Penn State football thoughts: Numbers issues at key positions, Sandy Barbour's retirement plans, more

The outdoor football practice fields at Penn State were splashed with sun late Monday afternoon.

It wasn’t just the players, coaches, and fans who were thrilled that spring practice was underway. Even the weather was in a good mood in State College.

Whistles sounded, instructions were shouted, and coaches and players moved with purpose across the two grass fields and lone turf field at the far end of the complex. No time can be wasted over the next month, as a total of 15 days of drills is all Penn State and every other college football program has to install systems, drill home fundamental principles, and otherwise get ready for fall camp.

“I think the new rules that the NCAA changed a few years ago in terms of what you’re allowed to do in terms of meetings and walk-throughs and things like that have helped with this stuff,” head coach James Franklin said. “Obviously we’re going to have to continue this after spring ball going into the summer, as well. Those things will be really important.

“But overall we had a really good winter workout period. Chuck Losey has done a fantastic job taking over for Coach [Dwight] Galt in strength and conditioning. Our winter workouts were very similar to what we’ve done in the past. Feel like we’ve got a really good model there.”

Now, it’s full steam ahead into practices. Here are four thoughts on the Lions after a busy start to the week before spring practice two.

Dialing in on Barbour’s retirement

We’ll kick things off with a note that actually has nothing to do with spring practice.

Penn State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour spoke with reporters for the first time since announcing plans to retire this summer last week. She’ll lead the Lions until a replacement is found, and then beyond that, as well, until a to-de-determined agreed upon final day is reached.

The news came as a surprise to many. Barbour either chairs or is involved with numerous key NCAA and college athletics committees. She also just signed Franklin to a massive new deal. It seemed like she was in the midst of a great point in her career. However, the 62-year-old whose contract was set to expire at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year noted that other realities of life played a big role in her ultimate decision to move on after nine years in charge. Those were found after finding some time to think and be with family following the fall sports season and women’s volleyball coaching search.

“I really started reflecting and thinking about all of this, thinking about kind of where I was from a health and well-being standpoint and where my mind was,” Barbour said.

“As I kind of assessed where I was and started thinking about it in terms of the intersection with where Penn State was, and in particular our presidential transition, I really determined and decided that not only was it the best decision for me and the right time for me, but that it was probably a pretty good time for Penn State. So that’s where my decision came from.”

So, that’s how we arrived at this point. Now, Penn State has a huge hire to make.

Numbers game: Offense

As T-Frank noted on the BWI Live show Monday night, spring roster numbers can be a bit tricky.

Penn State lost a number of players following the 2021 season. But, not every new member of the team is on campus for spring practice.

That leaves a numbers crunch at some spots. The offense is mostly immune from it, however, with two quarterbacks, two running backs, two receivers, and a tight end already on campus from the Class of 2022 in position rooms that were fairly full to begin with. But, the offensive line is a much different story.

Franklin rattled off his team’s two-deep up front early Monday afternoon. It breaks down like this:

First-team

LT: Olu Fashanu

LG: Landon Tengwall

C: Juice Scruggs

RG: Saleem Wormley

RT: Caedan Wallace

Second-team

LT: Jimmy Christ

LG: JB Nelson

C: Nick Dawkins

RG: Golden Israel-Achumba/Alex Furmanek

RT: Ibrahim Traore

A couple of things stand out here. One is Sal Wormley being back in the mix after missing all of last season. Another is Nelson finding a home on the list despite only arriving at Penn State about two months ago. Finally, walk-on Furmanek flipping positions from defensive tackle to guard for the spring says all you need to know about where things stand.

Reinforcements, headlined by Hunter Nourzad, are on the way. But, Penn State will have to hope for health to get through the next month of practices in a way that allows the line to gel while also giving the defense the best work possible. It’s a tall task for position coach Phil Trautwein, one of many he faces this year.

Penn State numbers game: Defense

Linebacker also has a numbers issue. New defensive coordinator and position coach Manny Diaz certainly has his work cut out for him.

The Penn State online roster lists only six scholarship linebackers at the moment. Of that group, Curtis Jacobs is the only one with starting experience. Charlie Katshir, then, is the only returner who played at least 100 snaps at the position last year. He clocked in at 122.

It means a big spring and summer of learning is on deck for this group.

“I think the battle between [Tyler] Elsdon and Kobe King at that position, it’ll be interesting to see what they both are able to do,” Franklin said. “They’ll get a ton of reps and there will be obviously a tremendous opportunity for them to be evaluated. Then coming in, obviously, we’ve got Abdul [Carter] coming in that we’re really excited about, as well, what he’s going to be able to do. I thought his senior film was as good as any guy we signed last year.

“Then obviously we’ve got some guys in the program, as well, that are going to get evaluated this spring. [Robbie] Dwyer and [Max] Chizmar, as well. Obviously, we’ll reconfigure that, as well, after spring ball, who needs to be moved around, what’s the best positions for them to play, and then also with the incoming recruits, as well, with Abdul and Keon [Wylie].”

Penn State spring practice odds and ends

Some final thoughts:

–One of the more fascinating parts of the first day of spring practice every year is sizing up the freshmen compared to their more experienced teammates. Recruits are heralded for how they often look massive next to their prep-level peers. But, as is usually the case, it’s not hard to figure out which guys have been in a college strength and conditioning program for more than a few months at any spot of the field.

—Jake Pinegar and Sander Sahaydak were both crushing short field goals during the media viewing window Monday. That should be a good battle to see how new special teams coordinator Stacy Collins will split up those duties.

—Mitchell Tinsley did not return a punt for Western Kentucky last year. But, it will be interesting to see if Penn State tries him there as a potential way to take some work off of expected leading receiver Parker Washington, who most expect will take Jahan Dotson’s punt return role.