ALTOONA, Pa. -- The older, veteran quarterback in Sean Clifford is gone, and now it's up to the young guys to take over as the leaders of Penn State's offense.
That can be easier said than done for a young player stepping into the role for the first time in a college program. Because not only does the young quarterback need to play well himself and build his own confidence, he also has to convince everyone around him that he can handle the job before he truly can emerge as a leader.
So far this spring, Penn State's pair of second-year quarterbacks, Drew Allar and Beau Pribula, have been right on schedule from a leadership standpoint.
"Drew and Beau have been really impressive so far, you can tell they've worked at it," James Franklin told reporters after practice Tuesday night in University Park.
The coach also noted true freshman Jaxon Smolik has done "some really good things" and noted that, "we'll be pleased with him by the time training camp comes."
Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich also was asked how a young quarterback goes about establishing himself as a leader. His lengthy answer provided a lot of insight into what takes place with a young player on a team.
"Everybody needs to see confidence in the quarterback, and the confidence grows and it's contagious," Yurcich said. "So that's really important. Leading by example is very important. And I think all those quarterbacks, especially Drew, and Beau, have done a really good job of leading by example.
"You see signs of them being more vocal at the same time, and that'll come with more trust and more production. The more they produce, I think the more you'll see them become even more vocal, which is needed at times.
"But for right now, they're just trying to do their job and do it to the best of their ability and really lead by example, and that's all they need to do. But the vocal leader and when the lights are on, I think both of those guys, it comes really natural to them. They want that. And it's great to have that. And I think that's what we saw when we were recruiting them. It's not just about arm talent and the ability to see the field and be a very productive high school player. It's also getting around their coaches and asking questions and being able to evaluate that part of it.
"So, they're on schedule," Yurcich concluded, "and really pleased with their development thus far in that regard."
KLS LOOKING TO BE 'THE GUY'
Penn State needs to establish the No. 1 wide receiver between now and the fall, and KeAndre Lambert-Smith has the best shot at that among players currently on the team.
The Lions are expecting to get transfer Dante Cephas from Kent State, but he's not on campus this spring. So, this is the time for KLS to emerge as the primary weapon.
"He's been really good so far this spring," Franklin said. "We need him to be the guy, like a true No. 1, not just at Penn State, but really in the conference and a guy that people are talking about nationally."
Franklin also mentioned Harrison Wallace III "has had a really nice spring camp so far."
The Lions need to figure out who the third guy is going to be at receiver, the coach noted.
"That's probably one of the big question marks between now and the first game is who's gonna be that third guy who's gonna separate," Franklin said. "There's a number of guys that I think are battling for it, but who's gonna separate himself from the pack and be a true No. 3, or are we gonna rotate that position all year long. We'll see."
Of course, once Cephas arrives, he will be expected to battle for the No. 1 spot, which would mean KLS and Wallace would round out the top three. Penn State also got transfer Malik McClain from Florida State.
STORM'S A COMING
The Lions picked up a very good transfer cornerback in Storm Duck from North Carolina, and he's been impressive since arriving on campus, including in spring ball.
"Storm is a guy that's got tremendous maturity," Franklin said. "He knows how to practice. He made a play today where we threw the ball in the flat in cloud coverage, and he came up and supported and really could have took a shot. But (he) knows how to practice where he showed everybody on the field that he would have made the tackle and it would have been a big hit, but he didn't take the unnecessary big hit on his teammate.
"He's really earned everybody's respect by kind of how he's gone about his business right away."
BARNES' NEW ROLE
Franklin has mentioned a couple of times that new defensive line coach Deion Barnes will have an adjustment getting used to his role of being the position coach, as opposed to a graduate assistant. This is Barnes' first job as a full-time college assistant.
"When you get hired, like, the day before spring ball starts, there's not a whole lot of adjustment, just kind of jumping right into it," Franklin said. "But you got to remember, he's been here for three years with us, he played for me, so culturally, he understands kind of what we do, how we operate.
"But there's a difference between being a complementary guy in the your room, to it being your room. ... Like, even Deion thinks he's gonna be the same Deion. He's not going to be the same Deion. It's a different role, different responsibility. There's different pressure associated with it.
"But he's been good. As you guys know, I usually get in early. He usually comes in early into my office and we have a discussion about feedback from the day before. He's asking a ton of questions to the veteran coaches that we have on the staff."
ANALYZE THAT
Franklin was asked if he's happy with the number of analysts the program currently has, and he said they have some open positions that still could be filled after losing some people who had been in those roles.
"We could add a few more," he said. "There are some guys that we're in conversations with, guys that we're going to invite up to spring ball, some guys that we're waiting to see if they were going to get picked up and higher in the NFL or so on so forth."
