Brent Pry Discusses the Successes and Struggles of Penn State's 2020 Defense

Brent Pry pointed to his graying beard and recent weight loss (he's down 20 pounds) as barometers of Penn State's season.

"That's what 0-5 will do to you, man," he said.

Pry, in his fifth season as Penn State's defensive coordinator, has labored through a trying season, one in which the team allowed 30+ points (not all defensively) in each of the first five games. Penn State's six-game string, dating to last season, of watching opponents score 30+ points set a school record.

But the Lions also fielded nine first- or second-year players on the defensive two-deep, started an entirely new set of linebackers and had just three scholarship cornerbacks available for the Michigan game.

So yes, this has been a frustrating year, one that Pry, who also coaches linebackers, said could have used better tackling technique and fewer players trying to freelance. But he also saw the group turn a corner the past two weeks, particularly in a 23-7 win over Rutgers, which Pry described as, "the first game where I felt like we looked like ourselves."

During his first media session since the preseason, Pry touched on a number of subjects, from missing Micah Parsons to tackling issues (Big Ten Network's Matt Millen called this the worst-tackling Penn State team he has seen) to who might consider using the NCAA's eligibility waiver to return in 2021.

Here's a Q&A from that session.

Question: Has the criticism of the defense's tackling been fair, and where have you seen strides recently?

Pry: The criticism starts with me. That was some pretty shoddy tackling going on. Loose is the best word. There was just too much space, and [we're] not getting in good position to make the tackle. And when we did, we didn’t wrap. It was a combination of things. We’ve identified problems with tackling in the past and, in this case, I think it was a mixed bag of issues.

... I think we all know that, over the last couple years because of the concussion protocols, you don’t hit or tackle nearly like you used to in practice. At the high school level and in college, tackling’s a lost art. I don’t think we were very good at it to start the year, and I look across college football, I don’t think anybody’s good at it, if you want to know the truth. You practice it the best you can, you got a thousand reps of tag-off and thud where you’ve got to get these guys into position and feel like they’re making a tackle. Obviously, it’s something we practice all the time. I’ve been most disappointed in my position. It's the linebackers [who have been] a little bit of an issue. We’ve tackled well in the box, but we haven’t tackled well in space at my spot. Not well enough.

Question: How much has Micah Parsons' absence affected the defense, and how would you assess the linebackers?

Pry: Obviously, Micah’s presence was missed. He’s somewhat of an eraser. When somebody is out of the gap or not in the right place, a guy like Micah can go track him down. What would be a 12- or 14-yard gain becomes a 5- or 6-yard gain with Micah on the field. So we miss that a little bit, but I think the guys have been improving. I’ve been pretty pleased with our stuff in the box. I think the guys on all the interior runs, I’ve been pleased. We’re just not making plays out in space that we’ve made in the past. … Particularly there’s been some missed-tackle opportunities in the boundary that we expect to make. We’re still a work in progress a little bit at my position. I’ve been very pleased with the development of Brandon Smith. He’s meriting more and more snaps and playing time. … Jesse [Luketa] and Ellis [Brooks] have done a nice job inside. Just got to get a little bit better.

Question: What are the challenges and opportunities of playing so many freshmen and true freshmen?

Pry: I probably jumped the gun a little bit. Without spring, without a normal preseason camp and without those preseason games, it was challenging. Because even though we had some veterans, Jesse and Ellis and [defensive end Jayson] Oweh and [safety Jaquan] Brisker and [cornerback Joey Porter Jr.], these guys hadn’t started before. We had a bunch of guys who were first-year starters that didn’t get a spring and didn’t get a full camp and didn’t get to go out there and have a couple games before we got into Big Ten play. And I think that’s kinda what we felt.

And then, when a little adversity hit, how they tried to handle it. We just had guys out of gaps and trying to make plays outside the framework, and it doesn’t work that way. You can’t play good defense that way. That’s a challenge, and you couple that with some freshmen that are getting substantial playing time, ... it’s their first year playing substantial reps. Brisker goes from being a sub-package guy last year to starting at a different position. But without all that spring and all that extended camp and the preseason, it just makes it harder. It was more challenging than I anticipated. But I’m excited about the youth of our program. All the guys are.

Question: Is Brisker a player you hope will take advantage of the extra year of eligibility?

Pry: I think Brisker, these last few weeks, he looks like the guy I hoped he’d be. Last weekend at Rutgers, [he was] running the alley, sure-tackling and confident and fast. That’s who I think he is. Again, he’s playing a new position, playing in the boundary. The boundary safety and the Will linebacker have the most adjustments of any position on the defense. From being a spot guy out to the field as a strong safety in nickel last year to toting the boat and pulling the rope 100 percent at free safety, it was an adjustment, and I think he went through some growing pains early in the year. I think he’s starting to feel more comfortable.

... There’s a lot of guys. We talk about Brisker potentially coming back. Guys like [cornerback Tariq] Castro-Fields, guys who didn’t have the season they wanted or hoped and are excited about what the future could hold. I think that’s where this thing is. That goes across the board for everybody, from Oweh to Castro-Fields to Brisker to any one of them. I think the conversation is on the table with everybody. It’s uncharted waters for all of us.

Question: How much better did you play at Rutgers?

Pry: That was the first game where I felt like we looked like ourselves. We were gang-tackling, we were running by people to get to the ball, we were reckless. We weren’t perfect. We still made mistakes in that game, but I thought we looked a lot more like ourselves. And we had a lot of respect for that tailback [Isaih Pacheco], so it was a big emphasis all week that we had to gang tackle. One of the things we talked about was, we had a lot of guys as the second and third man trying to strip and punch [the ball during the] offseason instead of coming in and putting pads on the guy and finishing and getting knockbacks. So it was a big approach going into the game. We needed to get back to gang tackling and pushing the pile, and guys responded.

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