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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 26, 2019Garrett TaylorUniversity Park, Pennsylvania Q. What's the hardest thing about developing in college? GARRETT TAYLOR: I think the hardest thing about developing in college is it takes a lot of patience. I think a lot of young guys come in and they expect it to kind of be like a night and day thing where you see the results immediately. But you know, it's a lot of hard work, and it takes a lot of time. I think a lot of guys can get lost in that process, and some guys can give up easily, so I think having the patience to kind of see it through and stick to your process, stick to your plan, you know, I think that's the hardest thing about it because you're not going to see the results right away. For me it's been going on five years now, so it's hard, and it takes patience. But I think if you have the discipline and the dedication to kind of see that through, it's worth it. Q. Garrett, five or ten years from now or longer when fans and players look back on your career, what do you want your legacy to be, and what do you want to be remembered for? GARRETT TAYLOR: You know, I think first and foremost, I kind of just want to be remembered as a great teammate, as a guy who people on the team felt like they could come to for whatever, whether it's personal issues, football issues. I want to be a guy that people found approachable and helpful in their times of need. I think that's first and foremost the most important thing to me, especially being a captain this year. Then just on the field, a guy who gave it my all. I put a lot into this, a lot into this school, into this football program, so I want people to think I was a guy who went out there every Saturday and gave it my best shot, and hopefully people think I was consistent and had a pretty decent career here. I'd say that. Q. Through the first three years of your college career, you look at the stats sheet, there's not a lot there. The last couple years you obviously had your big moments. What did you learn about yourself, patience, this is an era in college football where guys are on the move pretty quickly if they don't like the circumstances. What have you learned about yourself and staying put and fighting to get to that starting spot? GARRETT TAYLOR: Yeah, it's been a heck of a journey. I think it's just a testament to my belief in myself. Obviously I've had a little bit of adversity, going through my injury in high school, coming here, having to redshirt, having to switch positions. Obviously it wasn't a clear-cut route. But through the support of my parents, which was huge, the support of my coaches, and just mainly the belief in myself, I was able to have the patience and have faith that my opportunity was going to come. And thankfully I got that opportunity, earned the starting job, and then never looked back. I think a lot of guys when their opportunity comes, it's either you take it or you miss it, and I think I did a really good job of capitalizing on that. Q. Going from your personal development to the program development you've seen, year one, seven wins, year five, people are going to complain about 10 or 11 wins now. What do you think has been the key to that progression, getting Penn State to the point now where they are expected to be competing for a playoff spot on an annual basis? GARRETT TAYLOR: That's right where we want to be. We talk about being an elite program day in and day out, 365 days of the year and what that takes. I think what's gotten us there is the buy-in. I came in when there was a point in the program there was still some turmoil, and Coach Franklin was trying to get guys to buy in. He had some guys who were. We had some guys who weren't. And that's no fault to them. That's just kind of where the program was at that point. But I think through great leadership over the years and guys who have come through this program and helped elevate us and the leadership we have now and the young guys, I think everyone is bought in. I don't think anyone is questioning anything anymore. I think we all believe and trust in the process, and I think over the years it's shown to be successful, so there's really no reason not to believe in that, and I think it's gotten us to where we are right now. Q. Looking ahead beyond your departure from campus, what do you kind of see -- what's your foresight for Penn State football the next three, four, five years moving ahead, and also specifically for the safety position, who's going to be still on campus in 2020 and what do you anticipate from their development? GARRETT TAYLOR: Just speaking on program first, I think we're going to be competing for National Championships. I think we're going to be in the playoff, all that good stuff. Obviously I can't see into the future, but I've seen where this program has been, and I see where we are now. I see the kind of talent we have in our locker room and the kind of recruits we're getting, and if the leadership can keep everyone together and everyone can stay bought in, then I don't see anything really changing from the trajectory that we've been on these last couple years. Then just in terms of the safety room, it's been a heck of an experience being able to be coached up by Coach Banks, and I think that culture that we have in the safety room, everyone is held to a really high standard in terms of how you approach the game and how you play the game and what's expected of you when you're out there, and we obviously have a lot of talent in the room, guys like Lamont, who's had a heck of a season, guys like Brisker coming in making an immediate impact, and then Sutherland, he's a guy who's been waiting his turn. He's really diligent in how he prepares in terms of film study and all that. And then we've got young guys like Tyler Rudolph, who I think is going to be really talented when his time comes. So I'm really excited to see what the safety room is going to do the next couple years, and I think it's going to be special. Q. We just spoke with Cam, and after the game Saturday he says he pours this heart into his team in more ways than people would know. I want to know what his Cam provided from a leadership perspective, and what are one or two ways that Cam pours his heart into the team that we don't see? GARRETT TAYLOR: Cam has been a great leader for this defense. I think he's stepped up and kind of taken that vocal leadership role. I know at the beginning of the season before everything started, he kind of stood up in front of the defense and kind of gave us a little bit of like a motivational speech in terms of the way things have gone in the past and how the defense might have come up short in a few ways here and there and how he didn't want to let that happen. You know, I think guys saw that and took that and ran with it. We've had the mantra all year that it's been on us as a defense to try to go out there and make plays and win games. And then just Cam pours his heart into everything he does in terms of the way he prepares, how he practices. I know you guys get to see a little bit of our I want to say Wednesday practices at the end, but that guy practices harder than almost anyone on the team, and a lot of guys respect that, and it translates into Saturdays. He's giving his all to this program, and we can do nothing but respect that. Q. I wanted to ask you about Tyler Rudolph. What's maybe impressed you about him as a freshman? What's kind of stood out this year? GARRETT TAYLOR: I think his growth. I think he early enrolled, and he showed some flashes during spring ball, but there was a couple things here or there where -- kind of talking to Coach Banks and just myself as being the guy who's been a safety for a little bit that he needed to improve on. But I think throughout the off-season and throughout this season, just in terms of seeing him practice and scrimmage, he's taken a lot of those next steps. Like I know we wanted him to be a little bit more physical so Coach Franklin was constantly putting him in the lion's den and stuff like that and getting on him when they were scrimmaging and he might not have had as physical a tackle as probably would have been expected in a certain situation. But towards the end of the season he's been going in and analyzing and striking the ball carrier, which has been really good to see. He's been wrapping up tackles and being a lot more physical, so that's just an area of growth that he's taken in the short amount of time that he's been here that's been really encouraging to see. Q. Looking ahead to the weekend, what are some things that excite you the most and what are some of the challenges you see with the match-up? GARRETT TAYLOR: I think it's just really exciting to have another opportunity to go out there and play. You only get 12 a year, and this is coming down to the last one, so I think guys are excited to kind of go out there and have another opportunity to go 1-0. I would say guys are excited about that. And you know, Rutgers is a good team. Their record might not say so, but they have talent at their skill positions. Their running back, I think No. 1, he's a really good back, and they try to get him the ball in a lot of different ways just in terms of getting him a lot of touches, a lot of swing passes, and he's really explosive and good in space. And their line is pretty good, too. So I mean, we're going to have to prepare like we prepare for every game, and I don't think anyone is going to take this game lightly, so it's another opportunity to go out and play against another Big Ten opponent and prove ourselves. Q. If I could circle back to another teammate that you mentioned, Lamont Wade, he's told us in the past this season that 2018 was kind of a crossroads thing for his career. His confidence was kind of shot, he was working his way through some stuff. Feels like he found that confidence this year. Is it something that's noticeable to you spending that much time with Lamont, the 2018 version of him versus the 2019 version of him? GARRETT TAYLOR: Yeah, it's obviously a night-and-day difference, and it's something I can kind of relate to him with. Obviously he wanted a bigger role on the defense. Everyone does. Everyone wants to be out there. Everyone wants to start. But you only have 11 spots on the field at any given time. So you know, Lamont last year might not have been in the situation he wanted to, but I give him props, he stayed here and he stuck it out and he worked his butt off during this off-season, and like I said earlier, he got his opportunity and he capitalized on it, and he earned the starting role and then throughout this year the more snaps he got the more confident he played. He's out there relaxed, having fun, and having an impact on the game. It was really good to see for me, just having kind of like the same path in a way of just trying to earn your spot, earn your way on this team, so to see Lamont go through that has been really encouraging. Q. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving story or memory growing up that you'd like to share? GARRETT TAYLOR: Oh, favorite Thanksgiving story? Just growing up, we always used to go, like my aunt's house in Baltimore. I don't have any specific story from then, but I think just that kind of tradition of -- my parents like to get on the road early so we'd be in the van probably like 5:30, 6:00 in the morning when it was still dark out, but taking that little three-hour road trip up to Baltimore, being able to see my family, spend a fun day with them has been something that I loved growing up. Something I kind of miss, obviously we're up here for Thanksgiving. But that's just something for Thanksgiving that I enjoyed a lot growing up. Q. Have you given thought to how emotional it's going to be in that tunnel, and are there specific seniors who you think may be more emotional than others? GARRETT TAYLOR: I can't really speak for anyone else, but -- I don't know. I think I'm going to -- I think I'm the kind of guy who likes to think I'll be okay, but I have really no clue when it's going to happen, especially with my parents being down there on the field. I think that's going to be pretty special. So I'll see. It's kind of weird thinking about, but I'm excited just to have one last chance to get out there in Beaver and play in front of 100-some-thousand people. It's been a heck of a journey and I'm super appreciative of it, but yeah, I'll see. I have no clue. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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