UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — If there was a college football version of the movie Blended, Penn State would certainly be at the front of the line to star in the film.
This year’s team will feature a blending of players who came in from Iowa State, returned to Penn State and others from around the country which is unlike anything the Nittany Lions have experienced before.
It’s no surprise then that head coach Matt Campbell wants his team and staff to be together as they work to find their identity this football season.
“What you’re trying to do at this point is number one, prepare the team for the journey and continue to pound away with our identity and the identity that we are working really hard to create,” Campbell said at local media day Friday. “Now, I would not tell you it’s created by any stretch of the imagination right now. We got to prove it, and we got a lot of work to do. But we’re going to be tough here at some point, and tough is mental and physically tough.”
Tough is one way to describe the past nine months or so for Campbell and company as they worked to put together and maintain a roster following the firing of James Franklin.
“Between December and January coming here and watching the bowl practice and Terry (Smith) and the other coaches was as unique and uncomfortable of a situation as I’ve been a part of,” offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser said. “We were at Toledo and came to Iowa State. They weren’t going to a bowl game and there was no portal. The kids, you had the kids and they were there. And you come in here and you you have the the portal that you know is going to open. Not until after the bowl game, you don’t know which kids are going to stay, which kids are going to leave, and you try to meet with those guys at the same time. You’re trying to stay out of the the coach’s way. They’re trying to find a way to get a bowl win, so it was super stressful, super hectic.”
The stress and hectic nature of portal season and bowl season combined with putting a staff and roster together was alleviated thanks in large part due to the amount of players and staff Campbell brought with him from Iowa State including Mouser and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters.
“We’re all kind of in the same boat, and so you can kind you can lean on other coaches, other coaches’ wives, and even the players, too,” Waters said. “It’s all an extreme change for everyone, but you’re not the only one going through it, so you have people to lean on and experience it with. That’s been a huge help, and we weren’t coming out here and you know all by yourself, which happens obviously in coaching and transfer portal now and stuff. But having people you’re really really comfortable with, and then the opportunity to meet new people, the coaches that have been that were here, and then the new coaches that came in, then the players that stayed. It’s awesome to learn learn from them, grow our relationships with them, the players, the place, everything. So it’s a cool blend, but having people that are in the same boat definitely helps.”
Familiarity is always a positive when it comes to coaching at the collegiate level and developing a new-look program on the fly which makes the hard days easier according to Mouser.
“There are so many moving parts, but when you’re doing it with people that you love and you care about, it makes it all (bettter),” Mouser said. “With a fan base like we have, and media just people, and how important football is here, and sports are, you have to pinch yourself, too, and you can’t forget that. It’s about perspective. How awesome is it that we get to do this? Like we get to go through this transition at a school like Penn State. You have to keep reminding yourself that when you’re like tired and stuff at times, or recruiting grind and things like that.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Being familiar with the coaches and experiencing some of the same things on this journey to Penn State has made it easier for guys like quarterback Alex Manske to come to a place he’s never been and dive headfirst into being a Nittany Lion.
“I feel like it’s made it really easy,” Manske said. “If I’m being honest, just coming here right away. Obviously, I’ve never really been out east before, being from Iowa, going to Iowa State, but just having all the guys come out, similar coaches, similar faces everywhere. I feel like it’s made the transition really easy.”
Penn State is a place Rocco Becht never thought he’d be, especially for his final season of college football, but going through the transfer process and joining guys like Campbell, Mouser and Waters has allowed him to stay present in his mind and thoughts.
“I would say, leading up into last year, wasn’t expecting you know everything going on with injuries and just the skid that we went on as a team (at Iowa State),” Becht said. “Now that I’m here, I never thought I’d be here, and I’m super blessed to be here with this new team and my new teammates, new coaches, and everyone around the new community. So I’m just excited to be here, be in this present day, and looking forward to the future and winning a lot of games for Penn State.”
To do that, it’s going to take trust that has already been built with many on the coaching staff and already having that as a baseline has been a point of emphasis for both the coaches and the players since they arrived on campus.
“It’s been awesome to hit the ground running with the guys that we brought, the guys that stayed here,” Waters said. “They’ve been incredible, and then it is awesome to bring some guys that I’m really really familiar with in the quarterback room, too. That we have a good relationship of really, really good times, really, really tough times, going through a lot with those guys, and it’s cool to experience this with them, too.”
This journey has helped Mouser realize just how grateful he is for being able to coach football and do so at Penn State, something he wants to make sure is ingrained in each of his players.
“In a time where their players and coaches have never been easy to be replaceable, you can’t forget that,” Mouser said. “I want to be old school with that here, be grateful every single day that we get to come to Penn State and put on the shirt every single day and represent what makes this place so awesome.”
