Penn State football is back!

After several weeks of offseason conditioning, the Nittany Lions hit the field Monday to officially start spring ball practices. With that, head coach James Franklin met with the media for the first time since his 2020 season wrap-up presser in January.

Although an abbreviated 2020 schedule and several other off-field issues resulted in a 4-5 record for Penn State, there’s a palpable excitement surrounding the start of a new season. The Nittany Lions welcome several new coaches, including offensive coordinator Mike Yurchich and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, and seven early enrollee freshmen to the program this spring.

There was no shortage of things to talk about with Franklin Monday afternoon. Here are a few of our takeaways from the biggest storylines so far.

On A Return To ‘Normal,’ Possibility Of Blue-White Game

While Franklin explained that his team learned plenty of valuable lessons over the course of a challenging 2020 campaign, he’s plenty excited to have a bit more of a normal spring with the Nittany Lions.

When thinking about a normal spring for Penn State football, the first thought that comes to mind is its 15th practice in Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions obviously didn’t play the annual Blue-White Game in mid-April last year, and plans for it this year remain up in the air.

“There’s some discussions going on right now with that at the university level,” Franklin said. “For us, our entire focus is on what we can do to best position us for next year. We want to try to be able to get back as close to normal as we possibly can for next season. I think a lot of things are trending in that direction nationally, as well as in our state.”

Franklin added that Blue-White Game or not, the Nittany Lions will hold scrimmages on Fridays throughout spring ball.

“We hope to make an announcement here sooner rather than later, from a football perspective, from an athletic perspective, and then obviously always aligned with President Barron and Old Main,” Franklin added.

While she has yet to make any formal announcements on Blue-White or a capacity for any of Penn State’s venues, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour stated last week that Penn State is “pushing really hard” to bring fans into stadiums.

After not having any spring ball last year, Franklin noted that he and his staff are looking at these few weeks as “a tremendous opportunity” for growth for a number of players.

On The Future Of The Quarterback Room

Yurcich has helped developed star gunslingers such as Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields, and Sam Ehlinger over the course of his career, and his experience will be invaluable to Penn State’s signal-callers in these next few months.

There simply isn’t a ton of depth or certainty surrounding the group. Besides two contests, Sean Clifford has started every game for Penn State over the past two seasons. But his struggles in 2020 were a far cry from his seemingly promising 2019.

Behind Clifford, there’s Ta’Quan Roberson and Christian Veilleux. After two seasons in Happy Valley, Roberson has appeared in the same amount of games and attempted just one pass. Veilleux was a highly touted pro-style recruit from The Bullis School in Maryland, but he’s presumably got a lot to learn after just arriving on campus.

With that pair and Clifford, the Nittany Lions have just three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.

“Two years ago, we obviously won a lot of games with Sean. There was a lot of buzz and excitement about what he was doing, and we want to build on that,” Franklin said. “Being able to evaluate, coach, and develop Ta’Quan and [Christian] Veilleux is gonna be important.

“Come the end of spring, we’d like to have a pretty good idea of who our first-team, second-team, and third-team quarterbacks are.”

Franklin didn’t assign spots to any of his three quarterbacks on that list, but he said his staff wants to feel confident enough that they could put any in a game and “win with them.”

“We want to get all those guys reps,” Franklin said. “It’s all gonna be based on how practice goes. If somebody puts themselves in a position to earn more reps with whatever group it is, then we’ll look at that.”

He even reiterated his stance a few months ago that Penn State would be willing to dip into the transfer portal for more talent under behind center.

“I also think there’s some opportunities as well for us to still look into the transfer market,” Franklin said. “From a competition standpoint, from a depth standpoint, from a lot of different perspectives. But it’s gotta be the right fit and it’s gotta make sense from a lot of different levels.”

Lastly, Franklin noted that he’d like to have five scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. He said Penn State “can get away” with four, but three “gets a little dicey.”

On New Coaching Hires

Penn State made three substantial coaching changes in a short period over this offseason and now welcomes Mike Yurcich as offensive coordinator, Anthony Poindexter as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, and former offensive analyst Ty Howle as tight ends coach.

While it’s still early, all signs point to a smooth transition for the Nittany Lions’ new leaders.

“Not only have they jumped in with both feet from a football perspective, but also culturally have been great fits as well,” Franklin said. “I’ve known Anthony Poindexter for a long time and tried to hire him on several occasions, so this worked out really well.”

Franklin added that’s he happy to finally have Yurcich on the staff after being involved with him “over the last couple of years” and is excited to see what Howle will do in his newly promoted role.

Along with those new coaching changes, the Nittany Lions now have six Penn State football lettermen on the staff. Howle makes two on the coaching staff along with associate head coach Terry Smith, while fur others are graduate assistants Deion Barnes and Wendy Laurent, associate director Todd Kulka, and newly hired assistant recruiting coordinator Alan Zemaitis.

On Incoming Talent, Players Returning From Injury

Of the several pieces the Nittany Lions missed over the course of the 2020 campaign, one of the biggest was Noah Cain. After an extremely productive freshman season in which he rushed for 443 yards and eight touchdowns, the bruising running back went down with a leg injury that would keep him out for the rest of the season.

Franklin said Monday that the Nittany Lions will likely get “some work” out of Cain in the second half of spring practice.

“It’s hard to predict how much,” Franklin said. “Obviously, a lot can change in a three, four-week period of time, so we’ll see.”

Along with Cain, Franklin touched on other talented players who are expected to make a jump in 2021. Defensive end Nick Tarburton is one guy who’s dealt with injuries over the course of his college career but is entering his fourth season, and players and members of the coaching staff are excited to see what he can do.

After losing studs Shaka Toney and Jayson Oweh to the NFL Draft, competition is open at the position.

“I’m a big Nick Tarburton fan for a lot of different reasons,” Franklin said. “The kid has really faced a decent amount of adversity, he hasn’t been healthy consistently since he’s been here. He’s had an unbelievable offseason for us. We’re expecting him to have a significant role on our defense and our team.”

Along with a batch of returning talent, Franklin has a group of true freshmen that missed out on spring and summer ball last year and seven early enrollees who have just arrived.

Among some of the top true freshman returning are certainly wide receivers Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, while running backs Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes both made names for themselves last year. Theo Johnson also showcased some of his talent at tight end.

Among the early enrollees are Veilleux, offensive lineman Landon Tengwall and Nate Bruce, brothers Kalen and Kobe King, and multiple others.

“We got a youth-filled roster, but a much more experienced roster that we’re depending on this year compared to last year,” Franklin said. “It’s gonna be interesting watching these guys take the next step during spring ball, and then be able to get feedback from their coaches as well as me about what they need to do over the summer.”

Franklin added that the next task is discussing which new players will factor into playing time immediately, while others may need some room to grow.

“There’s gonna be a couple guys that maybe this spring they’re a little overwhelmed their first time on campus,” Franklin said. “But it will still lay a foundation to allow them to compete during summer camp.”

On His Personal Life

It was well-documented throughout this past season that Franklin spent several months away from his family in 2020. His younger daughter’s sickle cell anemia made it dangerous for her to be around Franklin while he spent the season in close contact to his team and staff. With that in mind, his wife and children spent the majority of the year at another residence in Florida.

“I always knew I was a family guy,” Franklin said. “Going through last year, it definitely magnified that.”

Franklin added that he and his family are in “a better situation” now and back home in Pennsylvania while he lives in an apartment above the garage.

“Still not what I would describe as ideal or back to normal,” Franklin said. “About the most contact I have is I’ll get home from work and stand at a different window in the house with my hood and mask up. I stand there until someone notices and I usually scare the heck out of them.”

While it may not be ideal, Franklin is plenty happy for them to be back home.

“They’re doing great. I think for them it’s been really good to be back in town,” Franklin said. “But we’re still not back to normal, and I’m not completely sure when that will happen based on my family’s circumstances.”