DisruptU PSU Presents Quite Franklin With LaVar Arrington And Coach James Franklin in this conversation, LaVar Arrington and Coach James Franklin discuss the preparation for the upcoming game against Kent State, emphasizing the importance of self-scouting, team maturity, and the role of tight ends in the offense. They reflect on past performances, the need for improvement, and the significance of building a strong team culture. Franklin highlights the unique qualities of his players, particularly the tight end position, and expresses confidence in the team's ability to grow and succeed.
Takeaways
- It's about us playing up to our standard week in and week out.
- We need to learn from past games and take the next step.
- Self-scouting is crucial for team improvement.
- We need to focus on getting better each week.
- Tyler Warren is the most complete tight end in college football.
- The tight end position is vital for offensive success.
- Building a strong team culture is essential for success.
- Players need to be versatile to challenge defenses.
- Bowling Green is a team to watch out for.
- Continuous improvement is key to a successful season.
#upongame #fsrweekends #2Pros
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Coach Kent State off of a bye week, so we
see what happens to Kent State when they play against
a Tennessee team. You cautioned, everybody, This Bowling Green team
was a very very well coached team with leadership on it.
(00:28):
They had vets and their quarterback could deal. You cautioned, everybody,
we get through the game. If you want to revisit that,
but that's old, that's kind of old. But if we
want to jump into Kent how do we guard against
seeing a team get beat up the way that Kent
State did by Tennessee. How do we guard against going
(00:51):
into a game like this at home and playing the
way that Penn State football team is supposed to play,
going against this type of opponent.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, it's it's trying to teach your team how to
be a mature football team. And you know, ultimately it's
about us, right, Ultimately, it's about us playing up to
our standard weekend and week out, no matter who we play,
no matter where the game is, no matter what the
weather's like, it, it doesn't matter. Now, that's easier said
(01:24):
than done. We saw that with Northern Illinois. There's a
there's a ton ton of examples to your point. You
know that the quarterback at Bowling Green was the SEC
Rookie of the Year at Missouri, is started for six
years in college football at Indiana as well as at Missouri.
(01:44):
He's played a ton of football and they're a good team.
But that still does not that still does not explain
that one half we play really well and one half
we don't. And that's where again going back to the maturity,
and it's about us. And as much as you talk
(02:05):
to players about the approach that you have to take
week in and week out and not take anybody lightly.
We're gonna get everybody's best shot. We're gonna get everybody
super Bowl. Every single kid on that team is trying
to prove that they should have gotten a scholarship from
Penn State over Bowling Green. So it is a challenge.
(02:27):
And you see example after example around college football when
teams don't handle it the right way. So hopefully we've
learned from it. We've talked about it, we've addressed it,
we've shown a ton of examples, but we got to
learn from and take the next step.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
We self scouting more important this two week process, was
it a bye week process? We self scouted it did
that and then now is preparation for Kent or how
did you guys approve our self scouted us?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
I know that I looked at it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It Actually, generally speaking, last year would have been coach,
we got to figure out how to run. We gotta
find a run game, and we got to see if
we can get some deep balls. This year it was
on the defensive side of the ball, and I won't
go into any details about that what.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I saw, but I felt like what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Our offense kept us in the game in the first
half of that game, while our defense was trying to
find some solid ground and eventually found that more so
in the second half of the game. So self scouting wise,
what for you did you feel as though it was
more important to self scout or was it more important
(03:41):
to just say, here are a few plays. We got
to make sure we handle things, like you said, in
a mature manner and move on and look at what
Kent does and how do we approach that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I think self scouting is always important, but it's not
the same when your bye week comes. You know, after
week two, you just don't have a whole lot of
evidence and although you're still going to study the tape
and study the strengths and study the weaknesses and look
at the areas that you need to get better. Everything's
(04:14):
magnified at this point, like if you play really well,
it skews the stats. If you if you play bad
for a half, it dramatically skews the stats. So I
think the self scouting is important, but we're still very
early on. There's not a whole lot of data to
study yet, So for us it was more just about
(04:37):
doing a little bit of that, but mainly focusing on
Penn State and getting better offensively. I think your point
is a good one. We are definitely more explosive. We're
not as efficient as we need to be. Probably actually,
in some ways we're more efficient last year. We're creating
explosive plays. We're not good enough on third down, and
that's why that also factors in.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
To our defense.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
We're not good enough on third down, so we're not
sustaining drives. Our defense is not good enough on third down.
They're not getting off the field because we're not efficient
enough on first down. So what's happening is the time
of possession. In the first half of both these games,
has not been good. That also impacts we need to
get more guys touches, and we need to get more
(05:22):
guys involved on offense. Well, it's hard to do that
when you're not sustaining drives and just don't have enough
plays to go around. So all those things we took
a hard look at. Obviously special teams.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I think for the most part we've been good.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
We got to get healthy at the returner position so
we can create some explosive plays at the punk return game.
But overall we looked at all the data. But this
week was mainly the bye week was mainly about us
getting better, spending some times on the things that we
need to spend some time on a lot of areas
I just mentioned, and then getting a little bit of
(06:00):
a head start on not only Kent State, but also
some future opponents as well.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Okay, so with that being said, I'm gonna ask the
obvious question, probably that most fans are thinking but may
not ask, or but we'll say it and state it.
Do you feel any extra pressure to have a dominant
performance against Kent State?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
No, I mean, obviously you'd like to write, I mean,
let's be honest, but at the end of the day.
I just I want to feel that we get better
today at practice. I want to feel like we get
better this week and we're putting ourselves in the best
position to have the type of season that we want
to have. We just got to get better. I mean,
would you love to come out and dominate every opponent, yes,
(06:44):
but very few teams do that. So we just got
to get better this week, starting with today's practice. And
obviously there's some metrics that you'd like to see a
significant increase in ones that we we've already mentioned and
talked about. But yeah, yeah, we would love to come
(07:05):
out and play really, really well. But most importantly, we
just got to get better this week.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Before I let you go, gotta throw out your tight
end had a career day and being able to to
have that type of of success.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I saw him out later on that evening.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Real cool dude, Like first time I really got an
opportunity to spend some time with him. Super cool. You have,
through rain, sleet, hell snow have had a tight end
or two every single year. What makes this guy different
(07:50):
or what makes him fit in with the guys of
the past that have continued to make it to the
league and have have made made plays. I saw, you know,
made a play on a few plays, some big plays.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Britain got some some plays. What makes what makes them different?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Well, I the first thing I would say is I'm
a real believer in the tight end position and the
importance of that not only for your offense but for
your team. And the reality is that's gone away in
a lot of areas in college football and high school.
A lot of them are big wide receivers. They don't block.
(08:34):
I think Tyler Warren is the most complete tight end
in college football right now. And you know, I think
when you look at the Mackie Award and awards like
that that are given out, I think it's lazy to
give it to the guy with the most yards because
that's only half of the job of playing the tight
(08:55):
end position. It's easy to just look at the stat
sheet and say who's got the most catches in the
most yards, and it's the tight end I'm voting for.
That's not the job description of the tight end. So
I'm a big believer in that position. I think Tyler's
the most complete tight end in all of college football.
I also believe the reason I'm such a big believer
in the tight end position is when those guys can
(09:18):
do both as a defensive player or as a defensive coordinator.
When they can only do one, it's very easy to
defend those guys if they're a slug, if they're just
an extension of the offensive line and they're not a threat,
and when this guy's in the game, they're running the ball.
When this guy's in the game they're throwing the ball,
(09:39):
that's easy to defend. Or it's an athletic guy who
doesn't want to mix it up. You essentially can treat
that guy like a wide receiver. You're in ten personnel.
So having guys that can do both, that really causes
challenges for defensive coordinator and defensive players that you can't
put it into a package. You can't put it in
a ca Well, we could take our tight ends and
(10:02):
line up in a four wide receiver set with everybody expanded,
or bring him in tight and be able to block
in the core the D line, the linebackers. Now it
becomes really really challenging, and Tyler Warren I think is
maybe one of the better combinations that we've had of
that some guys maybe or maybe just a little bit
(10:25):
better just blockers, or maybe some guys are just a
little bit better receivers, like Mike Asiki or Theo Johnson.
But I don't know if any of those guys are
the combination that he is. And I'm glad you got
to spend some time with him. He's an awesome guy.
He said about twenty words. He's he's a great teammate.
He's said about twenty words since he's been on campus.
(10:46):
He's a great teammate, super humble guy, gets it, as
you know, you play with a bunch of these guys.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
He's one of these guys that.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Not only will he get drafted high and play in
the league, but he's one of these guys he'll stay
in the league for a long time because he's gonna
find a way to bring value and be a great teammate.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
No, he's an impressive dude. I mean, to say the least,
he's a pretty impressive dud. But a lot of these
guys are impressive. And credit to you. I mean just
being around you know a lot of the guys and
being around so much now I've now gotten acclimated to them.
I've gotten a chance to get to know them. And
be around them. And man, there's so many impressive guys
(11:28):
that come to mind. I'm a obviously, I'm a big
Code I'm a Kobe fan. I like Zane Durant, Nick
Nick and k Tron. I think I think those two
dudes are phenomenal guys. I could go I can go
on and on and on, obviously, because I think Drew
is a fine guy. But you got to find group
of guys.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, as you as you know that that's what makes
Penn State special because you've been around a lot of
college teams, You've been around a lot of NFL locker rooms.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
That's not always the way. That is not a gift case.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And I think we take that for granted sometimes at
Penn State. I know I don't. We work very hard
at it. But I'm really proud of our guys. I'm
gonna have a bunch of the d linemen over my
house this week for dinner. I got two daughters. Uh,
and those guys not only can sack the quarterback and
create tackles for loss, but but they could babysit my
(12:23):
daughters too.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That's the type of guys you want to have.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Man, and and and it's interesting that young sticks will
be over there with the d line instead of running
with the linebackers.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
But he had a big play.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
He showed up when we needed him in the game,
and he looks pretty comfortable at that that spy. You're
gonna have to learn how to take on them double
teams and them big linemen right at the point of attack.
That ain't always easy when you a linebacker. You play
off that ball. But it looks like he's adjusting and
adapting well. Deny as well. But coach, I appreciate the
time as usual, obviously, wish you good, good great luck.
(12:58):
I'll see you this weekend and and let's just let's
just keep it going.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Man, I'm super impressed.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I'm more impressed by victories like the one you guys
got than what people may anticipate, what what it may
be in other games. And it's because of the very
fact and the very reason you don't really know too
much about teams, certain teams that you're playing early on,
and they can sneak up on you. Man and Bowling
(13:25):
Green telling you Bowling Green gonna win a lot of games.
Texas A and M better be careful because Bowling Green,
I believe they got A and M this this this weekend.
And if it is, if it is in fact that
they might they.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Might find themselves in a serious, serious game there.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So coach, congrats to you so far and want to
know see this weekend.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Brother sounds good. I talked to you soon. All right,
all right, we are
Coach Kent State off of a bye week, so we
see what happens to Kent State when they play against
a Tennessee team. You cautioned, everybody, This Bowling Green team
was a very very well coached team with leadership on it.
(00:28):
They had vets and their quarterback could deal. You cautioned, everybody,
we get through the game. If you want to revisit that,
but that's old, that's kind of old. But if we
want to jump into Kent how do we guard against
seeing a team get beat up the way that Kent
State did by Tennessee. How do we guard against going
(00:51):
into a game like this at home and playing the
way that Penn State football team is supposed to play,
going against this type of opponent.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, it's it's trying to teach your team how to
be a mature football team. And you know, ultimately it's
about us, right, Ultimately, it's about us playing up to
our standard weekend and week out, no matter who we play,
no matter where the game is, no matter what the
weather's like, it, it doesn't matter. Now, that's easier said
(01:24):
than done. We saw that with Northern Illinois. There's a
there's a ton ton of examples to your point. You
know that the quarterback at Bowling Green was the SEC
Rookie of the Year at Missouri, is started for six
years in college football at Indiana as well as at Missouri.
(01:44):
He's played a ton of football and they're a good team.
But that still does not that still does not explain
that one half we play really well and one half
we don't. And that's where again going back to the maturity,
and it's about us. And as much as you talk
(02:05):
to players about the approach that you have to take
week in and week out and not take anybody lightly.
We're gonna get everybody's best shot. We're gonna get everybody
super Bowl. Every single kid on that team is trying
to prove that they should have gotten a scholarship from
Penn State over Bowling Green. So it is a challenge.
(02:27):
And you see example after example around college football when
teams don't handle it the right way. So hopefully we've
learned from it. We've talked about it, we've addressed it,
we've shown a ton of examples, but we got to
learn from and take the next step.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
We self scouting more important this two week process, was
it a bye week process? We self scouted it did
that and then now is preparation for Kent or how
did you guys approve our self scouted us?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
I know that I looked at it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It Actually, generally speaking, last year would have been coach,
we got to figure out how to run. We gotta
find a run game, and we got to see if
we can get some deep balls. This year it was
on the defensive side of the ball, and I won't
go into any details about that what.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I saw, but I felt like what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Our offense kept us in the game in the first
half of that game, while our defense was trying to
find some solid ground and eventually found that more so
in the second half of the game. So self scouting wise,
what for you did you feel as though it was
more important to self scout or was it more important
(03:41):
to just say, here are a few plays. We got
to make sure we handle things, like you said, in
a mature manner and move on and look at what
Kent does and how do we approach that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I think self scouting is always important, but it's not
the same when your bye week comes. You know, after
week two, you just don't have a whole lot of
evidence and although you're still going to study the tape
and study the strengths and study the weaknesses and look
at the areas that you need to get better. Everything's
(04:14):
magnified at this point, like if you play really well,
it skews the stats. If you if you play bad
for a half, it dramatically skews the stats. So I
think the self scouting is important, but we're still very
early on. There's not a whole lot of data to
study yet, So for us it was more just about
(04:37):
doing a little bit of that, but mainly focusing on
Penn State and getting better offensively. I think your point
is a good one. We are definitely more explosive. We're
not as efficient as we need to be. Probably actually,
in some ways we're more efficient last year. We're creating
explosive plays. We're not good enough on third down, and
that's why that also factors in.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
To our defense.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
We're not good enough on third down, so we're not
sustaining drives. Our defense is not good enough on third down.
They're not getting off the field because we're not efficient
enough on first down. So what's happening is the time
of possession. In the first half of both these games,
has not been good. That also impacts we need to
get more guys touches, and we need to get more
(05:22):
guys involved on offense. Well, it's hard to do that
when you're not sustaining drives and just don't have enough
plays to go around. So all those things we took
a hard look at. Obviously special teams.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I think for the most part we've been good.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
We got to get healthy at the returner position so
we can create some explosive plays at the punk return game.
But overall we looked at all the data. But this
week was mainly the bye week was mainly about us
getting better, spending some times on the things that we
need to spend some time on a lot of areas
I just mentioned, and then getting a little bit of
(06:00):
a head start on not only Kent State, but also
some future opponents as well.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Okay, so with that being said, I'm gonna ask the
obvious question, probably that most fans are thinking but may
not ask, or but we'll say it and state it.
Do you feel any extra pressure to have a dominant
performance against Kent State?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
No, I mean, obviously you'd like to write, I mean,
let's be honest, but at the end of the day.
I just I want to feel that we get better
today at practice. I want to feel like we get
better this week and we're putting ourselves in the best
position to have the type of season that we want
to have. We just got to get better. I mean,
would you love to come out and dominate every opponent, yes,
(06:44):
but very few teams do that. So we just got
to get better this week, starting with today's practice. And
obviously there's some metrics that you'd like to see a
significant increase in ones that we we've already mentioned and
talked about. But yeah, yeah, we would love to come
(07:05):
out and play really, really well. But most importantly, we
just got to get better this week.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Before I let you go, gotta throw out your tight
end had a career day and being able to to
have that type of of success.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I saw him out later on that evening.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Real cool dude, Like first time I really got an
opportunity to spend some time with him. Super cool. You have,
through rain, sleet, hell snow have had a tight end
or two every single year. What makes this guy different
(07:50):
or what makes him fit in with the guys of
the past that have continued to make it to the
league and have have made made plays. I saw, you know,
made a play on a few plays, some big plays.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Britain got some some plays. What makes what makes them different?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Well, I the first thing I would say is I'm
a real believer in the tight end position and the
importance of that not only for your offense but for
your team. And the reality is that's gone away in
a lot of areas in college football and high school.
A lot of them are big wide receivers. They don't block.
(08:34):
I think Tyler Warren is the most complete tight end
in college football right now. And you know, I think
when you look at the Mackie Award and awards like
that that are given out, I think it's lazy to
give it to the guy with the most yards because
that's only half of the job of playing the tight
(08:55):
end position. It's easy to just look at the stat
sheet and say who's got the most catches in the
most yards, and it's the tight end I'm voting for.
That's not the job description of the tight end. So
I'm a big believer in that position. I think Tyler's
the most complete tight end in all of college football.
I also believe the reason I'm such a big believer
in the tight end position is when those guys can
(09:18):
do both as a defensive player or as a defensive coordinator.
When they can only do one, it's very easy to
defend those guys if they're a slug, if they're just
an extension of the offensive line and they're not a threat,
and when this guy's in the game, they're running the ball.
When this guy's in the game they're throwing the ball,
(09:39):
that's easy to defend. Or it's an athletic guy who
doesn't want to mix it up. You essentially can treat
that guy like a wide receiver. You're in ten personnel.
So having guys that can do both, that really causes
challenges for defensive coordinator and defensive players that you can't
put it into a package. You can't put it in
a ca Well, we could take our tight ends and
(10:02):
line up in a four wide receiver set with everybody expanded,
or bring him in tight and be able to block
in the core the D line, the linebackers. Now it
becomes really really challenging, and Tyler Warren I think is
maybe one of the better combinations that we've had of
that some guys maybe or maybe just a little bit
(10:25):
better just blockers, or maybe some guys are just a
little bit better receivers, like Mike Asiki or Theo Johnson.
But I don't know if any of those guys are
the combination that he is. And I'm glad you got
to spend some time with him. He's an awesome guy.
He said about twenty words. He's he's a great teammate.
He's said about twenty words since he's been on campus.
(10:46):
He's a great teammate, super humble guy, gets it, as
you know, you play with a bunch of these guys.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
He's one of these guys that.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Not only will he get drafted high and play in
the league, but he's one of these guys he'll stay
in the league for a long time because he's gonna
find a way to bring value and be a great teammate.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
No, he's an impressive dude. I mean, to say the least,
he's a pretty impressive dud. But a lot of these
guys are impressive. And credit to you. I mean just
being around you know a lot of the guys and
being around so much now I've now gotten acclimated to them.
I've gotten a chance to get to know them. And
be around them. And man, there's so many impressive guys
(11:28):
that come to mind. I'm a obviously, I'm a big
Code I'm a Kobe fan. I like Zane Durant, Nick
Nick and k Tron. I think I think those two
dudes are phenomenal guys. I could go I can go
on and on and on, obviously, because I think Drew
is a fine guy. But you got to find group
of guys.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, as you as you know that that's what makes
Penn State special because you've been around a lot of
college teams, You've been around a lot of NFL locker rooms.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
That's not always the way. That is not a gift case.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And I think we take that for granted sometimes at
Penn State. I know I don't. We work very hard
at it. But I'm really proud of our guys. I'm
gonna have a bunch of the d linemen over my
house this week for dinner. I got two daughters. Uh,
and those guys not only can sack the quarterback and
create tackles for loss, but but they could babysit my
(12:23):
daughters too.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That's the type of guys you want to have.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Man, and and and it's interesting that young sticks will
be over there with the d line instead of running
with the linebackers.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
But he had a big play.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
He showed up when we needed him in the game,
and he looks pretty comfortable at that that spy. You're
gonna have to learn how to take on them double
teams and them big linemen right at the point of attack.
That ain't always easy when you a linebacker. You play
off that ball. But it looks like he's adjusting and
adapting well. Deny as well. But coach, I appreciate the
time as usual, obviously, wish you good, good great luck.
(12:58):
I'll see you this weekend and and let's just let's
just keep it going.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Man, I'm super impressed.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I'm more impressed by victories like the one you guys
got than what people may anticipate, what what it may
be in other games. And it's because of the very
fact and the very reason you don't really know too
much about teams, certain teams that you're playing early on,
and they can sneak up on you. Man and Bowling
(13:25):
Green telling you Bowling Green gonna win a lot of games.
Texas A and M better be careful because Bowling Green,
I believe they got A and M this this this weekend.
And if it is, if it is in fact that
they might they.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Might find themselves in a serious, serious game there.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So coach, congrats to you so far and want to
know see this weekend.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Brother sounds good. I talked to you soon. All right,
all right, we are
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.