UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- There's so, so much more to playing running back in college than just taking a handoff and letting the natural abilities take over for electrifying runs.
The transition from high school to college may not seem like a big deal to many fans, but it absolutely is a very big deal.
"Everybody says, well, the running back position is an easy position to play and coach. I call that BS," Penn State running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider said.
"Those kids have to learn every protection, they've got to know every run scheme, they've got to run routes. I'm an ex-quarterback, player and coach, and I get to see how much stuff that goes through those kids' minds. Don't tell me it's easy. Don't downgrade that position. There's a lot on those kids' plate."
Penn State brought in the nation's No. 1 running back prospect in Nick Singleton, and obviously there are tremendously high expectations for the youngster from Governor Mifflin High School.
Singleton arrived in January, went through spring ball and has been working and learning this summer. Where is he at from a development standpoint wiht the season a little more than two months away?
"He's still processing it, which is what they all should be (doing)," Seider said of the running back group. "Because nobody's got it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out as a coach."
Seider is an excellent running backs coach and elite recruiter -- he's ranked the No. 6 recruiter in the nation right now by 247Sports -- so he knows plenty about what separates high school football from college football.
Seider said he agrees that some high school running backs can succeed just based on their talent.
"But that's high school, this is college," he quickly added. "You don't get away with that. I think that's been the biggest learning curve from (Singleton). And he knows what he has to learn. That's why getting him in January was huge for him. The vernacular of what we do on offense, how much we carry is a lot different.
"Everybody looks at Nick's offense (in high school), there was a lot of toss sweeps in his offense. Well, in this offense, you don't see a lot of toss sweeps. You're gonna see inside, outside, some gap schemes, some sweeps, some routes, some protections, some exotic looks that you've got to know who's the tip hand to tell you where the protection comes from."
So, for any running back, there's a tremendous amount of studying that has to go into being ready to play. Because it's not about just stepping onto the field and getting a handoff. It's about protecting the quarterback, picking up a blitz, perhaps having to run a quick route or any number of other responsibilities.
"Their summer studies, I make them watch every cutup that they had -- run, pass -- and I want them to grade themselves," Seider said. "Even though I already graded it, but I think it teaches those kids how to watch film, it teaches what they did right, but it also teaches them what they did wrong. And I think that's gonna be a great learning tool.
"Then a player-led meeting, they can go in there and watch inside zone and they can all be saying the same thing correctly, or if there's one person off, they can get that guy to see it the way it's supposed to be seen. And then I pick it back up in the fall."
Everybody knows Penn State's running game really struggled last year. Most of the blame falls on the offensive line for poor blocking, but it's not like the backs made a lot of tacklers miss to pick up extra yardage.
Noah Cain, in particular, looked a lot slower than he did in 2020 when he burst onto the scene as a freshman. Cain has since transferred to LSU.
The Nittany Lions have Keyvone Lee, Devyn Ford and Caziah Holmes back, as well as the prized recruit Singleton and another outstanding prospect in Kaytron Allen, the No. 12 high school running back recruit in the nation.
Lee and Holmes were pressed into action as freshmen in 2020 after Journey Brown's retirement and first-series injury to Cain. It was far from an ideal situation, for the players or the program, and Seider pointed out the difference between then and now: Ford is going into his fourth year in the program, Lee and Holmes their third, and there are the two promising freshmen.
"We've got a good mixture," Seider said, "and now you've got a good balance in the room where you're not layered young, young, young and you miss that layer of older guys.
"You'd really like to have a senior, a junior, maybe a couple sophomores and a freshman to balance your room. Unfortunately for us, we had to grow up fast. Nobody talks about how well we did a good job of getting freshmen ready to play (in 2020). It's always like, what about this, what about who's the next Saquon Barkley? We were getting freshmen ready to play and not complain, not cry about it. Just get these guys ready to play. During COVID, get two young guys ready to play. Kudos to those kids coming in with the mentality to be able to play."
Fast forward a couple of years, and add in Singleton and Allen, and there is reason to believe the running game can take a big step forward this season.
That, of course, heavily dependent on the offensive line.
But as for the group of running backs, there are a lot of potential positives.
"They're taking it all in, and I think you're going to be real surprised how they play this year," Seider said.
