Penn State's Offensive Line Intends to 'Put on a Show' This Spring

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State offensive line coach Ryan Clanton stood across from his linemen during drills Thursday when 331-pound tackle Malachi Goodman hit him with a punch he won’t soon forget.

“I like to play defense so that you can feel the contact and see the communication piece of it,” Clanton said, rubbing his chest. “But that didn’t feel good. … He put his hands through my heart.”

Penn State’s offensive line is entirely different heading into 2026, losing four starters and bringing in seven transfers, including four from Iowa State. Clanton coached there last year and brought his “Dogs” ethos from Ames to State College.

Penn State is two practices into spring ball, and Clanton is beginning to see the “temperament” required of his linemen to be considered a “dog.” Like that punch. (“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” Goodman said)

“If you don’t have it,” Clanton said, “you’d better find it.”

Penn State OL coach Ryan Clanton is a blast.

Here he describes the difference between being a “human shield” and a “hammer” and what it felt like to get punched in the chest by OT Malachi Goodman. pic.twitter.com/cgPnLFAax3
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) March 26, 2026

Clanton is unapologetically himself. He didn’t start playing football until he was a junior in high school and went unrecruited to college. Clanton lived in a garage for two years while attending junior college in California, where he developed his “dog” mentality. On Thursday, Clanton said he wants linemen to be hammers instead of "human shields."

“A big part of it is confidence, and it’s our job to get those guys confident, to have that mentality, but you have to be violent,” Clanton said. “You’ve got to want to be violent. You’ve got to want to run through somebody’s face.”

Clanton didn’t wear a Penn State logo jersey at practice Thursday. Instead, he wore a tank top with a dog on it and his sleeves of tattoos on display.

“I don’t ever try to cover up and hide who I am,” said Clanton, who didn’t rule out getting a dog tattoo down the road.

'Ready to make big strides'

🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/7ZjyUQSC5p
— Ryan Clanton (@RyanClanton) December 30, 2025

Of Penn State’s returning linemen, Anthony Donkoh is the only one with starting experience in a Penn State uniform. However, Donkoh is rehabbing from an offseason procedure and won’t practice this spring.

Yet through meetings and winter workouts, the group has come together, is already out of the “assignment phase” and is working on the mechanics of their positions.

“Getting everybody aligned toward one goal,” guard Cooper Cousins said. “I think we have a really good group of guys, I think we’re ready to make big strides and big steps, and we’re ready to go out there and put on a good show.”

Cousins, a junior who played limited reps last season because of injuries and strong depth at the position, is now one of the strongest voices in the room. As the position blended returners, Iowa State players and additional transfers, Cousins has been teaching what it means to play Penn State football.

“He brings the juice, he’s got a lot of confidence and he’s willing to stay after for hours and help young guys,” Clanton said of Cousins. “He’s a great leader because he leads by example and he's vocal at the same time and he’s confident.”

What Penn State's starting line might look like

Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Cooper Cousins greets fans outside Beaver Stadium before the Blue-White Game. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Through all the rotations, one lead group consistently lined up together at practice Thursday: Goodman at left tackle, Iowa State transfer Tervor Buhr at left guard, Texas State transfer Brock Riker at center, Cousins at right guard and Garrett Sexton at right tackle, moving up in Donkoh’s absence.

While Donkoh played primarily right guard last season, he will return to his natural, and preferred, position at tackle this season.

“If I was an NFL coach, I would draft [Donkoh] as a tackle,” Clanton said. “He’s got super long legs, long arms. I don’t think he’s a guard personally, I think he’s a tackle. He’s extremely strong, he’s quick, he’s athletic and he never really loses leverage.”

Riker took most of the snaps at center, and Clanton has focused on teaching the position as he builds Riker’s confidence in the role.

“I feel like a lot of offensive line coaches, they kind of just roll the ball out there and they’re like, ‘Here you go snap, you’re a center now,’” Clanton said. “But there’s a lot of intricacies of playing center, and he’s picked up on that really well.

Penn State coach Matt Campbell made it clear that starting positions won’t be determined until fall camp, but the offensive line battle is something he’s excited about because of the talent level. Campbell said 10 linemen could compete for starting jobs.

“I’m excited because to me, there’s great competition, there’s bodies and there are [players] that certainly have the ability to play high-end football,” Campbell said. “Those guys are going to have to earn it. Those guys are going to have to win those jobs.”

Understanding the system

Two down ✅ pic.twitter.com/RReLkccs6U
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) March 26, 2026

During a portion of Thursday’s practice, Campbell acted as quarterback with the linemen in front of him. Once Campbell threw the ball to an equipment manager on his left or right, the linemen charged through the play.

In the early stages of spring practice, Clanton wants to break the “bad habits” as he teaches the why behind each play.

“I think once you have a greater understanding of why you’re running certain plays, you play faster rather than just memorizing your job responsibility, which is what most linemen do,” Clanton said.

Penn State rotated through several combinations through each drill, and it’s not just to see where each player might fit in best. Clanton wants players to be well-rounded and unrestricted.

“We tried to flip both sides today with multiple people playing center,” Clanton said. “If you play the opposite side, you can’t memorize your job and responsibility; you have to fully understand the system. … Also, if you play on one side for too long, one leg gets dominant, so switching your stance helps develop the other leg.”

The linemen have bought into Clanton’s philosophy, and nobody is “shying away from contact.” When the time comes to block in practice, Clanton tells players that “we want you to make a business decision.” In fact, he said it’s a business decision to hold the blocking bag for Buhr, a 321-pound guard.

“It’s going to be a real live rep, there’s gonna be a finish to it,” Clanton said, still thinking about Goodman’s hit. “All those guys, like honestly, Cousins is a dog. That’s a guy you don’t want to stand in front of. They all have that mentality, so it’s pretty fun to see.”

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