Tyler Bowen’s message to his players has been straightforward.

The Nittany Lions’ tight ends coach believes football will eventually return. And despite not knowing when that day will be, the near and longterm future uncertain due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Bowen’s perspective of the time bridging the gap is one of utmost importance.

An opportunity to maximize personal development, be it athletic, academic, or otherwise, this is the time to reject the notion of standing still.

“We're not dealing with anything different than any other program,” Bowen said. “So how can we maximize our time and maximize each day to make sure that when we come back, we're minimizing that rust that's built-up on the engine so we can get back cranking at full speed?”

Bowen spoke at length Wednesday with reporters via Zoom video conference to discuss those very things. Let’s dive into some of the pertinent points to emerge from the roughly half-hour session, here:

1) For as characteristically positive as Bowen was throughout his media availability Wednesday, he did acknowledge the inevitability of human nature kicking in.

Asked whether the mental or physical side would create the biggest speed bump for players upon their eventual return, Bowen said there would undoubtedly be some level of lingering effect from the time spent away from each other and the practice field.

“It's hard to say. I think it probably depends on each player. I really do feel there's been great shared accountability with what our guys are doing. I think they're still highly motivated,” he said. “Obviously, the longer this thing goes, just like we're all human, motivation wanes here and there.

“I think that's why we've tried to focus so much on Hey, what can I do today to make myself better from a football standpoint, academically, whatever I'm doing? How can I approach today? Because at some point, we will do all of these things again. At some point, life will return to normal, knock on wood. So that's been the message to those guys.”

Comparing their eventual return to the practice field to that of a bye week or a Saturday-Sunday without practices during preseason camp, Bowen continued in saying that there would be rust because of the elements that can’t be duplicated on an individual basis.

The timing between the quarterback and his targets, for instance. Or “how the backside of the offensive line is pushing a zone block” against how the “running back is gonna press and jump cut.”

“Those things it doesn't matter how many drills we do on a bag, how many videos they send me of running routes at a field or in their backyard, I'm not gonna be able to replicate Sean Clifford throwing a post to Pat Freiermuth. I can't get it done and they can't get it done. They're in two different spots,” Bowen said. “So I think there's gonna be that rust is probably the biggest thing that I worry about, that we've got to come back, we've got oil up and get shipped off as quick as possible.”

2) One of the first and most striking answers Bowen provided regarded his handling of this new, Zoom-heavy environment of coaching.

Separated from his players and having to rely on technology as a teaching tool, Bowen has used the time to consider the variety of avenues that might also be effective in helping his players acquire information. Given the nature of the modern, young life, with everything on-demand and at the fingertips of players, Bowen said he’s tried to bring the mindset into this new reality.

“It has forced me to really think, are there ways that I could be relaying information to them better from coach to player?” Bowen said. “I’ve spent some time not only utilizing technology for zoom meetings, very similar that we're doing right now so we get that face to face interaction and we know how the guys are doing, but also spending some time and me putting together some coaching points on demand.

“So maybe instead of listening to a podcast in between classes, we might be able to listen to a pass install. I think it's just made me think of ways to be better. Once this all ends, and we get back to a little bit more of a normal schedule, I think there's a way that they can digest information better, much different than when I was in college. So I think we spend our time approaching that as an opportunity, and me asking them, hey, how can I help you better? Because, we're using this out of necessity, but obviously, this is something that they're accustomed to doing all the time, so I think it's made me and our staff a better coaching staff.”

3) As Penn State’s co-offensive coordinator with newly hired Kirk Ciarrocca, Bowen was asked plenty about his new staff-mate.

Praising Ciarrocca repeatedly - we’ll get into that more later this week - Bowen was given a bottom-line proposition about what the impact would be in the wake of spring without practice.

Bowen’s answer was resolute.

“When you say, how much does it hurt us? It can't hurt us. We can't allow it,” Bowen said. “I think the beauty of Kirk coming in, he's a guy that's done it at a high level for a very long time. Everywhere he's been, he's been able to build a program up, on offense, that maybe was a bottom-dweller and they end up towards the top when you look at national statistics. Same thing with quarterbacks, everywhere he's been. So I think the beauty of him coming in is, this isn't something that we've had to piece together. It's been a very clear, concise plan since day one.”

That clear, concise plan has allowed Penn State’s coaching staff to be efficient in its teaching, which Bowen insisted has been impactful with the Nittany Lion players throughout the winter and now even into the spring’s remote-learning environment.

“I think we were able to utilize our time on campus with our players before all of this happened, and we maximized it,” Bowen said. “Now the trick is, is just continuing that maximization.

“The one thing that you're going to lose that can't be made up is watching a guy make a mistake full speed from the meeting room and then being able to correct it. I don't know what the answer for that is. I would say that we can't let it be an issue. It's not going to be an excuse for us on offense.”

Noting that Penn State’s offensive players have a “good foundation” that is only continuing to be built, Bowen said he was confident that virtual classroom learning would eventually translate to the field.

“The bottom line is, we can't let it be an issue. And that's kind of been our approach. That's been our players' approach. And I think they've approached it with a level of maturity that I do see that happening,” he said. “Whenever we get back out on the field, we've got to have utilized our time better than other programs to hit the ground running. And that's been our mindset.”

4) Spending some time discussing rising redshirt sophomore Zack Kuntz and rising redshirt freshman Brenton Strange, Bowen also touched on the learning curve currently at work for early enrollee Theo Johnson.

Acknowledged by head coach James Franklin as having suffered an injury that would have kept Johnson out of spring practices, anyway, Bowen praised the tight end’s maturity and early transition from high school to college.

“His first semester, he shows up, he has some adversity his first week and then now he's finishing semester virtually. And I've really been impressed with the way he's handled it,” Bowen said. “The big thing for his development this spring is getting him up to speed from a playbook standpoint in the football game and then also for whatever you can do to be healthy and get as strong as he can in the weight room, which he came in with a nice foundation. Very similar to Pat from a physical maturity standpoint, he's a year older, coming out of high school with kind of how the Canadian high school works.

“So really, other than being face to face with him when we can utilize those hours that the NCAA lets us have, we really haven't missed a beat. We've spent time with him as a first-year player, one on one, getting him caught up with not only the playbook but there are things that those guys have to understand from just a general football standpoint, teaching them defense, teaching them what we call our technique, being able to speak the same language. That's important that we have clear communication across the board. That helps us coach faster, helps us correct faster. So I think all those things, we're on track.”

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