Before starting his coaching career, Penn State OL coach Phil Trautwein was a big part of some of the best college football teams of this minimum.
At Florida, Trautwein was an all-SEC performer and won two national titles.
He also played on the line with a pair of twins who would each become multi-time Pro Bowlers.
Their names are Maurkice and Mike Pouncey. To be mentioned in the same breath as Maurkice (five-time All-Pro with the Steelers) or Mike (four total Pro Bowls with the Dolphins and Chargers), is quite a compliment for a true freshman in college. Cooper Couins isn’t like most true freshmen.
Of Penn State’s 26 Class of 2024 signees, only two were “green lit” at the start of the season, meaning Penn State is OK burning their redshirts.
Cousins was one of them.
The 6-foot-6, 320-pound in-state prospect from McDowell high school impressed so much over the offseason that there was talk amongst the fan base of him potentially starting at center Week 1.
Although fifth-year senior Nick Dawkins ended up winning the job, Cousins has played, earning 20 snaps over his first two games.
Trautwein knows better than most how the Pounceys played the game, and Cousins reminds him of that.
“Both of them were great players,” Trautwein told reporters via Zoom Thursday, “but they also had a great mindset & that’s who he is. He’s relentless on the field, loves football. Football is his world. That was the Pounceys.”
So what can Cousins do physically that reminds Trautwein of his former teammates.
“He moves well, he’s a mauler, and whenever I kind of look at him sometimes, I think about the Pounceys,” he said. “And they were great teammates and great guys. So being able to have two guys that I played with, went first round and play a long time in the NFL and comparing him to them, that’s what kind of player I think Coop is.”
