Landon Tengwall & Liam Clifford discuss Tuesday night Zoom call

Tuesday proved to be a day that no one hoped to see, as both the Big Ten and Pac-12 publicly announced their decisions to postpone all fall athletics, including football, to the spring 2021. Penn State head football coach James Franklin was vocal in the hours leading up to the decision, pushing for the conference to not make what many thought was a premature decision.

Following the announcement, which was announced publicly at 3 p.m. eastern time, Franklin allowed his players the option to go home for the next week-and-a-half before classes begin on Aug. 24. He then met with members of the Class of 2021 and their families Tuesday evening over Zoom to help answer any questions they had.

To get a better feel for last night's conversation, we caught up with two leaders of Penn State's recruiting class, offensive lineman Landon Tengwall and athlete Liam Clifford.

Ryan Snyder: Can you share any overall takeaways from last night’s Zoom call? How long was it? Was it primarily Coach Franklin speaking?

Landon Tengwall: It was mainly just Coach Franklin talking to us for about 30 minutes or so. We also talked about a couple of the main questions out there, but obviously, there aren’t a ton of answers right now. Probably the biggest question right now is for the guys who want to early enroll. Can they enroll early and then potentially play in the spring? That was a big talking point. Personally, I don’t see how guys can enroll early and then actually play a month later. That would just surprise me, but we’ll see. But also, if they do enroll early, would that season then count as a redshirt? There’s so many questions and no one has the answers. Coach Franklin was honest with us about that. He really just wanted to explain to us what all happened with the team that day and everything he could possibly share. It was really just Coach Franklin doing his best to tell us everything he knew, which was really important to me and my family and everyone else in the class. It’s just great to have a coach that’s so involved with the recruiting class. It’s not like that at many schools. Just knowing the time he put into everything over the past week, to still make sure that he gets on a call with all of us after a long day, it means something. I think I speak for everyone when I say that.

Snyder: Were there any notable answers that you did take from the call?

Tengwall: Really, any questions we had, he wasn’t able to provide too many true answers. That all has to get figured out still. That's what he was really trying to tell us. I already knew that, but he wanted everyone to be on the same page. He did let us know that he gave the players the option to go home and that they’ll be back in a few weeks. He still has to figure out a lot of questions for his team right now. There are a lot of questions and a lot of stuff up in the air, but he did let us know that’s going to be answered soon. There’s a meeting coming up in a few days from now. I believe he said we may start getting some answers around Monday.

Snyder: What’s your feel for the class? Can you share any thoughts? Are guys OK with this? Do you get the impression this could impact anyone’s commitments?

Tengwall: Really, our talks have mainly been about just enrolling early. That’s the main thing that everyone’s been talking about. How will that all work? But overall, I think everyone’s been pretty positive. I know guys are upset about losing their senior years, but that doesn’t really impact Penn State. Guys are definitely bummed out about not being to go to the White Out game this year and things like that. When you’re finally committed, that’s when you can really enjoy days like that. It sucks to lose that and it will suck for the guys that want to enroll early. The big reason why guys want to do that is because spring ball is more laid-back. It gives coaches an opportunity to work with the younger players more. If we go right into the season, anyone that enrolls early is just going to get moved along. So, that just hurts from a development standpoint. I think guys are wondering about that, but everyone seems to be as positive as they can be about everything that’s happening.

Snyder: What did your parents think of the call when it was over? After you got off that call last night, what did you discuss with your parents?

Tengwall: My mom just really liked the staff and Coach Franklin and how open he was about this and really everything in my recruitment. He’s never trying to hide anything or waiting to tell us something. He takes care of his team first, and once that’s squared away, he always gets to us as soon as possible. He also gives us all the information he knows, so that means a lot to my parents and I’m sure it’s the same for everyone else.

Snyder: How have you been training since the news broke that the WCAC was shifting its schedule to the spring? What’s your schedule like? Also, are you going to school soon? Is Good Counsel keeping it online? What’s it going to be like for you in the coming months?

Tengwall: So, we’re planning to start virtual learning around August 28th. The state of Maryland said we can’t go back until October, but when we do, it’s going to be a split schedule with the option of just staying home. So, I need to think about that. It’s an hour drive for me to school, so I need to think about it, at least for the fall. But for now, I’m with my O-line trainer twice a week and we still have morning lift at Good Counsel on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, plus practice three times a week. We’re still being optimistic about a 7-on-7 season or something like that.

Ryan Snyder: Can you share any overall takeaways from last night’s Zoom call? How long was it? Was it primarily Coach Franklin speaking?

Liam Clifford: It was probably 30 or 40 minutes long. Coach Franklin talked to start it out and then he passed it over to other coaches and academic people. It was many of the same people we speak with regularly. Most of them just spoke highly of Coach Franklin and how handled all of this. This wasn’t the news that he or anyone with the team wanted, but also, if we’re going to have any leader that we want to be behind, it’s Coach Franklin. Everyone knows he pushed for the Big Ten not rushing into this. It wasn’t the result he or anyone wanted, but it’s also important that all of us keep our heads up and keep pushing. That includes our class. The team that keeps working hard and bounces back from this the quickest is going to be the team that comes back even stronger next year. The best way to do that is to stay focused and stay together as a family.

Snyder: Were there any notable answers that you did take from the call?

Clifford: Unfortunately, not really. Most of that stuff was the same questions that all the fans have and the players. No one really knows what’s going to happen with scholarship counts and redshirts and early enrollments, all of that stuff. They were just reiterating that to us last night. They did say that this Friday is when a lot of those questions may start getting answered. I believe some of those answers may start coming out [publicly] around Monday, so hopefully we’ll learn the exact plan going forward in a week or so.

Snyder: What were your parents’ thoughts? Obviously, you parents are also involved with the current player conversations, but was there anything notable that you guys discussed after the recruiting call Tuesday night?

Clifford: Franklin actually asked my parents to speak during the call. He wanted them to just talk to other families about what it’s like to have a son already in the program and how they’ve been dealing with stuff. Obviously, my parents have thought super highly of the entire staff for years now. One thing they’ve always loved is just how they communicate. For example, they had a Zoom call for the parents of current athletes the night before. They went over everything that was being discussed over the weekend and into Monday. They shared everything they could. My parents have always really liked that about Coach Franklin and Penn State. I think that would be the first thing my parents would tell you. It really does feel like a family because of that. It’s a big reason why they think that Sean and I both made great decisions. It’s really shown during this pandemic

Snyder: I know Ohio is still planning to play, so how’s preseason practice been going for you? What’s your season going to look like and how has that preparation been going so far?

Clifford: We got started with practice last week. We had two-a-days start then and those dragged into this week. We were going in the mornings, but now it’s the afternoon. Anyway, Ohio has switched some things up. It still has to be passed by the governor, but if it is, we’re planning to play six regular season games. How that schedule looks is up to each league. I know a lot of leagues are planning to just play league games. But we’ll start August 24th, play six games, and then everyone will make the playoffs. We’ll just start narrowing it down from there and I believe it’ll run to around November 21st, somewhere in that range. I know it’s supposed to end before Thanksgiving. So, that’s the plan as of now. We’re working hard everyday and practicing like we’re going to play on August 24th.

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