It’s officially game week, folks.

Over the offseason, Penn State football underwent drastic changes on the defensive side of the ball. The Nittany Lions snagged coveted defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, fresh off a national championship run with Ohio State, and signed top transfer linebacker Amare Campbell from North Carolina. With all of these big moves, James Franklin and Co. used the offseason to evaluate and work out what this year’s defense might look like.

Campbell’s introduction to a thin Penn State linebacker room at the end of last season seems to have paid dividends for both sides. At his first game-week press conference of the year, Franklin said that Campbell will share the “green dot” role with redshirt senior linebacker Dom DeLuca in 2025. Both will have communications with Knowles on the field at separate times, as only one green dot is allowed on the field on a specific play per NCAA rules.

“It’ll be Jim talking to the green dot, and that will be a combination of who’s on the field, but that’ll be Campbell and DeLuca, most likely those two guys, because one of those two guys will be on the field,” Franklin said. “That’ll be a little bit of a challenge. We think DeLuca and Campbell cannot only be a mike linebacker, but we also think DeLuca could be the will.”

Franklin added that the coaching staff has been working through the dilemma all of training camp, but that the team plans for DeLuca to have two helmets on stand-by during games. When Campbell is out, DeLuca will handle communications with Knowles. When both are in with DeLuca, most likely in the will linebacker role, Campbell will take over.

Despite not being mentioned by Franklin, junior linebacker Tony Rojas for a big season as Knowles’ main linebacker in the rotation. It’ll be rare for Campbell and DeLuca to share the field without tweaking the scheme and helmet communications, setting up Rojas for a lot of playing time.

Franklin also unveiled that redshirt freshman safety Antoine Belgrave-Shorter will start alongside Zakee Wheatley in the secondary, beating out Dejuan Lane and King Mack.

“Belgrave is probably a guy that there wasn’t a lot of conversations going on outside the Lasch Building, but led us in interceptions and turnovers this training camp and has been very, very consistent about how he’s gone about his business,” Franklin said. “So, he has earned that spot, but the other two guys will play a lot, and we need them to play a lot.”

Zion Tracy, Kenny Woseley Jr., and Kolin Dinkins were all linked to Penn State’s new-look nickel position with Knowles’ 4-2-5 defensive scheme. Franklin spoke mostly for Tracy, who he expects to have another big year for the Nittany Lions in 2025 now that he’s gained more experience in the secondary.

Franklin noted that Penn State’s new defensive scheme will not only help the secondary but the defense as a whole. The defense will be able to mask itself in different schemes while still appearing the same and even substituting back into a 4-3 formation when needed for matchup reasons.

However, Penn State’s defensive identity lies in getting pressure on the quarterback.

Penn State’s current defensive end makeup sits at Zuriah Fisher, Chaz Coleman, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Jaylen Harvey, Mylachi Williams, and Yvan Kemajou. Franklin noted the importance of having six players at the position ready and available, but the coaching staff has also felt really good about redshirt sophomore Mason Robinson despite some lingering injuries throughout camp.

“That would give us seven guys that we feel like we can play with,” Franklin said. “And then just depending on some of the freshmen, their development, some bumps and bruises will depend on whether we have five or six going into each game that we feel like are ready to contribute and help us play. We’re young there, but we feel like there’s a lot of talent in that room and obviously these first three games are going to be really important.”

The college football world is now only four days away from seeing the Knowles-led Penn State defense. Big expectations, big names, and a big season await Franklin and the Nittany Lions.