ALTOONA, Pa. -- Just to be perfectly clear, this is not a discussion about the Most Valuable Player on this year's Penn State football team. Because there is no discussion there. It's Jahan Dotson in a landslide (and I'm talking as best player).
No, this is a different kind of MVP question. In this case, let's call it Most Valuable Personnel.
In my view, the choice for that distinction this year also is a no-brainer. Because without this guy's work, the Nittany Lions wouldn't really have much chance against most teams on the schedule this season.
The answer?
Brent Pry.
The veteran defensive coordinator has always been a tremendously valuable member of James Franklin's staff since coming over from Vanderbilt in 2014. He took over as DC in 2016.
This year, in particular, most of us thought new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich would come in and emerge as the top dog on the coaching staff. But as the offense has struggled, Pry's defense has been the key to the season.
There's nothing that sums up Pry's bend but don't break style of defense better than the following numbers. Penn State ranks:
• 40th in the nation in total defense (350.8 yards per game)
• 45th in pass defense (213.6)
• 49th in run defense (137.2)
• 10th in scoring defense (16.67)
Wow, that is an enormous difference when it comes to stats. The Lions' defense gives up a good number of yards, as you can see, but teams just don't score a lot of points.
This is the primary reason: Penn State ranks 6th in the country in red zone defense, with opponents scoring on only 22 of 34 trips (10 TDs, 12 FGs).
The defense has been spectacular in the red zone, getting stops and turnovers, and also has gotten a little lucky with sloppy play by the opponent. An example of that came Saturday night when Maryland had first-and-goal at the 6 in the third quarter but had a high snap that was fumbled by QB Taulia Tagovailoa and recovered by Ji'Ayir Brown.
The defense played well in the biggest wins over Wisconsin and Auburn, and also at Ohio State. The explosive Buckeyes scored 33 points, but 10 of those came on turnovers by the Penn State offense.
Yes, the defense did give up the winning TD pass at Iowa, but you can chalk that up to the terrible offensive performance after Sean Clfford got injured and the offense doing nothing to keep giving the Hawkeyes good field position. Also, Illinois rushed for a whopping 357 yards against the Lions, but the defense allowed only 10 points in regulation, which should always be plenty enough to win.
Pry deserves a ton of credit for the defensive success, and I haven't even mentioned the craziest part yet.
Two of the leading candidates for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year are Penn State products -- Micah Parsons and Odafe Oweh -- and Pry had to find a way to replace those stars on this year's defense. Then Pry was dealt another blow when end Adisa Isaac was lost for the season, then a massive blow when standout tackle PJ Mustipher was lost for the season.
And yet, the defense continues to play at an extremely high level.
PENN STATE ATHLETICS
Brent Pry and Derrick Tangelo speak with each other following Penn State's win against Maryland, College Park, Md.
Pry deserves a ton of respect for that.
One HUGE question that's lingering is what will happen to Pry next season.
If Franklin is back at Penn State, you'd think Pry would be back, as well. But his name has come up for head coaching openings in the past, and that very well could be the case again somewhere this offseason.
Pry has had chances to become a head coach before but has remained with Franklin. Pry is now making so much money as a coordinator -- believed to be more than $1.5 million a year -- that he probably would have to take a pay cut if he were to take some mid-major jobs.
If Franklin goes to USC or LSU, would Pry go with him? Or would that be the time that Pry would finally go out on his own and become a head coach?
There's also this: If Franklin does leave, would Pry be a candidate to take over as Penn State's head coach?
The easy answer is no. He's never been a head coach, and there will be some outstanding candidates out there who have accomplished a lot themselves as head coaches.
If Pry would have left Penn State at some point the past few years to run his own program, there's a good chance he would be a better candidate to replace Franklin should he depart. But with no head coaching experience, Pry just wouldn't make a lot of sense for the Penn State job.
The thing about it, though, is that Pry is a better football coach than Franklin. If that sounds like a slight toward Franklin, well, it's really not.
Franklin's biggest strength is that he's a tremendous CEO, and that's what is needed at major programs nowadays. CEO coaches like Franklin need excellent Xs and Os assistant coaches like Pry in order to make everything work, and that's why Pry has always been so valuable to Franklin.
This season has been a great example of that value.
