Galt praises Lions' Winter Workout progress

Twice a year, just before the start of spring practice and again at Lift for Life, Penn State makes its director of performance enhancement, Dwight Galt, available to the media to answer questions.

Reliably, Galt never disappoints.

Meeting Thursday afternoon for 10 minutes to answer questions following a Nittany Lion winter workout testing session that included vertical jump and squats, Galt delivered his unique insight into the program’s progress. Through its seven weeks of intense work for the entire team, including 14 early enrollee freshmen, Galt expressed his satisfaction at the team-wide gains made while pointing out a few particular highlights.

“It's been awesome. The attitude, the approach, the motivation, the energy has been great all winter, it's been a blast. The guys are really motivated and ready to go,” said Galt, noting the strength and power element, but also speed and agility aspects covered. “We got some really good movement stuff in as well. So (it’s a) real good product. We're healthy, we're in a good situation there. So we gotta take the week off next week and then we'll come back and get right into spring ball.”

Which Nittany Lions will be of particular note to keep an eye on when spring practices arrive?

Let’s take a look at some of the news and notes items to emerge from Galt’s session with the media, here:

1) Redshirt freshman defensive end Jayson Oweh had the attention of the media, the strength staff, and the rest of the team during his testing session Thursday.

It sounds like that’s been the case throughout the winter.

Coming off a debut season in which he appeared in four games with the Nittany Lions, taking 65 defensive snaps along the way, Oweh backed up his early praise with a strong first go ‘round at winter workouts.

“Jayson's got a chance (to be special). He's got a chance as a strength/speed athlete, which is great for me, but also to really transfer that to the field and be something special on the field,” said Galt. “He's a guy, he's been here now for nine months and came in at 228 pounds, he's almost 260 right now.

“So he just continues to not rely on his natural ability, which is huge for me. I've done this 35 years now and I've just seen too many guys that have done that. He continues to really want to be all he can be and you kind of have the example on the squat today, he did 455 for seven today. He cleaned 355. I think he benched 390.”

Unspoken by Galt, Oweh also notched a 36-inch vertical leap, and later Galt added that Oweh produced a max-out squat at 545 pounds.

“So, the kid has only been here nine months. He's 18 years old,” said Galt. “He's a converted basketball player, so we're really, really pleased with how he's progressing, but we gotta transfer it to the field. So he did a great job last year in the games he was playing in, so we feel really positive about him.”

2) For as much as Oweh drew Galt’s strong praise, so too did rising sophomore linebacker, Micah Parsons.

Following a true freshman campaign in which he led the Nittany Lions in tackles as a backup, Parsons has not relented in the slightest.

“I couldn't be more proud. Proud is the word that I have for Micah Parsons. Not just how he's grown, but his approach is phenomenal,” said Galt. “Micah wants to be a great football player. He will do whatever it takes to be a great football player. He doesn't want to be average, he doesn't want to be good, he wants to be great.”

In conjunction with that desire, Parsons has produced in the weight room this offseason.

Numbers included a 355 pound clean and a program-record 565 pound squat.

“I’m not going to say it’s easy or simple, but I know that challenging him on a daily basis to be all he can be, he thrives on that and he's never had a day off. He's never had a day off. He comes in, he does what he's supposed to do, he works his butt off, he's got a great attitude, he's done unbelievable in school,” said Galt. “I couldn't be more pleased with him. He started to take on a nice leadership role and obviously, he's a phenomenal football player. So Micah is the kind of guy you want to eventually build your team around, so it's only a matter of time before that really starts happening. We're really pleased with what he's doing.”

3) Galt’s praise for the linebacker room didn’t stop with Parsons.

Noting that eight-straight linebackers produced a broad jump of 10-feet-or-more, Galt hailed rising senior Jan Johnson as having turned heads repeatedly with his testing numbers this winter.

“Everybody kind of knows his story, but he broad jumped 10 feet, he triple-broad 30-feet, which is elite. Then he ran a 4.08 pro shuttle, which might be the best of all time for a linebacker. 4.17 was, and so now he's got the all-time record for linebacker here,” said Galt. “He benched 350. He just squatted 485. And he cleaned 315. So really good numbers for a guy that had an ACL, did wrestling for a year, is graduating with his master's degree this semester and he's going back to school next semester. So we don't know what he's going to do. I don't know if he's going for his Ph.D. or what. So he's a really special kid. Great leader. Voice of reason. He's a guy that's done a really, really nice job.”

4) Per usual, Galt was asked about his initial impressions of the early enrollees that began their Penn State careers in January straight out of high school.

In a trend that has grown significantly through the past few years, that number is especially large this year as the Nittany Lions welcomed 14 early enrollees.

“They've done great as a group. There's 14 of them. They've been phenomenal. They've done everything we've asked,” said Galt. “It's not an easy transition. I think the fact that there was so many of them actually made it a little easier on them. They were kind of leaning on each other. We do a great job supporting them, that's important to our program, but being able to support each other is a good thing.”

Of particular note, Galt pointed out linebackers Lance Dixon and Brandon Smith as having “done a really, really nice job” for their first times lifting with a regimen along the lines of what they’ve done at Penn State this semester.

He also touched on defensive end Adisa Isaac for his squat performance, tight end Brenton Strange for his strength, and junior college offensive lineman Anthony Whigan.

“So they've done a really, really nice job. They're starting off real well in school. They're busting their butt in here. It's been great.”

5) Given the departures to the NFL of Ryan Bates and Connor McGovern along the offensive line this offseason, that the Nittany Lion front five was a topic of discussion came as no surprise Thursday.

Specifically asked about redshirt freshman Rasheed Walker and his potential, Galt discussed at length not only Walker but also the approach of the entire program toward an offensive line that returns veterans Steven Gonzalez, Will Fries, and Michal Menet.

“We have four returning starters on the offensive line, and no job is safe,” said Galt. “That's not to say we do starters until the first game, but we got four guys with a lot of experience, so kind of behind closed doors, everybody is kind of fighting and clawing for maybe one spot, maybe not, and (Walker) is just a man on a mission.

“He's a little bit like Micah in a lot of ways. Rasheed doesn't talk, doesn't say a whole lot, but he comes in and he speaks volumes with his work ethic. He's done a great job. So he's strong as an ox, he's taken body fat off, he's still right about 315, 317, so he's a big guy and he can get bigger, but he really wants to be lean, wants to be able to move. He wants to have that movement as well as being strong, so we're really pleased with how he's projecting.”