Penn State: Spring practice begins with sense of urgency

Five takeaways from Penn State football coach James Franklin’s spring-practice kickoff press conference Tuesday:

1. A lot of coordinating

What sets this spring session apart and gives it in Franklin’s words a sense of urgency is the three new coordinators the program is welcoming: Andy Kotelnicki (from Kansas) on offense, Tom Allen (from Indiana) on defense and Justin Lustig (from Vanderbilt) on special teams.

“It’s been painstaking,” Franklin admitted. “A lot of humility as well, for (the coordinators) to be willing to compromise.”

Franklin said he had to push back against the players’ eagerness to receive new playbooks and get started on learning and installing the new stuff.

“What has been almost painful is sitting in those rooms and grinding for hours over what’s in Penn State’s best interest, not what you were comfortable doing at Indiana (and Kansas and Vanderbilt) ... and also not what we were comfortable doing, but what is best for us.

“So the players were (saying), ‘Give it to us. We want the playbooks as soon as possible.’ Once we got it cleaned up, we were able to start giving it to them in smaller packages, which is probably the better way anyway.”

2. Tuesday’s hard news

Offensive tackle Drew Shelton, a junior who started games as a freshman and sophomore at the critical left tackle position, had surgery immediately after last season and won’t be available this spring.

Another OT, true freshman Garrett Sexton, also won’t be available.

With both of last year’s regular OT starters, Olu Fashanu and Caedan Wallace, out of the picture, the opportunity increases, perhaps, for Nolan Rucci, a Wisconsin transfer from Warwick High School.

“Being able to go out and bring Mr. Rucci back home was huge for us,” Franklin said of the highest-rated recruit in Lancaster-Lebanon League history. “He’s already up to, I think, 315 pounds, which has been a little bit of his issue. He looks great.”

3. Abdul Carter update

The big news of the offseason was the move of Carter, a junior from Philadelphia who got All-Big Ten recognition as a freshman and sophomore, from linebacker to defensive end.

“When we recruited Abdul, I thought he was a defensive end,” Franklin said. “Abdul and his dad were adamant that he was a linebacker. This (change) wasn’t our idea. Abdul really wanted to make this move.”

Carter is 6-3, 250 and explosive. Penn State is replacing two NFL-caliber DEs in Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac. The program appears to have developed quality and depth at LB without Carter, especially with the emergence of ex-walk-on Dom DeLuca and sophomore Tony Rojas.

“I think this is going to be a win-win for everybody,” Franklin said.

4. This might come as a shock

At wide receiver, Franklin said: “I don’t think we’ve ever had, really, a talent issue. If you look at our guys, athletic numbers, testing numbers, I think (they’re) as good as any in the country.”

The production last season, of course, screamed to the contrary.

Franklin cited a second year for WR coach Marques Hagans, another year of experience for everybody and the impact Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming as reasons to believe.

“I think there’s some things we can do offensively as well,” Franklin said. “We anticipate ... expect, … fully expect them to take the next step.”

5. The itinerary

Tuesday’s practice was the first of 15 this spring, culminating in the Blue-White Game April 13 at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State’s Pro Day, in which NFL draft-eligible players audition for NFL scouts, is Friday at Holuba Hall.

Tuesday practice sessions are expected to be partly open to the media.

Franklin said there are about 120 players in the program, up 15 from a year ago.

“One thing that’s exciting,” he said, “is we’ll probably be able to have one of the better spring games we’ve had in a while, because we have enough depth to do that.”