BWI Roundtable: Picking the top of the Lions' spring football "to-do" list

The linebackers have to improve tackling and pass coverage.

For those of you that chatted with me regularly in the fall, you should know by now that I had serious concerns about Penn State’s linebacker corps last season. I felt like a broken record at times, talking about it every Sunday and Monday. If you need a reminder, only one of Penn State’s four main contributors in 2020, Ellis Brooks, ranked in the top half of the Big Ten according to Pro Football Focus. Compare that to 2019, when Micah Parsons graded out as the top overall linebacker in the conference, Jan Johnson was fourth (out of 61 who played 100 snaps or more) and Cam Brown ranked 18th. Those ratings are much closer to what PSU fans have come to expect.

So what went wrong last year? Tackling is a good place to start, with the three starters combining to miss 22 tackles in nine games. When you average it out for the amount of games played at other schools (2020 was such a weird season), the Nittany Lions still ranked near the bottom of the conference, with Northwestern, Rutgers and Michigan State only ranking worse.

Pass defense was also a major issue, as PSU’s linebackers really struggled in the intermediate passing game, especially with routes across the middle. Out of 53 linebackers who played 100 snaps or more, Ellis Brooks ranked 32nd in pass defense, Brandon Smith 38th and Jesse Luketa 52nd. Indiana and Purdue were the only schools whose starters fared worse.

The linebackers showed signs of life late in the season - Jesse Luketa’s overall grade for 2020 was 56.8, but he scored a respectable 75.1 in the final four games - but those wins weren’t against the caliber of opponents that PSU fans compare this program to.

It was good to finish strong, but until Penn State faces Wisconsin on Sept. 4, a lot of questions remain about this unit. Moving Brandon Smith and Jesse Luketa should help. Getting Curtis Jacobs more comfortable is good, too, but as a whole, this unit has to play in space better. If they can improve their tackling and pass coverage, it’ll go a long way in shoring up Penn State’s defense.

Figuring out the quarterback position has to be at the top of Penn State’s must-solve list.

In saying that, I don't really mean to suggest that the Nittany Lions need to figure out their starter. There have been no real public implications that it will be anyone other than Sean Clifford, although maybe I suppose it’s within the realm of possibility that’s not the case. But for now, let’s assume it is.

What I really mean is that Penn State needs to figure out what it trusts Clifford to do.

We saw two different offenses from the Nittany Lions last season. At the beginning, they tried to do something resembling what they had done for the previous handful of seasons under James Franklin. They used some tempo, they took some shots, they had a vision beyond just the next first down marker.

It sounds great, but it definitely wasn’t in practice.

Clifford — and Will Levis, too, when he was called upon — turned the ball over way too much for that to work, and so the Nittany Lions improvised, effectively taking the air out of the game from the first snap by running the ball to grind out wins by leaning on their defense.

Mike Yurcich’s resume and James Franklin’s repeated comments about bringing the offense back to where it was before last season would indicate they prefer to play how Penn State tried to play at the beginning of the season.

Surely, though, Clifford’s reliability and ability to avoid turning the ball over will inform how Penn State’s staff shapes their new attack.

Essentially, they must answer the following question: Was last season the norm or was it a speed bump? Nobody outside the program can truly know. Really, it’s likely that even they won’t know until they take the field for the first time in 2021 against Auburn.

But they have to make some sort of call as they work out their new playbook for 2021, and spring practice is a crucial first step toward doing so.

This might get me laughed out of the room, but my colleagues made two good choices and, well, I'm going to go there.

If Penn State accomplishes anything this spring - and given the performances of the 2020 season, there are plenty of "musts" on the checklist - the priority that I see is of the psychological variety.

Flatly, this is a program in need of a hard reset, and this spring provides just such an opportunity.

Sure, I mean that very much for Sean Clifford at quarterback, for the introduction of Mike Yurcich taking over the helm at offensive coordinator, and on and on down the line for individual players and units that simply had uncharacteristic performances at times last season. From a football perspective, this is the opportunity to return to the foundational, fundamental elements that create on-field success, primarily by setting the table for the endless repetition that can take place through the summer months.

It's also essential for this program to not necessarily forget about what happened last season, beginning with the dreadful 0-5 start and everything it entailed as well as the turnaround to finish the season with four wins, but rather to regain a sense of possibility. Penn State won't notch any wins or losses this spring, but taking the approach that these are the practices that can very much create the conditions for those successes down the road is essential.

Through all of the experiences and lessons learned through the 2020 season operationally, specifically in dealing with COVID-19 and the precautionary measures demanded to successfully navigate the pandemic, it needs to establish a more efficient work flow. I'm not suggesting that the program throw caution to the wind, but the areas that Penn State took an ultra-conservative approach last season, where appropriate, should be re-examined and adjusted to reflect the concurrent, changing dynamic of the pandemic as it presently stands.

Less concrete than Xs and Os and personnel, momentum, mood, and aura are very real elements that exist within organizations and teams. Whether it's individual negative presences or a general atmosphere, both positive or toxic, the smallest details can build into environments that are either conducive or detrimental to success.

Last season, Penn State football was the definition of that climate. This spring, it no longer has to be.

With the final four games, a much-needed break from each other, a wave of personnel attrition, and winter workouts to clear the table, this spring represents the next stage of the hard reset that absolutely must take place if James Franklin and the program are to return to the winning trajectory they're seeking.

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