Penn State football has just about wrapped up its winter workouts this offseason with spring practice set to start Monday, March 15.

Every year, the Nittany Lions go through winter workouts where each player enters a training program to improve their strength and conditioning.

The biggest piece of the offseason program is Dwight Galt, assistant AD for performance enhancement, as he leads the players through different workout programs. He met with the media Wednesday and raved about some of Penn State football’s newcomers, which include both early enrollees from the 2021 recruiting class and incoming transfers.

There’s been plenty of hype surrounding quarterback Christian Veilleux, who is on campus as an early enrollee this semester. While the team has yet to see him throw, Galt has been happy with Veilleux’s progress, but is of course is excited to see him throw starting Monday.

“Christian’s done great as well,” Galt said. “I think the coaches obviously have not seen him throw yet, so I think that that’s, to be really honest, that’s one of the biggest things that we’re looking forward to seeing on Monday — is to see Christian throw.”

Galt praised Veilleux’s work ethic and is glad the signal caller is enrolled early to get a head start on his development.

“He’s worked really hard, having him mid-year has been a godsend,” Galt said. “That’s been a great situation to have him and let him get this extra development and this extra learning from the quarterback position.”

Two other early enrollees, offensive linemen Landon Tengwall and Nate Bruce, have caught Galt’s attention. He was lost for words at one point, saying he doesn’t know “how to describe them.”

Speaking on Tengwall specifically, Galt mentioned that his own kids went to the same high school, so he’s familiar with the program and Tengwall’s background. The Maryland native’s positive attitude, among other things, has been noted thus far.

“Dude comes in, he’s 319, he’s got low body fat… He’s got unbelievable development for a true freshman coming in,” Galt said. “Obviously, he’s got a great attitude, great approach, great work ethic, and all those things.”

Bruce, on the other hand, doesn’t quite have the same training background as Tengwall. However, Galt called the Pennsylvania native a “special, special athlete and a special kid,” and credits him for adapting to the new program.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Galt said. “This is all totally new to him, he never really trained like he has the last eight weeks. And talk about adapting quickly. He did a really good job and he is tremendously strong. Nate has a great natural strength, and he’s one of those guys that every day he comes in and does more than he did the last day. It’s been really fun and really neat to kinda watch him grow and develop.”

Penn State was active in the transfer portal this offseason and picked up several players in the process. Galt discussed two of those players, defensive linemen Derrick Tangelo and Arnold Ebiketie, and the “big adjustment” both of them face by transitioning to a new training program.

Ebiketie played three seasons at Temple and totaled 59 tackles, 10.5 for a loss, and six sacks. The redshirt junior came to Penn State a little undersized at the defensive end position but has put on some weight since arriving in Happy Valley and has benefitted from the new training program.

“Arnold [Ebiketie] came in and he wasn’t the typical weight of a Penn State [defensive end],” Galt said. “He’s already gained seven pounds in the short time that he’s been here. He’s an incredible athlete so he’s blossoming big time with the type of training that we have.”

Tangelo played four seasons with Duke before transferring to Penn State. The defensive tackle logged 115 tackles, five forced fumbles, and 4.5 sacks during his career with the Blue Devils. Like Ebiketie, Tangelo also came in a bit undersized but has gained some weight and is impressing in the weight room.

“Once he came into the program, it’s been phenomenal,” Galt said. “He too gained some weight as well. He’s up to about 305 right now. He put 65 pounds on his power clean in just the short amount of time he’s been here. He was able to clean 350 and really has done a nice job.”

With a lot of turnover on the defensive line this offseason, both Tangelo and Ebiketie will presumably have the chance to be major factors for John Scott Jr.’s unit in 2021. As for early enrollees such as Veilleux and Bruce, they’ll have a chance to develop behind other stars alongside Galt’s program.