Assistant Coach John Scott Jr. Offers Initial Impressions of Defensive Line

Named Penn State's new defensive line coach on Feb. 8, about a week after the announcement that longtime James Franklin disciple and friend Sean Spencer would be moving on to take a coaching position with the New York Giants, John Scott Jr. did his best to hit the ground running.

The journeyman assistant, fresh off a season at South Carolina with other stops at Arkansas, the New York Jets, Texas Tech, and Georgia Southern, among others, was able to spend some time with his new players, overseeing the final few weeks of winter workouts and conditioning, and attempting to connect with their families.

Seemingly as suddenly as the next chapter in his coaching career started, then, it was disrupted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's been different than taking over at any other job that I've ever had in my life," Scott admitted to reporters Thursday morning via Zoom web conferencing. "Normally, you get that time to bond with the guys and you're there, you've been through spring ball. But, with what's going on in the world right now, I had to adapt a little bit."

All was not lost, of course. Though Scott wasn't able to see his new group of defensive ends and tackles play in pads, he was able to have in-person meetings individually, saw them in winter workouts, and get to know their work ethic. Relying instead on past game film and practice tape to further his understanding of the players now under his tutelage, Scott admitted he was "excited about" what he saw on tape.

"You're just adapting to what we have and it is definitely different compared to how it normally is," Scott said. "But the transition is going well in State College and I couldn't be more pleased, considering the circumstances, where we are right now."

As part of a roughly 25 minute call with more than a dozen reporters, Scott shared some thoughts on the personnel in the room. Below, we've provided a rough transcript, lightly edited for clarity, on some of the names and faces that he'll be working with, and his early impressions of them:

On Shaka Toney:

The first time I met Shaka, I was impressed at how good of a teammate Shaka Toney is, how connected he is with the guys. Whenever you walk in that room, it's like, all the guys look up to Shaka because the way he plays, he cares deeply about his teammates. His teammates look up to him. He can have an unbelievable presence in the meeting room because his teammates believe in him.

So I think from that aspect, he's a veteran guy that has played a lot of football. He's very knowledgeable about the game. He's very knowledgeable about how to do certain things and the guys look up to that. So I think his presence for the young guys can be really good. He has some strong leadership qualities.

I think Shaka can have a great year. He's got to just continue to work at his craft, and that's one of the things that we talk about, everybody working at your craft and continuing to get better. But he could have a really, really big impact for our defense, just with his leadership capability... to grab those young guys that are still trying to figure it out and lead them down the direction and the vision that coach Franklin has set for this football team. He has the ability to do that. Those young guys to listen to him.

He'll have a positive voice, but I think that the ceiling is high for him, especially if he continues to work like he's capable and needs to work this offseason. I know it's challenging for everybody, but Shaka has got some really good athletic ability. He's got a good mind. He understands concepts, he understands the defense, so I think his ceiling can be pretty high for us.

On defensive ends Jayson Oweh and Adisa Isaac:

I think both of those guys... are ultra talented guys. Both of them have a great ability, great quickness, great physicality. They're both smart football players. Both of those guys made plays last year when they had opportunities in the game. I think both of those young men, they do have a high ceiling.

I like that end group a lot. You got some really talented players in that group with Shaka Toney and the rest of that crew. Smith Vilbert, Shane Simmons, so you got quite a few guys over in that end group that can play. I've been impressed with them. I think they have a high ceiling. Obviously, not being able to see them go in spring ball and compete for that spot in spring is different, but when we are able to get back to football, those guys will be able to compete on the field for that spot. I like where that group can go. It's a talented group.

On defensive tackles PJ Mustipher and Antonio Shelton, and establishing third and fourth options on the interior:

Watching our tackles, one of the first things that I did when I took this job, I always like to look at game tape to kind of see what kind of players you got inside. You're right about a PJ and Antonio. Those are two guys that have been down through it. They're proven guys. I still think their best football's ahead. They do a lot of things well. I think we got a chance with those two to be really, really good inside, stout guys versus the run and they know how to adjust and rush the passer. I like those two a lot.

I think another guy that I'd like to see more and I think did a nice job when he was in there was Fred Hansard. He's another good player inside for us. You got some young guys I feel like that are coming on with Hakeem Beamon, I think is a guy you gotta watch. Cole Brevard is a young guy, but he's another guy that's strong and we got to watch out for him inside. Joseph Darkwa. So I mean, I think there's a whole list of guys that you can throw in that mix, that's coming along, that's giving us quality depth.

One of the guys that I've really enjoyed watching in the winter conditioning was Judge Culpepper. He's another physical, high-motor guy. So I think there's a lot of quality guys in that group. I think it's gonna be critical when we are able to get back, is those guys coming along, just developing like we need to.

One of the things that we'll do is we'll focus on the basic fundamentals. They already have a good base. Coach Spence has done a really good job giving them a good base and I'm going to try to build upon that base and get them ready to go. But I think amongst that group of guys, you got a quality, quality group of candidates to come in, to help us be able to roll five to six guys inside and keep guys fresh, and keep hitting the O-linemen wave after wave. We got a nice pool of guys and we'll continue to work get those guys ready to go.

On Mustipher:

I think PJ's personality is kind of infectious. He wants to learn. He wants to do things the way you want him to do them. He's a great teammate. He brings a lot of energy to the workout. He's a positive young man. He's a guy you just want to be around all the time. I mean, he's a great young man.

As far as on the football field, watching his tape, man, I really enjoy how hard PJ plays. PJ plays hard. He's a physical player, he's a smart guy, he gets things. I think he has a really good quickness. I think we can take the next step with PJ as we continue to hone in on some of his technique on some things. I think we can hone in on the next level of him taking advantage of his opportunities and just continuing to be more disruptive. I think he can continue to grow and get better in that category.

But he has all the tools. He's got the work ethic. He's got the motor. I'm looking forward to seeing him blossom a little bit.

On Darkwa:

Joseph Darkwa is a great young man and getting to know him has been fun. He's in State College. He's here, so we're able to make sure he's okay, not being able to go back home. But I've really enjoyed getting to know him. He's a personable young man. He cares about his family. He cares about getting a great education and he cares about football a lot. He's a very conscientious kid with a good heart.

Watching him in the workouts and having an opportunity for the little individual that we get during the workouts, it's been good. I think Joseph is a strong, powerful young man. He runs well. He does a really good job of being physical and striking. I see him as having a high ceiling and I think he's gonna be a physical guy that could be a dominant run stopper inside. He's got good feet. He's got good quickness for a guy his size, and he's gonna be a strong kid and he's not gonna let anybody outwork him.

One of the things when you get freshmen like this coming into the winter workouts for the first time, it's always hard because they've never been through something like this and everybody's just as good as they are coming in. So watching him kind of battle through that and adjust, his last couple of workouts were really good. You could see him take the growth and figure it out. So I'm extremely excited about what he can bring to the table. And what he can be for us.

*******

• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated

• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98

• Like us on Facebook