3-2-1: Big Changes Coming to NCAA, Getting to Know John Scott Jr., and More

Penn State offered up interviews with senior defensive end Shane Simmons and senior cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields this week, and movement and trends continue to take shape on the national college football landscape as the 2020 season gets closer.

Let's go back to the 3-2-1 to tackle the week that was:

1 - Tariq Castro-Fields is healthy

As far as news of the week goes, this one tops the list for Penn State’s immediate personnel concerns heading into the 2020 season.

As we mentioned earlier in the week, Castro-Fields was revealed by corners coach Terry Smith to have been playing hurt through the latter part of last season.

“His season last year was almost like two different seasons. The first half of the season, he came out the gate looking like a first-round draft pick. He played very well and then he suffered an injury. And from that injury on, he was a different player,” Smith said. “He wasn't as confident, he wasn't as sure of himself because of the injury. Not to make an excuse, he knows and recognizes it and we've talked about it. It's one of our off-season plans and goals for himself is to make sure that he can be more consistent throughout the season.”

Well, those concerns are no more, according to Castro-Fields himself.

Joining reporters Wednesday for a Zoom web conference, the rising senior described the challenges of playing through the unspecified injury through the latter half of the 2019 season and, more important, revealed his health status currently and moving forward.

“Of course it was a frustrating process. But the coaches had a plan for me and I just tried to do the best I could. Whatever they asked me to do, whatever my role was for the team, I wanted to do it to the best of my ability. So it was kind of frustrating, but coach Smith kind of preaches you gotta do what you can control, so that was kind of my main focus,” Castro-Fields said. “I'm fully healthy and I'm ready to go.”

That development is no doubt important for the Nittany Lions’ pass defense in the year ahead.

Coming off a 2019 campaign in which Penn State’s pass defense finished 100th nationally in passing yards allowed per game, the Nittany Lions are determined to see improvement in limiting explosive plays in the passing game, in particular. And in those plans, Castro-Smith is the main cog.

“Along with that comes a great responsibility of covering the best receiver of the opponent and performing at a high-level, making the play when you need to make the play. And our other goal for him is, he's a good cover corner, but now it's time to not just be a good cover corner, go make plays as a cover corner,” Smith said. “Get the ball back, make interceptions, force fumbles. Make big, game-changing plays where it impacts the game and gets the ball back to our offense so those guys can go down and score touchdowns.

“We're looking forward to Tariq having a great off-season. Tariq, not to put pressure on him, needs to have a great year for us. We need a lockdown corner that can handle the best receiver of whoever our opponent is. We expect Tariq to be that guy.”

In reflection on the 2019 season, Castro-Fields noted one element for which he’s made a considerable effort to try to improve for the year ahead.

“Probably just later on in the year, just focus on my fundamentals more. Switching from off the press. I'm doing a lot of things that can help me maintain the fundamentals,” he said. “I think that's the main thing I've gained from last year.”

2 - Getting to know John Scott Jr.

John Scott Jr. is not Sean Spencer.

The former Penn State assistant coach with the outsize personality and the record of success to match through his six seasons leading the Nittany Lions' defensive line is now with the New York Giants in the NFL. And many of his players, for whom many shared a tight bond, have maintained that connection even through the distance.

That hasn't prevented them from getting to know and like Scott, though.

“I really like him. We all get along,” Simmons told reporters this week. “We haven't spent that much time in person because we did winter workouts and that's about it.

“But he knows the game really well. He's smart. He's a real technical coach, too. He's not like Spence with the rah-rah stuff. He's not off the wall. But I think we will have a really good season for him.”

That dramatic change in personality types does not necessarily mean the same is true of the techniques Scott is bringing into the room now, though.

In fact, according to defensive coordinator Brent Pry, that level of familiarity and cohesion in messaging has helped to provide a sort of seamless transition from Spencer’s brand of football over to Scott and the one the Nittany Lions will employ in the years ahead.

“This is (our) fourth stop together,” Pry said of Scott, recounting their prior relationship as coach/player, coach/GA, and coach/assistant at Georgia Southern. “So his techniques and what he's doing, I would say it's about 85 to 90 percent what we're doing. I'm excited about the other 10 to 15 percent he's bringing to the table that he's picked up along the way. He's been around some great coaches.

“But it was an easier transition than normal hiring John. He's like-minded in what Coach Spencer and I believe with the front. And having worked with him previously, he understands expectations for the defensive line. He knows what my expectations are. So it's been a smoother transition, and we're fortunate that way.”

For experienced players like P.J. Mustipher who have learned under Spencer for multiple seasons, then, Scott’s addition to the staff stands as a complement to prior learning more than anything else.

“Change is always a good thing. We've had a voice for such a long period of time and bringing in another voice and having somebody at the front of the room that's different is a good thing for us because we can take what Coach Spence taught us and we can take now what Coach Scott is teaching us and we can use both of what they're teaching us on the field,” Mustipher said. “The transition is just going to be that much better because we have two guys who really know football, who have been around this game for a long time. Having both of them and their knowledge is really going to allow us to flourish in many ways because having a different voice, it just means you're learning new information.

“So that's always good because becoming a better football player, you have to learn more about the game, about what you're doing wrong, and I think Coach Scott has come in and he's allowed us to see that he's gotten guys to that next level which is the NFL and he's going to continue to do so.”

3 - Big changes are coming to the NCAA

The next steps toward transfer rule changes to the NCAA took place this week Wednesday evening, announcing that members resolved “to adopt legislation by January.”

From the story:

“The Division I Council approved a resolution Wednesday that outlined its intention to adopt by January a comprehensive legislative package creating uniform, modernized rules governing eligibility after transfer for student-athletes in all sports.”

“Currently, Division I rules permit student-athletes in all sports except baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football and men’s ice hockey to immediately compete after a first transfer. Reliance on the waiver process for student-athletes in those five sports has put enormous strain on a historically collaborative process built to handle extenuating circumstances.

“The resolution called the waiver process ‘an unsustainable method to achieve lasting stability, consistency and transparency within the transfer environment’ and declared it was ‘never designed to accommodate sustained requests for relief from a rule without actually changing the rule.’

“The comprehensive package will address issues that impact transfer, including academic requirements, roster management considerations, transfer notification dates, accountability measures for schools that accept transfer students, and additional education on the transfer rules and process. The Committee on Academics will provide its guidance to any academic aspects of the package.”

Speaking with James Franklin earlier this month, he offered his perspective on the transfer rules and what still needs to be considered before they can be implemented.

“I think one of the big reasons why it was pushed back, is there's no system of relief for the universities right now if you did it without that other component. I'm talking an extreme situation here, but what if you had University X and 30 players decided to transfer out right before the season, and you had no way to recover those? That would be challenging,” Franklin said. “The other thing that's interesting is you push this back, now you're going to have two major legislative changes in the same cycle. So you're going to have the NIL, as well as the one-time transfer all hitting the books at the same time. So that's going to be interesting. But I think that's the biggest reason. I think at this point, everybody understands that these things are probably happening. But it's hard to just put something in place without looking at it holistically and having some answers to maybe some of the challenges that come with it.”

This, of course, comes in addition to the resolution passed at the end of April ensuring changes to name, image, and likeness rules.

“The board’s recommendations now will move to the rules-making structure in each of the NCAA’s three divisions for further consideration. The divisions are expected to adopt new name, image, and likeness rules by January to take effect at the start of the 2021-22 academic year.”

Both Simmons and Castro-Fields were asked their opinion of the proposed NIL rule changes and, from the players’ perspective, though they won’t necessarily benefit from the changes ahead of their final years of eligibility, they expressed their support for the changes for others.

“We have a lot of great athletes on our football team, so I think a lot would benefit from it,” Simmons said. “Plus, I think from some peoples' backgrounds, anything that benefits the student-athletes would be very positive. Helping out our families, too. Getting more money for rent and food, anything like that.”

Castro-Fields echoed the sentiment:

“I’ve seen it on social media but I haven't really looked into it because I heard it doesn't really have to do with me, which is kind of sad, I really don't know a teammate. I hope everyone can kind of capitalize off of it. I think it's a good deal.”

1 - When will Penn State football be back on campus?

Ohio State will resume voluntary football workouts June 8. The NCAA is permitting the same for football, and men's and women's basketball nationally beginning June 1.

What's that mean for Penn State?

At this point, nothing.

The Nittany Lion athletic department has yet to weigh in on a potential return to voluntary team activities, but the reality is, of course, all are working behind the scenes to prepare for it.

Our best info at this point remains that Penn State will follow suit with Pennsylvania's re-opening guidelines following a red, yellow, and green phasing in. To date, Centre County is in the yellow phase, with residents of red counties not permitted travel to yellow counties, with a "green" designation likely necessary for Penn State to try to resume voluntary workouts.

No criteria has been formally announced as to the metrics to move a county from yellow to green, but per PennLive, that could soon start happening under which point "aggressive mitigation orders" would be lifted while still following CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health policies.

As of Friday, 49 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties have moved to yellow.

2 - Will fans be in stands this fall at Beaver Stadium?

Maybe? Maybe not?

The rumbling for the past week at Penn State has surrounded conversations taking place in preparation for a wide variety of possibilities. As of Wednesday this week, Ohio State joined the fray nationally by announcing that it could host between roughly 20k on the low end and 50k on the high end at Ohio Stadium next season while implementing social distancing guidelines.

Given Ohio Stadium's similar capacity to Penn State's, one could surmise a similar range of possible attendance figures if Penn State was to decide on the same criteria for permitting fans in the stands for games this fall.

Look for statewide regulation to be the guiding principle to decisions that are made - or not - then a type of group-think that will emerge for states deemed safe to permit fans in the stands.

ONE PREDICTION: Penn State will finish with more interceptions next season

Penn State wasn't satisfied with its turnover generation out of its pass defense last season, nor its total yards allowed, not the number of chunk plays allowed in the passing game.

On closer inspection though, it was pleased with its sturdy play in the red zone and in preventing passing touchdowns which, for the season, were limited to just 10.

So when it comes to creating interceptions, Castro-Fields explained some of what goes into the process from a corner's perspective.

"In the room, of course we talk about turnovers and when you can jump stuff and when you can't, but Coach [Terry] kind of tells you it's all on you and your judgment," Castro-Fields said. "When you watch film, that's when you kind of are able to pick up on things and kind of just jump in and go for it. But the thing you can't do is like hesitate. I think that's what messes people up. When they hesitate, they don't think they can get there or they just go for the PBU."

Last season, against 451 opponent passes in 13 games, the Nittany Lions’ defense pulled in 10 interceptions, which equates to interceptions on just 2.12 percent of opponent passes thrown. That was good for 88th nationally last season and amounted to a drop from a 3.12 interception rate during the 2018 season.

With a healthy Castro-Fields, a player who has a knack for playing the ball in sophomore Marquis Wilson, who figures to earn far more snaps than his 189 last season, and more snaps for Jaquan Brisker, who finished with 490 reps last year, the Nittany Lions will be poised to come up with more defensive takeaways in the passing game in conjunction with an overall improvement to its passing yards allowed numbers.

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