You hear it. I hear it. James Franklin hears it. Marques Hagans, entering his second season as Penn State’s wide receivers coach, hears it.
“Let’s be honest: I hear it. And I think the guys hear it as well,” Hagans said on Thursday, during a media availability prior to Lift For Life. “I’m not going to let those guys down. We know that we can improve and get better. That’s the motivation for us, not externally, but because our team needs it.”
Especially when it comes to explosive passing plays that involve a pass thrown 20 or more yards downfield. In 2023, first-year starting quarterback Drew Allar had 233 completions overall — but just eight completions of 20-plus yards downfield. In Penn State’s 13 games, on its way to a 10-3 record, Allar had five contests in which he had zero or only one such 20-yard downfield completion.
“Obviously, you know one of the biggest issues we had last year was explosive plays,” Franklin said on Thursday. “The more we can be explosive, specifically in the passing game, will help us be more explosive in the running game.”
Franklin & Co. worked to rectify that deficiency by firing offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich with two regular season games remaining in 2023. Changes were swift. Three of Allar’s eight such completions came in the Nittany Lions’ final two regular season games.
The Penn State receivers — specifically, the wide receivers — remain the primary topic of preseason conversation. The Penn State passing game also involves the tight ends, led by Tyler Warren (34 catches, 422 yards, 7 TDs in 2023), and the running backs, Nick Singleton (26-308-2) and Kaytron Allen (14-81-1). In fact, look for those two position groups to be much more involved in 2024.
What those position coaches do, and how they process and teach new OC Andy Kotelnicki’s offensive schemes, will be critical this summer and into the fall. Here’s an overview of how all the Penn State coaches who work with the offense — sans QB coach/GA Danny O’Brien — think about Coach K’s new offense, based on my interviews with them on Thursday.
TY HOWLE, TIGHT ENDS:
Trusting Tyler Warren
“The biggest thing with Coach K that we’ve talked about as an offensive staff is that we want to make sure that whatever our players do well, we do that. Particularly in the passing game. If we got a guy who is really good at running a dig, well, let’s put him out there and have him do it. Obviously, we’re developing everybody to do it. If we have a guy who has a special talent and he gets open on fades, let’s do that.
“Everybody runs a lot of the same concepts. You look at the NFL; I got to go watch the Giants practice on Tuesday and they’re doing a lot of the same plays that we’re doing. But maybe there’s different action on it.”
What does Tyler Warren do best as a receiver? “He has a big body and knows how to use it vs. man coverage. He’s a guy who will make contested catches. He knows how to get open and maybe use that little extra nudge, using his strength, to separate from a defender. He’s also smart. He can find the holes in zones. And he’s a reliable guy. He makes tough plays. He makes tough catches. He’s the guy you can trust that he’ll come down with it.”
JA’JUAN SEIDER, RUNNING BACKS:
Shopping at 7-11
“I think Andy is great at diversifying the game plan. Touches don’t always have to come just from a hand-off. Touches can come from catching the ball. We call the swing route 7-11, because it’s always open. We did it in the bowl game, hitting Nick on a wheel route (for a 48-yard TD). We will do different things so the backs can touch the ball, like an option route vs. the Mike linebacker. There’s not a Mike linebacker in the country who can barely cover these guys (Singleton and Allen). It’s just taking advantage to get these guys touches in different places of the game.
“I make the running backs run routes with the receivers and tight ends all offseason, because sometimes that’s your best coach. If I can get them to mirror what Trey Wallace is doing from a slot position, a lot of times you can learn from each other. If you put them in an uncomfortable position, it can make them better.”
PHIL TRAUTWEIN, OFFENSIVE LINE:
It’s SOP for the OL
“I’m just trying to have our guys protect (the quarterback). So for me, I know Andy’s doing different things — like motion shifts — to get wide receivers open faster, which will help us. But at the end of the day, we’re still going to be dropping back in six-man or five-man (protection), or we’ll do naked and we’ll do play-action passes. We’re going to do all the same stuff. It’s just probably different in the way he calls it and different in the ways to get guys open and different ways to attack the defenses. So for us, it’s going to be, ‘Protect the quarterback.’ ”
MARQUES HAGANS, WIDE RECEIVERS:
You guys will see
“Right now, the guys are exceeding where we should be, so I’m proud of where we are. We’re not complacent. We got to keep working and continue to get better. The guys know they’re in the middle of the summer, they’re getting stronger, they’re getting faster. Every day they come through drills, they’re competing. Every time we get to do football stuff, we’re competing, and that’s an evaluation. Guys are getting better at little things.
“Culturally, we’re growing collectively. That’ll allow us to play harder to play better, and do whatever it requires to help our team win. I think the culture of the room is different because it’s a new year. The guys that are in the room are in a different space. The guys take a lot of pride in that and I think it’ll show this year — so yeah, you guys will see.
“You guys will be able to see exactly the changes that we made once the season unfolds. But I do like where we’re going offensively.”
JAMES FRANKLIN, HEAD COACH:
A big role for Trey Wallace
“We thought (Wallace) was going to have a big year last year, and that got limited through no fault of his own. We feel that way, and maybe more so, this year. He’s a year older. He’s more mature, he’s developed. He’s very hungry, because I think there’s frustration because last year got cut short. He’s in a really good place. He’s had a great summer so far and he had a really good spring. We’re expecting him to have a big year for us. We need for him to have a good year for us. He’s super-athletic. He’s one of the most explosive guys we have in our program. You saw flashes of that at times. Some of the challenges were the chemistry, because all the timing with quarterbacks was lacking.”
ANDY KOTELNICKI, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
Subtle changes
The wide receivers “are doing great. They’re having a great summer right now. They’re working out and doing a lot. I’m really pleased with the progress that room is having. Execution has been awesome. We’re very, very pleased with their approach to improving from when I got here to now. It’s a really good trajectory for those guys.
Noticeable changes: “You hope you see the ability to make contested catches, but those are things that show up on the SportsCenter Top 10 anyway. To me, when you think about improvement, in all rooms, sometimes that improvement can be very subtle and maybe the lay person doesn’t recognize it and what’s happening. Everyone sees the 60-yard touchdowns, but not everyone really recognizes the well-run hitch route — and the well-thrown hitch route — that gains seven yards and gives you a second-and-3.
“We talk about explosive plays and those things matter. But all those things have a compounding effect on execution and your ability to score points. Without giving away too much stuff before we start playing football games about what it looks like from those guys and that room, I think it will be things like that (hitch).”
