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As programs grapple with transfers, PSU assistants focus on relationships

In a career that has now spanned more than two decades, the advent of the NCAA’s transfer portal has not phased Penn State assistant coach Tim Banks.

Mostly, he says, that is because the human nature tendencies that existed 20 years ago very much continue to exist today; for as much as student-athletes might insist on wanting to hear the truth, the truth is usually best received when it fits into an already existing perception or belief.

With that reality still holding as true today as it did at the start of his coaching career in 1996, then, the only thing that has changed has been the method of dealing with those conflicts between perception and reality when they arise.

“I don't think (the kids have) changed, they just have more opportunity now to voice their opinions publicly,” said Banks. “That's really what it is.”

The question, of course, is whether or not that expanding opportunity is a good or bad change.

Said Banks, “I guess that depends on if you're a kid or not.”

Meeting with reporters last month, an informal survey of Penn State’s entire coaching staff revealed the question as one being given serious consideration both within the program and, in fact, across the country’s modern college football landscape.

Certainly, for the Nittany Lions, it’s an issue that hits especially close to home given the nature of its current offseason.

Tommy Stevens decided on a graduate transfer following Penn State's spring practices.
Tommy Stevens decided on a graduate transfer following Penn State's spring practices.

Capped by a post-spring practice announcement that rising fifth-year senior quarterback Tommy Stevens would seek a graduate transfer, ultimately landing at Mississippi State for his final season of eligibility, Penn State witnessed a swath of activity since the end of the 2018 campaign.

Joining Stevens in the transfer portal were the likes of wideouts Juwan Johnson and Brandon Polk, tight end Danny Dalton, offensive linemen Alex Gellerstedt and Sterling Jenkins, linebackers Brelin Faison-Walden, Jarvis Miller, and Dae’lun Darien, plus secondary players including Zech McPhearson, Isaiah Humphries, and Ayron Monroe, among others, including a handful of preferred walk-ons.

Meanwhile, at least two players, receiver Cam Sullivan-Brown and safety Lamont Wade, dipped their toes in the waters of the transfer portal, only to ultimately decide to remain at Penn State for at least the upcoming 2019 season, if not the remainder of their college careers.

Among the departed players, only Stevens would be considered to be a presumed starter heading into the year despite the upperclassman status existing throughout the group, leaving the Nittany Lions in an interesting spot as a program. Noting as much, corners coach Terry Smith identified the impact that true competition can have on a player over the course of time, not least of all during a time in which Penn State's recruiting classes jumped from the 20s, to the teens, and eventually into the top five, as was the case with the Class of 2018.

“When you look at guys that came three, four years ago, that talent pool is different than the talent pool we're bringing in today. And that can play a factor in some guys' decision making,” said Smith. “Ultimately, the game of football is built on competition, and our job is to bring the best guys into the locker room and have these guys compete so that the very best perform and shine.

"The two best corners will start the game and those guys are the ones that will end up in Beaver Stadium. Then the third, fourth, and fifth guys should be pushing the one and two, and the six and seven should be pushing three, four, five. So that's the competition that we're building in our locker room, and it's just getting better.”

That sentiment, that the program itself will be built upon the notion of internal competition, resonates throughout the coaching staff in its message to players.

And, maybe more important, rather than taking a new approach to the job in accordance with changing NCAA transfer rules, the Nittany Lion staff says it is holding true to its values and principles.

“It doesn't change how I coach one bit,” said Banks. “I'm honest with my kids from day one. You get what you earn; no more, no less. I tell my guys, it's not always going to be exactly how you want it, but I'm never going to tell you something that's disingenuous… I can sleep at night. I don't change how I coach, I don't change my approach because I'm always honest with my guys. That’s one of the things that I'm proudest of.”

Similarly, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, quickly establishing himself on Penn State’s staff as having close relationships with his players, has used that attribute as an advantage in this era’s new landscape.

Pointing to the culture of the program as a whole, Seider maintained that having meaningful relationships, ones built on honesty is an essential ingredient to a program’s stability. And that, he said, is something that Penn State has kept as a priority.

“Where I think that we're on the cutting edge is, we really care about our kids. The guys who just sit there and coach and cuss and fuss, they're going to weed themselves out of this program,” said Seider. “But if you coach and you love your kids, they're going to love you back. Are you going to lose some kids because you love them too much? Sometimes tough love is not just a pat on the back.

“We're in an area where social media makes it so easy for people to see things and say, ‘OK, I should have that.’ If a kid is playing receiver and he's transferring and we play four or five receivers, sometimes at a time, there's a reason he's transferring. He probably isn't good enough here. So you always have to check the culture.”

Specifically referencing his position, Seider added that, if anything would need to be changed or adjusted in conjunction with increasing transfers, it would be the program’s recruiting priorities. With only one ball, he said, the position could need to see two prospects brought in with each recruiting class.

Ultimately, though, the successes and failures of the transfer portal will boil down to the level of honesty position coaches have in their relationships with players.

“I think so much is going to be put on the assistant coaches shoulders. I believe that. I'm not speaking like I'm Franklin, but I think we gotta be more entrenched with our room,” said Seider. “We gotta be more of a father figure, showing them that we really care about you. We understand what's best for you.

“You may not see it yet, but the great example we just had with Miles Sanders, Miles was the number one running back in the country and could have easily left, and probably wasn't in a good place, probably didn't trust the program when I first got in here because now I've been told this, told that. In his mind, it didn't happen the way it should have happened. But boom, here we are. Second running back taken in the draft, almost a first rounder. It's OK to be patient. Everybody is not right away. Peyton Manning wasn't right away. Michael Vick had to redshirt. It happens.”

And if that message isn’t received?

For players accustomed to being at the height of their high school or prep programs, to adjust to the new reality that comes with the college football experience, Seider said it’s a message that has to be stressed from the onset.

“The day you don't is the day you're slacking in your room. You need to point out being patient,” said Seider. “I gotta talk about it more now because of the youth in my room. You go back to back and lose guys to the NFL, now you got a big old gap with a bunch of young kids. But the good thing is, you're going to be with them for a while, but you gotta continue to monitor them, coach them, love them so they trust you. Otherwise, if you don't, that old portal will just reel you in.”

One year into the process, with the Nittany Lions on the receiving end of a graduate transfer of wide receiver Weston Carr and adding kicker Jordan Stout to the scholarship roster from his walk-on status at Virginia Tech, the program is adjusting and will continue to adjust to the rules as they continue to change.

Concentrating on moving with trends and, in some cases, pursuing a leadership stance nationally for new issues as they arise, the coaches within the program hope to see positive outcomes result for everyone involved, not least of all the student-athletes making the decisions.

“I think just like anything, it will be an evolution. We're in year one into this. I think we'll figure out exactly whether it's good or bad in the next couple of years,” said Banks. “My initial gut reaction, obviously, we want kids to be able to push through tough times because, for the most part, no one is trying to leave if everything "is going their way."

“That's how it goes. You gotta figure out how to work through this thing and then maybe down the line if you have to make a different decision later on. But to run the first sign of something going bad, I'm not sure if that's teaching our young people the right thing.”

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