ALTOONA, Pa. -- Phil Trautwein is having a moment. A lot of moments, actually, over the past week and a half. Penn State's offensive line coach has been on fire on the recruiting trail, making the following tweet from one of the team's recruiting assistants appropriate:
My man @CoachTrautFB lately๐๐ #WeAre pic.twitter.com/xREZuHoQOi
โ Chris Mahon (Slim) (@chrismahon_) February 7, 2022
The Nittany Lions landed a big addition from the transfer portal Monday with the commitment of Cornell lineman Hunter Nourzad. That's a really good get for Penn State, and continues the recent run of good gets for Trautwein as he tries to rebuild the unit that was the team's biggest problem last season.
Here's a look at what Trautwein has done since late January:
Jan. 28: 3-star OT Anthony Donkoh committed
Jan. 29: OT Cooper Cousins committed (class of 2024)
Feb. 2: 3-star OL Vega Ioane committed and signed (class of 2022)
Feb. 5: 4-star OT Jven Williams committed
Feb. 7: OL Hunter Nourzad committed from transfer portal
With four commits for the class of 2023, Trautwein is ranked as the No. 7 recruiter in the nation by 247Sports. And by the way, Penn State running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider is the No. 2 recruiter in the nation for 2023.
The transfer news Monday regarding Nourzad is big for Penn State, as he could be in line to step in and start right away this fall. The 6-foot-4, 298-pounder was first-team all-Ivy League last season and was named a second-team All-American by the AFCA.
Thank you to everyone who recruited me during this process! I've decided to commit to @PennStateFball to continue my football career! #WeAre @CoachTrautFB @coachjfranklin pic.twitter.com/Ft0deaYixa
โ Hunter Nourzad ๐ฎ๐ท (@NourzadHunter) February 7, 2022
Trautwein also is the lead recruiter for 2023 5-star OL Alex Birchmeier, and was lead recruiter for last year's big line addition, 4-star Landon Tengwall.
Clearly, Trautwein knows what he's doing in recruiting and is a very valuable member of the coaching staff for that reason alone.
All of which makes Trautwein an interesting figure in the Penn State program.
The offensive line was terrible in 2021, leading to the second-worst rushing attack in Penn State history (dating back to 1950). The line wasn't great in 2020, either, but did improve as the season went on.
Trautwein was heavily criticized by fans during the 2021 season, and many wondered if he would keep his job. The tangible results on the field just weren't there, as we could see week in and week out that the offensive line not only didn't improve, several guys seemed to regress as the season went along.
How much of that was Trautwein's fault? Should he have been the main one to blame, and should his job actually have been in jeopardy?
Well, James Franklin clearly didn't think so, as he retained Trautwein, who will be in his third season with the program in 2022.
There's surely no doubt that Trautwein's recruiting prowess helped him with regards to keeping his job with the Lions. Any assistant coach who consistently brings in great talent can be a great asset to a staff.
What we don't know about the line's struggles last year is this: How much of it was a direct result of the new offensive system installed by Mike Yurcich?
As I wrote several times last season, Penn State seemed to play a finesse offense designed heavily around pass blocking and not exploding off the ball in run blocking. That's just a general observation, though, and certainly the problems were much more complicated than that.
The bottom line is that Penn State did not have a single 100-yard rusher all season and averaged only 108 yards rushing per game. That's absolutely awful.
But Franklin decided to stay the course with Trautwein, and we'll see how things change from coaching and schematic standpoints this fall.
There's no denying, though, that Trautwein is crushing it with regards to recruiting. And as long as Penn State is getting good recruits, there will always be hope that things can improve dramatically on the O-line in the coming years.
