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By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
UNIVERSITY PARK -- James Franklin said Tuesday the leadership on the 2022 Penn State football team was "as good as we've had in my 12 years as a head coach."
That intangible helped fuel the Nittany Lions' 11-2 record and No. 7 ranking in the final Associated Press poll.
So replacing the likes of Sean Clifford, Ji'Ayir Brown, PJ Mustipher and Juice Scruggs is the Nittany Lions' first priority as 2023 winter workouts now begin.
"One of the biggest focuses of the offseason is identifying leadership and working really hard to resolve it," Franklin said. "Those guys did a phenomenal job (last year)."
Franklin said he's seeking "strong voices to be aligned between players and the coaching staff," called that a "major point of emphasis" and concluded "we have a ton of work to do."
Team leadership often starts at the quarterback position, and although many wanted to see rising sophomore Drew Allar more often last season, the Ohio product is now thrust into the projected starting role.
"There is a clean slate across the board, but someone has to go out there first," Franklin said. "Based on how last year ended, that's Drew."
He emphasized, however, that both Allar and anticipated backup Beau Pribula, who came in last year from York and redshirted, are being counted upon to be more vocal.
"We need both not only competing but also taking on a significant leadership role," he said. "No one cares that they're young. They're in that position and a big part of that position is leadership. Sean did a great job with that. We don't want them to go from 0 to 100, but we want them to start working into that role. Have a plan and be intentional with it, and Drew and Beau are ready for that."
With Clifford, who spent six seasons at Penn State (and started four), the Lions had one of the older quarterback positions in the country. Now, with a sophomore, redshirt freshman (Pribula) and true freshman (Iowa native Jaxon Smolik), they're one of the youngest.
Like Allar and Pribula, Smolik arrived in January.
Franklin did not close the door Tuesday to adding a seasoned QB from the transfer portal to provide insurance.
"In a perfect world, I would love to have more experience and age in that room," he said. "But at the end of the day, it's about talent, and I think they're talented. The challenge of the transfer portal, you can do it, and there are options we can look at and are still open to. But I wouldn't say based on how that room looks that maybe it's attractive to quarterbacks out there they would want to bring in. We'll see how that plays out. You never know. We're open at every position to bring guys in."
Allar appeared in 10 games last season and completed 35 of 60 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for a score.
"Last year I was learning more on the fly," Allar said. "Now I know what to expect going into each workout."
Leadership is his priority.
"Sean was the unquestioned leader last year," Allar said. "I'm just trying to become more of a vocal leader for the team. That's something coach Franklin and coach (Mike) Yurcich have stressed. Having to fill Sean's void will be a huge challenge for everybody. To be a great team, we need to be a player-led team, and I think we're all working to develop our leadership. Earning the respect of your teammates and coaching staff is the biggest thing about being a leader. You can't talk the talk and then not back it up."
Pribula ran the scout team last year, and although he likely will be getting more practice snaps this spring, he's not looking beyond tomorrow.
"You just take it day by day and earn the respect of your teammates and your coaches, and that's what I've tried to do," he said. "The physical part is natural. High school to college is a lot different mentally. As the starter or the fourth string, I always prepare as if I am the starter. I'm not focusing on the season or the depth chart right now. I'm just focused on preparing myself."
Pribula said he and Allar are close friends.
"Our relationship is really good," he said. "We both enrolled early. We connected right away. We're really good friends, and help each other out a lot and compete against each other."