Phil Trautwein, lamenting past inconsistencies, optimistic for OL progress

Phil Trautwein doesn’t deny the struggles Penn State had up front last season. The Nittany Lions’ offensive line coach, now in his third year in the program as an assistant, acknowledged as much Wednesday while meeting with the media.

And those struggles, he said, centered on one key shortcoming of the unit.

“We just weren’t consistent,” Trautwein said. “I would say that’s the biggest thing. We had some plays that you’re like, man. And then some plays just not. But, that’s just part of just growing and just getting better.”

Distancing itself from the last campaign with each passing week, now through winter workouts, spring practices, and into the summer ramp-up toward preseason camp, Penn State’s offensive line is determined to do exactly that.

Next steps

Changes have taken place along the way to ensure as much. Beginning with a series of personnel swaps, Penn State will have a new starting left tackle in Olu Fashanu, who is set to take over for seventh-round NFL Draft pick Rasheed Walker. Left guard Eric Wilson is similarly vying for an NFL opportunity with the New Orleans Saints, leaving much-discussed redshirt freshman Landon Tengwall in line to take over the vacancy.

Juice Scruggs has traded his spot as last year’s starting right guard to become the anchor of the unit at center. A newcomer to the program, Cornell grad transfer Hunter Nourzad, is primed to compete with Sal Wormley, who is returning from a year-long injury, to start at right guard. And, after a full season starting at right tackle, Caedan Wallace now enters his fourth year in the program coming off his best performance in the bowl.

Citing the crucial element of offensive line chemistry to the group’s performance, Trautwein is optimistic about its outlook for a variety of reasons.

“Moving Juice to center, I think will help him. Now he can play anywhere I want, guard or center,” Trautwein said. “And then Olu is coming right in and is doing a great job at left tackle. Caedan is getting better, which is great. And then you got a bunch of guys inside that are competing for the inside guard spots. 

“So you have that competition, which is always great because you have backups and you have guys that can go in and win us the game. So the depth is key and I feel good.”

Phil Trautwein’s influence

Maybe just as important, Trautwein is also confident that this year’s personnel has an improved grasp on his techniques for playing the position.

Already a steep learning curve, Trautwein’s instruction hit a major roadblock with COVID-19’s onset just after his arrival to the program. Forced into finding creative, less-effective ways to teach, he said the circumstances created a frustrating barrier to delivering the results he sought for his players.

“I want them to be great. I want them all to be all-conference. So seeing some of them fall a little bit short or just not get where they exactly need to be, that’s probably the most frustrating thing,” he said. “But, they’re all getting better, and now it’s in the past. Now it’s learning and just going from there.

“Guys are starting to feel comfortable and they’re just getting better. I mean, it just takes time. Even the old guys are still kind of young guys because they’re new to my technique. But, now you can see guys that are starting to get it and it’s starting to click. And a lot of them are doing that just because of the time they’re able to spend with me, the time to be able to see me in person. It kind of just starts to happen.”

Pushing ahead

Excited to see that progress take hold for the players along the offensive line, Trautwein indicated he isn’t content to stop there. 

Seeing fewer missed assignments in spring practices, with players similarly acclimating to Mike Yurcich’s offense as much as his techniques for another year, the experience has left Trautwein “fired up” for what’s next. But in pushing the group to consistently improve through “grinding and making sure that every day counts,” the 12 weeks remaining until Penn State kicks off at Purdue are critical, he said.

“This summer is going to be big,” he said. “Just getting them better, getting them even more ingrained, getting those young guys where they need to be, developing them. At the end of spring, I was excited about where we are.”

At a moment in which optimism for the offensive line needs to translate into on-field success, Penn State is counting on it.