys that maybe is a LW part of a game where we should be up 21 but hey it's 77 that little spark can go a long way I talk about all the time confidence and young players can take you very far in life especially in a a short college football season there's Beau Pribula been a lot of talk about Bo prula getting more involved this year he's he's earned the right to be on the field he's a great player he has a respect of all of his teammates Trace I want to ask you two things number one the kid wear is number nine he's an athlete like you were people have drawn comparisons to him uh from you to him how realistic is it that two quarterbacks are going to be able to play what is that experience going to look like you were here you had Tommy Stevens battling too playing some snaps what's that experience like yeah so to touch on the how much we look alike is it almost is a little scary like every time he goes into the game my friends from home they hit me up they're like yo why is Trace back in college like what's going on trying to get that nil money give it to me I'll be back um but yeah so I I do think like you said he's he's been able to earn that respect he's earned that opportunity and I do think it's a little bit of a delicate balance right like there's not everywhere in the country that you could potentially talk about having two quarterbacks on the field at the same time um but one with the relationship that Drew and Bo share and being in the room together you know we were kind of touched on the with these guys like they roomed together before a game similar how me and hack did like that type of relationship that they have I think they're built and set up to where they understand that their goals are to make this team better to bring this team to the heights that it can be to be a championship level team and they're both ready to sacrifice whatever needs to be done to bring this team to that standard and I think you know the coaches have done a great job and AKA coach K's talked about it you know being able to utilize the best 11 on the field in whatever way possible the two of them on the field at the same time or having one in one out like whatever it might be you know I think that's that creativity from the coaches perspective that they've talked about and they want to be able to do they want the best guys on the field and the two of them with their relationship that they have I do think they can be able to utilize both of them in ways that every Elson might be a little delicate you have to treat it you know with a little sensitivity here I think the two of them are able to have that camaraderie together to put the team before self Practice Stories this is a a little sidebar here not really related but I thought of it as you were talking so I didn't play with any of these guys except for trace my freshman year was his last season to Penn State at this point he's a Bonafide Legend of Penn State football I'm an 18-year-old kid I'm on the scout team as the first practice of the fall and I get meleed I get bullied into Trace you're not supposed to touch the quarterback I get thrown into him on day one by Conor McGovern and Ryan Bates Trace takes his he he spins around he's pissed before I can even turn around and look up Franklin is in a fullblown Sprint at me cussing me out for hitting the quarterback on day one um that just came back to my memory as you were talking U Julian Fleming hack I want to ask you about another transfer guy there's been some speculation about Keandre and what's going to happen there Julian Fleming obviously comes in the portal how important is it to the offense that Julian Fleming Pond's way to step up and get involved well I think is massively important I think it's a kid who's coming from a program really a receiving room that has had Elite Talent expectations so looking back at our year in our room I've said this over and over again we we've hit on this BNL BNI with the pocket throughout the season I truly believe when you look at our room there's not a lack of talent I think a lot of it has to do with confidence that position is such conf it's just like you you get your head you be the most talented guy in the world really any you get in your head period you be the most talented guy in the world it's going toit you in a lot of ways to go so I think juli come in not only make imp by the way he cares himself the way he hand on the field but also how he started pulling the best out of the rest of those guys in that room because it is T it's deep Ro they have bodies you roll those guys out there defense you're picking those guys a lot of times you guys that you're trying to tell the football to so I really hope that he come in Impact from that perspective because that's still I think he just those guys ability where it's third and six and uh someone take a play When It lines up he's looking at Drew like give me the football and I think that that's that's that's a big step that God needs to take and I'm hoping that his experience bring bring that of expectation no doubt about it the last thing I want to ask about obviously there are two really talented running backs on this roster right now single tenant KRON Allen I want to ask RB Room you guys as linebackers who've also battled against Elite running backs just how taxing is it defensively to have to play after play lineup and find a way to stop two guys like that I'll kick it off I mean really just meeting these two guys up up close and personal this past week they're pretty solid know bigger guys and I really thought they were so that's taxing you know if we can which we've done establish a tough running game to lower your shoulders on those guys you know two three plays in a row whether it's KRON or Nick I mean we know Nick has a little more explosion but he's a big dude a bigger running back than I thought so it's definitely you know when it's cold kind of like playoff football type of weather it's a conscious decision for especially DBS linebackers were built for it but it's definitely a task that you have to mentally prepare be prepared to T with those two guys yeah I I think as a defense it could be super demoralizing man when even if they're only breaking off four or five yards at a time like that's still too much for a defense as a linebacker we're expecting one yard zero yard or tfl tackles for loss so when these guys at third and three they get the first down third and four they get the first down that can be very demoralizing for defense and really where's the defense down in general so I love the way KRON runs the ball he's always getting extra Yaks yards after contact things of that nature obviously Nick single being that home run guy and somebody who could be scary in open space so I'm excited about those two andj the fact that they are rotating fresh legs absolutely absolutely no doubt we're going to wrap it up go ahead say both getting better out of the back field too as you guys know a second you know third fourth option Chuck it down just let them go to work in the flat yeah yeah well appreciate all you guys' time thank you guys for sticking around with us enjoy the game today football's around the corner baby