Pat Freiermuth’s alarm goes off every morning at 7:45.

The Nittany Lions’ junior tight end has some coffee, eats breakfast, then meets with his trainer outside to lift weights. Following the workout with meetings and lunch, Freiermuth is back at it in the afternoons to run routes and do fieldwork with his high school quarterback at Brooks Academy, Seamus Lambert.

Though not Penn State's starting signal-caller Sean Clifford, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Lambert is more than just a serviceable replacement for Freiermuth’s purposes.

“He's the starting quarterback at Trinity College,” Freiermuth told reporters Wednesday. “He was the (NESCAC Co-Rookie of the Year) there, so he's a great quarterback. I've been working out with him a lot.”

Determined to live up to the possibilities set by tight ends coach Tyler Bowen for the season ahead - that of becoming “the best all-around tight end in the country” - Freiermuth’s work has all been part of the plan. Maintaining and improving on as much of his game as possible in the interim of an extended hiatus from organized football due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Freiermuth said that his aspirations fall in line with Bowen’s assessment.

“I completely agree with what he said. I mean, we've been talking about that since after my freshman year,” Freiermuth said. “My goal is to be considered the best tight end in the country. As you guys all know, my goal is to win the Mackey and become an All-American, and that hasn't stopped yet.”

Freiermuth’s progress toward those goals has been evolutionary throughout his two years at Penn State.

Finishing his debut season with nine starts in 13 games played in 2018, Freiermuth finished with eight touchdown receptions and was named All-Big Ten honorable mention by both the conference coaches and media as well as Freshman All-America by multiple media outlets. That he was able to do so, even with his 26 receptions for 368 yards, now comes as a surprise when reflecting on the development he’s made since then.

“I’d probably say my route running. Just coming in, I was awful. I mean, I was God awful. Looking back on the film freshman year, I still don't know how I played,” Freiermuth said. “But, you know, I played, I was effective. Just kind of seeing my growth as a route runner, I would say that I'm pretty proud of myself for that. But you know, I always want to continue to grow.”

Following the effort with 43 catches for 507 yards and another seven touchdowns last season, good for second on the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns behind K.J. Hamler, Freiermuth demonstrated to Bowen the traits that figure to play a big role in Freiermuth’s junior campaign with the Nittany Lions.

“I just want him to continue improving. And I think he would tell you the same thing,” Bowen said last month. “I would say that he's an above the line route runner at the tight end position when you look nationally.

“Every facet of tight end play, he has the skill set to excel at. I think the big thing for him is putting it all together. He's been able to put together little bits and pieces in his career. And now, being able to have a little bit of a toolbox to put it all together and be the best all-around tight in the conference and the country, I think that's his goal.”

Poised to do exactly that, considered among a handful of the nation’s top returning tight ends ahead of the 2020 season, Freiermuth is tuning out as much noise surrounding him as he can, recently deleting his social media apps to avoid getting his “head wrapped around that.”

“I need to focus on my time at Penn State and just trying to take full advantage of this because if I don't have a good season this year or I don't perform, it's all down the drain,” he said. “It's just preseason hype and I got to block out the noise and continue to do what my process has been ever since I got to Penn State, which is to work and do what I need to do to become better and help the team. So I need to take that same mentality to the season and hopefully, I continue to progress in my career.”

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