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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 27, 2013Bill O'BrienCOACH O'BRIEN: Let me start with an injury update. As we head into this week, we started yesterday with practice. As we see it right now, Deshawn Baker, wide receiver for us, will be out. He'll return at some point this season, but he'll be out. Brad Bars is out for the season. Kasey Gaines has a hamstring issue right now, and he'll be limited in practice and won't play in the game. Evan Galimberti, who's a freshman for us, he is out right now. Adam Gress is full participation. He'll be ready to go on Saturday. DaeSean Hamilton is a freshman wide receiver for us. He is out right now, and he won't be back for a while. Ben Kline is full participation and should be ready to go for the game. Garth Lakitsky is a linebacker for us, and he will not be ready for the game. Brent Wilkerson will be out for a while. He's had surgery. He'll be out for a little while. Other than that, I would say we've had the usual bumps and bruises, but basically that gives you an update on the injury front. Hopefully, that helps. I'll try to do that every week for everybody so we're not having to sit here‑‑ like I felt like a sixth grader that wasn't prepared for his quizzes when I came in last year sometimes. The only other thing I want to address up front is the quarterback situation. You know, again, I feel like what I try to do every week, along with our staff, is do what's best for our football team, and so right now you'll find out who the quarterback is on the first play of the game against Syracuse. Now, I'll answer any questions you have on that, but they'll be very brief answers, I can guarantee you that. That's the way it's going to go. Again, you want to ask me who the starting quarterback is, you're not going to get that answer. Believe me, I'm not trying to diminish the importance of that position and what it means to this football program and what it means to our fans and everything out there, but I want to do what's best for our players and what's best for our football team, and so that's what I'm going to do on that. I think, with that, I'll open it up, Jeff. THE MODERATOR: Brian, let's go ahead and open it up for questions. Q. This situation is obviously different than last year with the quarterbacks. Is this because the two people involved are young players? Is that why you're holding off? COACH O'BRIEN: Sure, Rich. I think that's part of it. I think that's part of it. You've got an 18 and a 19‑year‑old guy here. That's part of it. They just got here basically to Penn State. Christian just got her a month ago, a little bit more than that. Tyler was here in January. Last year we had a seasoned guy who had been through a lot here at Penn State, he was going into his fifth year, totally different story last year. And, again, it's more about what's best for the team. The team understands the direction we're headed within the building there at Lash, and they know where we're going. So that's what's important too. To me, it's important, going into a first game not really knowing what your opponent is going to do, and I don't really think they know what we're going to do. They're a very, very good opponent. I think it's important to, again, do what's best for your football team, especially going into the first game. Q. Can you guys hear me? COACH O'BRIEN: Go ahead. Q. Sorry about that. I was just wondering if I could get your observations and thoughts on preseason camp to date. With regard to has it been a lot different than last year's camp for you, and have you and your staff treated it differently because of the circumstances? COACH O'BRIEN: I believe we had a very productive camp. I believe our guys came back, and they understood the expectations of camp. They understood the systems on both sides of the ball on special teams. We had a lot of returning players. I believe we've got some strong leaders on this team that showed the young players the way. You know, again, did we have great days every day? No, but I don't think we had any bad days. We might have had a bad play here or there or a bad series here or there on both sides of the ball, but I don't believe we had any bad days. I believe we came out of it healthy, which is very, very important, for the most part, especially with our top players. So I believe it was a productive camp. But, again, Bob, at the end of the day, you know, the proof will be in the pudding how we play early in the season. Q. Bill, how close have things been in camp between Malcolm Willis and Ryan Keiser? Do you have a starter picked out there, or how close has that been? COACH O'BRIEN: I'd say the same answer there as compared to the quarterback. I'll give you the same answer there. You'll find out on Saturday who starts at safety for us. But both guys are really good players. Again, they'll both play for us. Malcolm is a leader back there. He's a guy that's played a lot of football for us, and he's come in here and, for the most part, been healthy and had a very good, productive training camp. Ryan Keiser, he's kind of‑‑ going into the season after training camp here, you look at him as somewhat of an unsung hero right now. He's a guy that does a lot of different things for us. He's involved in all four special teams‑‑ actually, five, because he's our holder on PAT/field goal, and he does a really nice job of that, and obviously he's going to play safety for us. So he's an improved football player. It was a great day last year when we were able to put him on scholarship because there's a guy that really deserved it. Pennsylvania guy, another Pennsylvania guy that understands the meaning of playing at Penn State. Q. Bill, what prompted you to reorganize the special teams coaching duties this year, and have you seen any benefits from that in camp? COACH O'BRIEN: Well, one thing that prompted that was obviously, when John Butler was promoted to defensive coordinator‑‑ obviously, he led the charge with special teams last year. And another thing that prompted it was I just felt it was better for the kids to just hear from two voices‑‑ well, three, including me, because I'm heavily involved in special teams. Two main ones in Ron Vanderlinden and Charles London, I felt that would consolidate the message a little more. Those guys were in charge of two special teams each, and they've done a nice job with that. Again, the players have really adapted to that well. Those were some of the things that prompted me to do that. Q. Hi, Bill, you talked about in the off‑season, a little bit about being a better coach yourself, improving yourself. Can you look back to this time last year, how do you think you are a better head coach heading into this season than your first season? COACH O'BRIEN: I mean, this time last year was a blur. I was trying to do as good a job as I could with our staff to keep the team together and get them ready for the first game. Obviously, personally, I didn't do a good enough job in that first game because we didn't win. So last year is last year, you know, and this is a new year. Hopefully, personally, I've done enough in the off‑season to really study what we do and how we practice and how we lift weights and how we condition and how I call plays, you know, what we're doing on defense and how to improve special teams. Hopefully, you see some improvement. Again, it starts with me, and it's not all about what I know. It's more about what the players know, and we've got great kids here that are a joy to coach. Just love coaching these guys every single day. Hopefully, we've taught them well, and they'll be ready to go on Saturday. Q. Obviously, Syracuse defense doesn't know who's going to start for you guys, and you guys don't know who's going to start for Syracuse. How do you prepare for unknown quarterbacks? And they also have a new offensive coordinator, George McDonald. Do you know anything about him? COACH O'BRIEN: You know, again, Joe, good question. It's really one of the things that's a little nerve‑racking going into the first game. You really don't know what to expect. You have to make sure that you cover all your bases as best you can, but you also‑‑ you can't stay in the office until 4:30 in the morning trying to block ghosts and things that you don't really know what exists. You just have to go out there in practice and get your guys to understand base defense, base offense, and how we're going to react if different things come up during the game. When you look at their two quarterbacks, whether it's Hunt or Allen, from what we know, they are two different quarterbacks, so you've got to be ready for two different style of quarterbacks. I'm not going to get into how I see the difference in their styles, but we have to do a good job on defense of recognizing who's in the game and making sure that we're ready for that. Again, offensively, Syracuse runs the ball very well, and they have a very potent passing attack. If you look at last year's tape, they did an excellent job on offense. George McDonald is a heck of a football coach. He's been a coach in the National Football League. He's been a coach, most recently, at the University of Miami. I have a lot of respect for George, and I know he's got a lot in store for us on Saturday. We just have to do a great job of playing with poise and adjusting on the fly. Q. Hi, Bill. I wanted to talk a little bit about the five kids that you‑‑ the five run‑ons that you gave scholarships too, yesterday it was announced. Just talk a little bit about how that‑‑ how you actually deliver that news to them and what their reaction to that is. Also, going forward, does this complicate the roster management at all with having those kids on scholarship? COACH O'BRIEN: No. Again, I would never do anything to complicate the roster management. So that's the answer to that. The other thing is I would never do anything intentionally to complicate the roster management. What I did was‑‑ you know, I've watched these guys over a long period of time. Each guy has been on our team for a while. We don't just hand out these things like candy. You have to earn it, and these guys have earned it. So what I did was I met with a couple of key people on our staff and talked to them about these guys that I felt deserved it, both on and off the field, for how they were representing our team and how far they'd come on the field, and I felt like, regardless of whether they were starters or dirty show guys or whatever they were, or special teams core players, whatever they were, I felt like it was important for us to reward these guys. So I brought them in one‑on‑one, and I told each of them. They were very appreciative. They're great kids. And then I announced it to the team that same day. So, again, it's always a fun experience to do that because these guys have earned it, and the team, I think, really enjoyed hearing that these guys had been awarded scholarships for this year. Q. These kids have played in stadiums with a lot of history‑‑ Ohio State, Beaver Stadium, maybe somewhere in Alabama a couple of years ago. I'm wondering is there anything specific or a different kind of experience you hope they take away from playing at MetLife, a new NFL stadium? What do you think this could mean to them as opposed to playing in some of those historic college stadiums? COACH O'BRIEN: First of all, for us, as a program, it's important for a lot of things to be understood here. First of all, playing at MetLife Stadium means a lot to our fans. We have close to 40,000 alums in that area. We've got 12 guys on our team from that area, from Jersey. I think it's just fantastic for Penn State fans. I'm hearing that it's not a sellout. I'm not in charge of selling tickets, but I would hope it would be close to a sellout by Saturday. I think it's a traditional game too. Penn State‑Syracuse, I believe, have met close to 70 times. It's a traditional rivalry that's hasn't been played in a little bit. For our guys, they have to understand, you're going into a pro stadium. Technically, there's some things that are a little bit different, like the field markings. When you go into the pro stadium, you'll see the difference in the hash marks. You'll have the pro hash marks and then the wider college marks. You'll see the pro numbers and the wider college numbers that are just marked by white lines. That's important for our players to understand. Other than that, it's important to know, look, this is where the Super Bowl is going to be played at the end of the year. This is where the New York Jets and the New York Giants, two fantastic pro football franchises, play. There have been some great games here already. Even though it's a brand new stadium, there's been some great games here. So, yeah, I think it's a neat experience for our players, and I think it's great for everybody involved at Penn State. Q. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about your linebackers. Obviously, the depth doesn't seem to be there for the first time in a while. How are they coming along, and how do you feel about that corps coming into Saturday? COACH O'BRIEN: We feel good about our linebackers, starting with Mike Hull and Glenn Carson. These guys have played a lot of football for us, and they're very, very good players. They're multidimensional. They can do different things. They do a lot of things for our football team both on and off the field. They're leaders. They're just fantastic guys. We've got somewhat of a newcomer there, played a little bit for us last year, but was injured in the first game, Nyeem Wartman, who we thing has a very good future, and the future is now. It starts on Saturday. He's had a good camp, and we expect him to play well. Then we have Ben Kline. Ben Kline is a fantastic guy, I've said this over and over again. Just a fun guy to coach. Backup linebacker, standout on special teams, tough guy, kind of what the whole Penn State football program, I think, represents. Ben really represents it well. We have some younger guys, Gary Wooten, that will be involved on special teams. We have Brandon Bell, who probably won't play in the game, but we think he's got some‑‑ you know, the ability to have a good future here. He's got to just keep coming along. We've got some run‑ons there. Some of our run‑ons, we think, are pretty good players, like Adam Cole, he's done a nice job. Charles Idemudia will help us on special teams. So there's some guys that will help us, but those three starters will be Hull, Carson, and Wartman. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions in the media room. Q. It's supposed to be kind of hot this weekend. There's depth concerns, obviously, for your team. How much of an issue or concern is that for you? COACH O'BRIEN: I believe, early in the season, that's an issue for both teams. I think, one of the things you've seen recently around here, it's been pretty hot for the most part. Yesterday was hot, today's hot. That's good to get out there. When we practice is around the time we'll be playing the game, which is important. I think it's important the guys wear the right things when they play. Not to get into the details of that, but making sure they're wearing things that don't trap the sweat and let your body breathe a little bit. And then I think it's really important that we, as coaches, that we rotate them in where we can. Some of the positions we can rotate a little more freely than other positions, but we've got to do a good job of that as coaches. I think early in the game, just like any first game, it's a big game, and played in a venue like this, the guys will be jacked up. Both sides of the ball will be pumped up. There will be some‑‑ a little bit of hyperventilating going on, and we've got to do a good job of calming these guys down. Keep our poise on the sideline and just let them get into the flow of the game. I think that's just not a concern for us, but I think that's something that both sides are probably looking at. Q. Bill, you kind of introduced us last year to a new term called complementary football. Either way, no matter which way you go on the first play, you're going to have kind of an inexperienced quarterback out there. Talk about‑‑ you know, there's got to be renewed emphasis on all those components coming together on Saturday to take pressure off those guys‑‑ off those two quarterbacks, I would imagine. COACH O'BRIEN: It doesn't matter whether it's a young quarterback or not, I have a strong believe in this, that in order to be a successful team, you have to understand the definition of complementary football. Football is a game of emotion. It's a game of momentum in many ways. One of the things we always talk in our‑‑ especially during game week, we started with it yesterday, was complementary football. You know, if the defense comes up with a big stop or a big turnover, offensively, we have to turn it into points. Hey, look, if the offense turns the ball over, which hopefully we don't, but who knows, it's the first game. If we turn the ball over, hey, defense, it's a sudden change. You've got to get out there and stop them. You're expected to go out there and stop them. Special teams‑wise, hey, look, we drive the ball at the end of the half. We get in a position to kick the field goal, we've got to go out there and execute the field goal. Everybody feeds off each other, and that's an important part of what we do as a team no matter who the quarterback is. Q. Bill, I know you're not going to tell us who the starting quarterback is, but just to clarify‑‑ COACH O'BRIEN: I might just because of the hat you have on. Q. Very Irish looking? COACH O'BRIEN: I love it. I forgot mine. It's too hot. Q. Can you just tell me who the starting quarterback is in the hallway and that's it? COACH O'BRIEN: Right, yeah. Q. Just to clarify, have you made your decision, you and your staff? And if so, have you told the two kids involved and the rest of the team who the quarterback is or will be? COACH O'BRIEN: And so just to clarify, you'll find out who the starting quarterback is on the first offensive play on Saturday. Q. Is it important for the team‑‑ you've said several times the team knows what direction you're headed. Is it important for them to know who it is? COACH O'BRIEN: It's always important for the team to know the direction that we're headed. Q. In terms of what? COACH O'BRIEN: In terms of everything. Q. Hey, Bill, whichever quarterback it is, what can you as coaches do to mentally prepare them for that first drive? You know, just that neither of them have played in a Division I football game. What do you as coaches do to‑‑ I guess, not that they're going to be starstruck with the environment, but what can you guys do to mentally prepare them? COACH O'BRIEN: It's not just a quarterback position. Believe me, I get what you're driving at, but it's everybody. This is a big game. You're playing a game in MetLife Stadium. You've been waiting for this game for a long time, both teams. What you try to do on both sides of the ball, you talk to these guys about how you're going to open the game. What's the strategy of how we're going to open the game? We really don't know what they're going to do. They don't know what we're going to do. So how are we going to open the game? We're going to open the game this way. We're going to make sure we follow the rules and do what we've been coached to do and help each other out. We have to do a great job of communication. It will be loud. Whatever it is, verbal, hand signals, reading lips, whatever it is, we have to do a great job of communication. So one of the things that we'll talk about constantly is the beginning of the game, how we're going to start the game, and, hey, look, if the beginning of the game doesn't go very well, boy, there's a lot of game left. Don't go in the tank. Keep playing. Keep fighting. That's what Penn State is all about. Hopefully, we understand that when the game rolls around, and we're ready to go. Q. Bill, you highlighted some of the freshmen earlier. With Nico Robinson, we've talked about him before, is he still here? COACH O'BRIEN: Nico is not here. Basically, what I'm going to tell you on that is what happened there is between Nico and myself. Nico is a fantastic kid. It had nothing to do with discipline, nothing. This kid is a fantastic kid. It just didn't work out here at Penn State. He will end up somewhere, but he won't be at Penn State. Q. Bill, obviously, there are a lot of other teams, not just you and Syracuse, that haven't named your starting quarterback yet. Nick Saban said the other day that putting out a depth chart is a chore and he only did it because the media made him to. What are your thoughts on the public's right to know about depth charts and positioning in quarterbacks? COACH O'BRIEN: He makes me do it, that guy right there. No, I think it's important. Look, the game of football is in many ways, obviously, for the players and the coaches, but it's for the fans. It's a spectator sport. And I get that, and I love the Penn State fans. They're one of the best parts about this place, the student body, the fans, and really my dealings with the media here has been, for the most part, very, very good. Again, I'm not trying to do it to bust anybody's chops. I want to do what's best for the football team right now, the 2013 football team, and I want to do what's best for the guys involved, and I want to do what's best for Penn State. What's best for Penn State right now is for you to find out when we take the field for the first snap of offensive football against Syracuse. Q. Bill, you touched on the stage, being in New York. You guys had really gotten a lot of national run in the off‑season with the way you finished last year. Do you see this as an extension, opportunity with the momentum that you could build, or do you just look at it as, hey, this is just another season? COACH O'BRIEN: It's definitely a new season, it's another season, but I do think, any time you play in New York City, you're on the big stage. It's on ABC. It's a big game. But, again, I think that everybody around here has to understand that 2012 is over. I know our players understand that. So it's not so much building on momentum from last year, it's more about, okay, what is this '13 team going to do? And now here we have an opportunity to go play in a great venue and hopefully do a great job for our fans and our supporters. Q. Last year Mark had mentioned the heat and the way you started out last year. Have you guys adjusted practice? Do you feel like the team has fresh legs going into this opener in? COACH O'BRIEN: I do. I believe we've done a better job of that this year. I really do. We've done a number of things to help that, and I don't want to get into the details of it, but I believe that we've done a better job of that this year. Q. With the inexperience factor of Tyler and Christian, how much extra emphasis do you put on getting guys like Zach Zwinak, Bill Belton, and Akeel Lynch in the game and relying on them, or do you expect that, whoever the quarterback is, to just kind of pick up where Matt left off last season? COACH O'BRIEN: I don't compare anything to Matt. Just like I said to Neil, I don't compare anything to last season. I expect that 2013, the quarterback goes in there, whoever the quarterback is, and plays well. There's a high standard of playing quarterback here. That's what the offense requires. We'll be as balanced as we can be. We're going to really try to be balanced. We can't go into the game and think we're going to win throwing 60 balls, but if we have to throw 60 passes, that's what we have to do. If we have to run the ball 50 times, then that's what we have to do. We can't go into the game and have our minds locked in on this is how it's going to go because, first games, you really don't know what to expect. So we have to adjust during the game. Whoever's the quarterback, whoever plays who's in there at quarterback is expected to play well. Q. Bill, could you give your impressions of the kickoff and punt coverage and the return teams coming out of camp, and then did you kind of extend the thud, stay on your feet philosophy, to that part of the practice? COACH O'BRIEN: I did. I definitely did, but if you look at our kickoff coverage, our kickoff return team‑‑ let's start with those. Look, I think our kickoff coverage team, for the most part, last year did a nice job. We had guys last year that really went down there and did a nice job. A couple of guys, like Mike Yancich, aren't there this year. So what we're looking for is we put some guys in those positions. Who's going to take that Mike Yancich type role and go down there and be a leader? Overall, I like where we're at with the kickoff coverage. Kickoff return, we've changed things up a little bit. Obviously, I'm not going to get into that with you, but I feel pretty good about where we're at with the kickoff return right now. Again, proof's in the pudding. Punt team and punt return, again, we've worked extremely hard on those. Syracuse is a very, very good special teams unit on all four. So we're not sure what to expect with their punt block and punt return unit. So we have to do a good job, just like in offense and defense, of following their rules. I think Alex is punting the ball pretty well right now. Hoping we don't have to punt too much. But if we do, I think we'll go out there and execute. I feel good about where we're at. Punt return, again, we're doing some different things with the punt return and the punt block, and hopefully that shows up on Saturday. Q. Coach, last year was an emotional game leading up to the first week. You mentioned composure and poise a couple of times. Have you sensed a difference in the team's demeanor going into this year's opening game even though it's in a major venue? COACH O'BRIEN: Again, I don't compare anything to last year. I believe every team is different. Right now I believe our team is preparing and doing the best they can to learn the game plan. They understand they're playing a great opponent, and they're looking forward to the challenge. Last year was last year, and this year was this year. Q. As you saw Zach Zwinak improve throughout the course of last year, how much did he even surprise you with how well he did? And the fact that you have a young quarterback, how much of a comforting factor is it knowing that you've got an experienced running back back there? COACH O'BRIEN: Judging by the fact that I had him as the third or fourth team running back at the beginning of the year, I would say that that's some bad coaching because I think in about, whatever it was, 8 1/2 games, he gained 1,000 yards. Zach's a tough guy. I love coaching Zach.  He's very hard on himself. He demands perfection of himself. He's tough. He's a big guy. He can run. He's got deceptive speed, and you know, he can catch the ball. So he loves playing at Penn State. Again, he's a big part of our team. Q. Bill, they've got‑‑ Syracuse has two pretty decent running backs. COACH O'BRIEN: Yeah, they do. Q. Talk about the importance of stopping the run on Saturday and shutting them down, especially with a new quarterback for them. COACH O'BRIEN: Again, that's‑‑ you know, I think, you go into every single game, no matter who you're playing‑‑ really, no matter who you're playing‑‑ you've got to be ready to stop the run. If your defense isn't centered‑‑ that's just my belief. If your defense isn't centered on stopping the run, number one, then you're going to be in trouble. Because this is Penn State, this is ‑‑ the history of Penn State says, number one, we're going to play as tough a defense as we can, and we're going to try to stop the run, and that's the way it goes. To me, good defenses all over the place say the same thing. It's especially true with Syracuse because their two running backs are really, really good players‑‑ tough guys, strong guys. They can run. They catch the ball well, and Syracuse does a real nice job with those two guys. So it's going to be a tough chore, but, again, that's a big part of what we have to do. Q. You mentioned Adam Gress is good to go. How does that make the right tackle position? Is he still No.1 on the depth chart, or is that a position we'll find out on Saturday? COACH O'BRIEN: Yeah, that would be one of those things you'll find out on Saturday, but he'll play. He'll play. Q. Gress? COACH O'BRIEN: Gress and Gilliam will play, yes. Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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