When Ty Howle was named Penn State's new tight ends coach on February 5, the usual vortex of unfamiliarity that follows new coaches after their appointments didn't apply to him.

That's because Howle knows Penn State — having played his college football in Happy Valley before returning last season as an offensive analyst. He knows what it's like to run through the tunnel at Beaver Stadium on fall Saturdays. He knows how the Nittany Lions want to approach recruiting. He knows the players he'll be coaching this season.

"Fortunately for me, it was a pretty smooth transition because I had been here," Howle said. "I knew those guys on and off the field and had developed relationships with them already.

"I got to know those guys very well, whether at team dinners or those kind of things so you get to develop those relationships and that's what I tried to do last year, so it wasn't too hard of a transition as far as getting to know the guys."

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Howle said he was close with Tyler Bowen, the man he's replacing after Bowen took an NFL assistant coaching job under Urban Meyer with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He'll take lessons from Bowen as he moves into his new role, as well as his father, David, who coached him at Bunn High School in North Carolina.

Howle takes a relationship-driven approach to coaching — a philosophy very much consistent with that of James Franklin.

Despite his familiarity with the members of the tight end room he'll step into this spring, he said he met with each player individually, and spoke with their parents and their high school coaches to establish a rapport.

"Just really making sure everybody knew I was in this for the right reasons," he said.

As for the talent he'll have at his disposal, Howle offered a glowing review.

He praised Brenton Strange and Theo Johnson for stepping in after an injury to star tight end Pat Freiermuth cut his season short.

"He's gotten better and better every day," Howle said of Strange. "He has good short-area quickness and does some nice things with the ball in his hand and knows how to play physical.

"Theo Johnson's a guy — he looks great through winter workouts so far. Big, long, strong guy that can run and really do some explosive things, so really excited about him. He's learned and he's progressed.

"Tyler Warren came in, played a lot of high school quarterback and really has progressed in the tight end position and is one of the best athletes on the team in my opinion."

Of course, recruiting will be one of the most important things on Howle's agenda as he makes this transition. And, while his title as an offensive analyst might not suggest it, Howle was very involved on the recruiting trail even before his promotion.

"[Howle] kicked off my recruitment," Penn State tight end commit Jerry Cross said recently. "He played a big role in that as well, so even knowing that he was going to be hired after that, that made me feel more comfortable again and made my family feel more comfortable.

"We're real close. I met his wife and his kids and everything. So, we're really close."

Howle said his recruiting responsibilities would be similar to those held by Bowen, who held strong ties to the Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC region.

His previous experience will help guide him in this part of the job, too.

"I think it helped out a lot because I could see how our organization runs from a recruiting perspective," Howle said. "It also allowed me to create those relationships in the recruiting world and with student-athletes and those kind of things. So I think it helped tremendously."

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