Spencer not slowing down as Lions' D-line reloads yet again

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The mementos scattered throughout Sean Spencer’s office help tell a story of where he’s been and what the Nittany Lions’ defensive line coach values most.

In the back of the Lasch Building coaching suite, the place where Spencer’s booming voice can often be heard down the hall, there’s his collection of coaching trinkets that’s grown over time. Complete with nine stops prior to landing at Penn State in 2014, Spencer, a Clarion graduate, is still taken aback that he’s a recognizable figure in this town.

Fans didn’t know him when he first started at Shippensburg. They didn’t recognize him at his other stops either -- when he moved to Trinity College, Massachusetts, Holy Cross, Villanova, Hofstra, back to UMass, then Bowling Green and Vanderbilt. That might wear down some, but Spencer is the opposite.

He’s the man with boundless energy who goes by the nickname Coach Chaos. His Penn State linemen, whom he calls the Wild Dogs, bring with them a painted rawhide bone that gets carried around during warmups on game days. There’s even one displayed behind Spencer’s desk.

The photos on the wall, including one of former Nittany Lion defensive end Carl Nassib, are a reminder that there’s always someone coming through the Lions’ pipeline of defensive linemen. Spencer calls them his “reload guys,” stressing that he doesn’t use the word rebuild within these walls because that would imply something was broken.

“I’m pretty sure that worked out all right,” Spencer said, pointing to Nassib, the former walk-on who led the nation with 15.5 sacks in 2015. Nassib is in his second season with the Cleveland Browns.

“I’m not gonna let them talk about rebuilding,” he muttered.



Spencer is in the midst of another reload project this summer as he works to replace last year’s starting defensive ends and to shore up depth along the interior. What some would pencil in as a few question marks up front are future breakout players to Spencer. He goes one by one down the list explaining how and why these players, many of whom were key reserves in the past, are ready for bigger roles.

It’s his job to prepare them on the field, but Spencer’s duties extend beyond that. Thinking of himself like a high school football coach, the catch-all guy who voluntarily deals with everything else that’s going on in a player’s life outside the lines means as much to him as churning out NFL talents.

Behind Spencer’s desk, beside family photos, is a small sign that might best sum up his objective as a football coach. It reads: “You call it chaos, we call it family.”

“When you sit and you talk to a parent and you say I’ll take care of your child, then all of those things that come with that are encompassed,” he says. “They may be strong, but I’ve had so many kids come in here that are 300 pounds and cry on my shoulder or break down. They’re dealing with a lot of stuff.”

THE RECRUITER

In the world of recruiting where teams try to sell a player on early playing time, team success, NFL first-round draft picks or any multitude of factors, Spencer’s pitch has become personalized. It’s what made him one of the top recruiters at Vanderbilt and is one of the reasons why Penn State has brought in top-25 classes each of the past four years.

When Jen Simmons sat down with her husband Walt and son Shane, a four-star defensive end, Spencer did what 26 other schools couldn’t: He kept Shane’s attention.

“We saw some coaches who were laid-back and methodical and we knew that was going to put Shane to sleep,” Jen said.

With the lights turned off in the defensive line meeting room, Spencer played a video that described the mentality of his linemen. It was a graphic look at wild dogs attacking antelope in Africa.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s crazy,’” Jen recalled. “Shane loved it because LaVar Arrington, one of his mentors, used to send him similar clips to get him pumped up before games. Shane saw a lot of similarities with the energy between Sean and LaVar.”

Once Spencer moved with Franklin and staff from Vanderbilt to Penn State, much closer to the Simmons family in Maryland, it was a done deal for Shane. The Lions landed Simmons’ pledge and this fall he’s one of those “reload guys” who will be worked into the defensive end rotation as a redshirt freshman.