Penn State football coordinators talk late starts, explosive plays and more during the bye week

Penn State’s fast start this season hasn’t been matched with a fast start on the field each week.

The Nittany Lions may be 6-0, but they way they’ve gotten there is littered with tenuous leads early in games. More than once, it’s seemed like they could be the victim of one of the upsets that have been frequent this college football season.

Those slow starts have been a point of emphasis for head coach James Franklin, and that has trickled down to the coordinators on both sides of the ball.

The defense in particular has struggled early in games, giving up long drives and allowing inferior opponents to hang around longer than they should. That’s something defensive coordinator Tom Allen has spent some time trying to rectify during the bye week.

“(It’s) a definite focal point for us,” Allen said Wednesday during a media availability. “We’re looking at all possible things from calls to patterns that we start the game with. ... We even looked at it from a sports science perspective. ... There is definitely a feeling-out period of a game. I think early in the season, especially, when you’re relying a lot on previous years’ video.”

Allen’s side of the ball has been the bigger issue, but there have been times when offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s group has stalled out. The USC game is just one example of something going wrong — in this case, a penalty called at the goal line — that derailed an early series for the team.

However, Kotelnicki is not one to overreact to something happening during the game. The coordinator made a point to say he’s never lost faith in one of his game plans during a game.

“I’ve never felt out of control,” he said. “I’ve never felt ‘oh man this plan sucks’ after the first drive. ... As coaches we just want to see perfection. That’s what we want. Even when you win big games, we have a tendency focus on all the things that we can still do to play better.”

Allen’s move to the booth

Both coordinators are making those adjustments from the coaches’ booth during the game. While that was the status quo for Kotelnicki, it is a new experience for Allen. The defensive coordinator spent seven seasons as Indiana’s head coach before coming to Penn State, experiencing all of the highs and lows of being on the field in the middle of a matchup.

That has been one of the most difficult aspects for him, after making the move up to the booth following the Bowling Green game.

“I hadn’t been up there for a long time,” Allen said. “I didn’t like the emotional detachment from the game that you kind of feel when you’re in the box. I’m a hands-on, emotional, passionate guy.”

The change has allowed defensive analyst Dan Connor — who spent his fair share of games wreaking havoc as a member of the PSU defense from 2004 to 2007 — to be the voice the defense hears on the field. He’s the one who gets the play to the linebacker on the field, usually Kobe King.

“Dan can do that,” Allen said. “He’s in a position, he’s on the sideline, he can see things and he can give him a couple nuggets of thoughts even beyond just the call.”

And despite the detachment from the emotion of the game, Allen said he now sees the upside in making the move after being initially unsure.

“I think it’s helped us, I really do,” Allen said. “And I feel more comfortable up there. I think it took a little bit of time to get used to it. But we have great communication with our coaches, they do a great job of communicating things to our players. I think it’s definitely what we’re gonna stay with moving forward.”

Building offensive explosion

Penn State’s offense has made strides from last season, and has taken steps forward with its explosiveness, one of the key missing pieces of the 2023 group. There are a number of reasons why the team is better there this year, but all of it — one way or another — ties back to Kotelnicki.

Drew Allar’s willingness to test the back end of the defense, Omari Evans’ playing time, Nick Singleton getting into space and Tyler Warren’s usage are all connected to what Kotelnicki has done.

The latter three are all fairly straightforward. The coordinator is playing Evans more, and designing plays to properly utilize Singleton and Warren — the team’s best weapons. But Allar’s confidence might be just as important as any aspect of the offense’s explosiveness. And that stems from what Kotelnicki and quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien have been able to do for Allar.

“Danny’s done a really good job of spending time and building trust and having kind of a demeanor on the sideline that I think has been really good for him,” Franklin said. “And then Andy is doing a really good job of playing to Drew strengths as well as playing to our personnel strengths.”

For his part, the coordinator was quick to give the credit to Allar for taking the necessary steps to becoming a better quarterback.

“I’ve just been super pleased with his development and growth,” Kotelnicki said. “And I think fundamentally, it all just goes down to him wanting to get better, right? He wasn’t sitting and sulking when we did throw an interception. He was evaluating what he’s going to do next time that situation comes up.”

The impact of Tyler Warren

Warren’s usage under Kotelnicki has sparked conversations about him being the best tight end in the country. His production level is the biggest reason for that, but it also doesn’t hurt that the tight end is running the ball, throwing passes and occasionally snapping it too.

He’s been used all over the field by Kotelnicki and has been as important as any player on the offense.

His versatility is possible because he’s already a great athlete — Kotelnicki recalled seeing Warren’s high school basketball highlights and being impressed — and because he’s been able to handle all aspects that come with his position.

“He just does everything right,” Kotelnicki said. “He’s a ‘tell you once’ guy. You tell him one thing, one time, he’s gonna remember it. He’s a great student, he’s in class, he does all that stuff right. So the fact that he’s that kind of person, and the fact that he has that athletic background makes it very feasible to do those kind of things. And fun, to be honest with you. It’s a fun little football player to use a lot of different ways.”

It’s not just the offensive coordinator who has taken a liking to Warren, either. Allen was complimentary of the tight end and said he sought him out when he first arrived at Penn State.

“He was one of the first guys I (went to),” Allen said. “I thought from playing against him a year ago, that he and Theo (Johnson) were the two best tight ends in America. I thought those two dudes were really special. ... And he’s even taken his game to another level.”