Transcript: New WR Coach Stubblefield Sees Opportunity for Young Group
Taylor Stubblefield knows what he doesn't know.
Joining Penn State's staff this offseason in the wake of Gerad Parker's promotion to offensive coordinator at West Virginia, the journeyman coach and former Purdue NCAA-record-holding receiver landed just in time to recruit and spend a few weeks with limited winter workout contact with his new players.
Then, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it all went remote.
His Nittany Lion wideouts that he'd been so eager to work with at spring practice never returned to Penn State's campus from spring break. And as a result, that time has been spent with players on FaceTimes and Zoom web conferencing to the tune of an NCAA-mandated eight total hours per week.
Wednesday, Stubblefield joined reporters to talk about the transition to Penn State, his techniques for providing instruction to players scattered all over the country, and some of his expectations for the next football season.
Check out the transcript from the session, lightly edited for clarity, below:
On who else can step up with Jahan Dotson as a reliable option; on walk-on Isaac Lutz:
To be honest, I can see quite a few of the guys stepping up. And that's what still kind of unknown, as far as who might have a head start over somebody else. But there's some talent in that room. There are some guys in there that really want to be great. And so it's really gonna challenge him over this period of time to see who is learning the playbook the way they need to learn it, who is going out there and working the technique that we talk about in order to put themselves in the best position once we have a camp.
So, naming one particular guy, I'm not sure that I can do that. I know that I'm excited for competition in my room, because it's going to be a flat-out open competition. Guys are going to have to show up. So I don't know the specific answer to that. I just know that there are a few guys that will have that opportunity.
In reference to Lutz, I've enjoyed Lutz. He's working hard, I know that. I know he's finding time in a safe place to get out there and work on his craft. I know that he's asked great questions in our meetings. He's on top of the group in the quizzes that we've. I am excited to see what he is going to bring to the table in this 2020 season.
On the advantages of being a wideout in the RPO, and what makes Ciarrocca's RPO unique:
What I like about it is that we have answers. That's what's pretty cool about this offense. Sometimes you get into these offenses where you have to be so complex, or, we put too much on the players to figure out. And so what Coach 'Roc's offense does is it allows us to put the players in the best position. Now, are we going to do that every single time? No. But the RPO game allows you to put defensive players in conflict. It allows us to put different defensive players in conflict so they do not know exactly which one we are putting in conflict. And we make them to be a little bit more hesitant.
I know this, as a former wide receiver, playing in the slot, having to go block a linebacker who's typically bigger than you, if you get him to hesitate just a little bit, that might be an opportunity for you to be a little bit more physical than you may have if he knew that there is no RPO option or a pass option.
So I think it allows receivers to play faster, especially in the run game when it is let's say an automatic handoff where you can be physical. You potentially know that, whether it's the outside 'backer, whether it's the outside safety, you know that you can go and be a little bit more aggressive and not have to worry so much about either the force of it, or them trying to juke you one way or the other.
On the evolution of Big Ten offenses, and how Penn State differs from others now:
This will be my first year coaching in the Big Ten. As a player, back between 2000 and 2004, it was kind of like us and Northwestern were doing kind of similar things. We didn't necessarily have the RPO game.
We had more of a run, plus an add on, where you would pre-snap, look out, do you feel like you have leverage on the defender to throw the bubble? Do you feel like you have numbers?
Now it has kind of evolved to the RPO game where, in some regards, it's option football. You are reading somebody and determining what you're going to do based off of his reaction. And so, offenses in general, shoot, even in the National Football League with the Baltimore Ravens are doing, it's a little bit more of a college offense and not as similar to what it has been in the National Football League for so long.
It's gonna be interesting to see the different offenses. I haven't seen a ton of the Big Ten offenses over my years being in the ACC and the PAC-12 and some other conferences. I do know that it has become a little bit more of a passing offense, passing league, than what it had been back when I was playing. Back when I was playing, there was Ron Dayne, there were some big old dudes, the guys at Minnesota.
But what we are able to do now is to continue to have our backs flat-out beat, and if defenses want to trust our running backs from beating, we'll be able to put those guys in conflict and really make them decide what do they want to stop? And we have some really good backs here, so we should have an opportunity as wideouts to eat as well when defenses are trying to stop, whether it be our tight ends, whether it be our running backs.
On initial impressions of Jahan Dotson, and personal comparisons to Dotson:
I talk with Han and we both have got bird chests. No, I'm joking. Jahan is much more athletic than I ever was. He can do some things naturally that, I was more of a technical skilled guy. He's a guy that has more athletic ability than I have had.
And so that's what's exciting about him is that he has the athletic ability, and then to put the scale on top of it makes it a great combination. I haven't had a ton of time to work with him, but seeing what he's been doing now, what we did in winter workouts, I really do believe that he is progressing to have a big season. So I'm excited for him.
I'm excited for the whole group because there's some uncertainty there. And we're challenging. Shoot, I'm challenged. We are challenged and we are up for the challenge to bring it, and to be consistent, and to be explosive, and to be tough. You're going to hear me say that quite a bit, and you're going to hear my guys talk about that kind of stuff because that's what we want to be.
On redshirt freshmen T.J. Jones and John Dunmore:
Those Florida cats, they want to run. That's what they're known for is, shoot, being out there in the sunny weather, playing football year-round and you can tell when we have our zoom meetings that they're either just getting done getting a workout in or getting ready to get a workout in.
We still have to remember that they're still fairly young. And we're in a new offense. So, it is making sure that they are doing more than just what we are allowed to do to make sure that they are ready to go with what to do so that we get to fall camp, we're going more into the technique side, more into the how-to-get-things done, how to do it, more than we want to be talking about what to do. We want to be past that stage.
And so that's something that I've been challenging all the guys, but specifically, T.J. and J.D., to make sure that they come in here prepared to know what to do so that we can work out all the kinks on how to do it.
On the ability to work with receivers remotely:
We got to come up with creative ways, we really do. Quizzes, whether it be a semi-walk-through, small groups, ways that we can be in their rooms a little bit, sees him line up here, line up there. But they're doing a great job of taking the resources that we have, while being safe and not being around people, to try to get things done both mentally and physically. And so we've been challenged.
I have a great GA, Jeff Carpenter, he's been awesome with some of the different vehicles that we can use for quizzes that are interactive that are time-sensitive and also allows them to see the competition of the other guys in the room, see how fast they're getting it done and see what the score is. We are definitely trying to make our room where we're not just sitting there the entire time and just really having a monologue. It's been interactive. And, I know that they've been going out and getting some work done.
So we try to talk about some of the techniques and we pull up some film of what we did do in winter camp because we had some periods of time where we were able to do some individual work, and for them to truly work on it and break it down to where you're crawling, you're walking, you're jogging, into you're sprinting so that it has that progression that they can get their body in a position where they can learn that hard skill, not the soft skill, the hard skill of what we're looking for in regards to wide receiver play.
On January enrollees KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Jaden Dottin:
You enroll early to try to get a head start and they have done that. They've been able to do that in the weight room, they've been able to try to change their bodies with our strength and conditioning staff, and they do a phenomenal job with them. And you can see already just the transformation that they're having with their body.
On top of that, I'm excited because they've been able to bond with some of the guys. When you come in as a new guy or a freshman, you've got to acclimate to the subculture of the room and you have to bond with the other guys. They've been able to do that now.
So I'm excited to see what Dottin brings to the table, because I know he's a guy that, when you talk to him off the field, he's kind of calm, very collected. And I'm happy to see him flip that switch on when he gets onto the field to have a little dog come out of.
KeAndre, Dre, he wants it. He has something different in him. There might be some sort of different motivation for him because you can tell he wants it. And he's willing to put the work in to reach that goal. We talk about the process, he the process, he wants the hard stuff, he wants to get coached and he has a little bit of that mentality of hating to lose, which is what I love. Because everybody loves to win, but who hates to lose?
I talked about those quizzes earlier. If he gets one wrong, especially one that he knows he should know, he gets fired up. They've both been doing a great job. I'm excited to see what they're going to do come this fall.
On Penn State's recruiting effort lately:
I think right now, this period of time, it allows recruits to really see the real side of a program without the flash. Because it's sometimes in recruiting, you can get blinded by the glitz and the glamour of seeing somebody's fancy words and nice polo and possibly what car they drive up to practice and all these antics.
What I think Coach Franklin has done a tremendous job with this whole staff is, he's put people in places in different departments, whether it be analytics, whether it be recruiting, player development, whatever, I think, families, and players, and recruits have been able to see how legit this program is. And everybody in recruiting talks about. I want to find a place where I feel comfortable. I think that you find that here when you really sit down and you cancel out some of the noise, and you say, okay, what's important to me? A great education, a top-tier program that has a chance to win a national championship, being around an established program that has an unbelievable history, and a place where you can feel comfortable in knowing that you are going to get developed as a person and as a player.
So, I think that this is a period of time that families can sit down and really recognize which programs are doing that and I think that's what has helped us over this last month, month and a half.
On impressions of recruiting through a pandemic at Penn State:
You better have your phone charged. You better have some outlets all over the place to make sure your electronics are charged, because right now you're going to be on it quite a bit, whether that be evaluating film, or whether that's taking calls, zoom calls, whatever it may be. So that's different. I mean all of us right here, shoot, if your iPhone goes dead, then we're missing out on some questions.
Recruiting has also changed and things have happened earlier. Some of the guys that are on this 2021 board that we have, there's maybe one or two that are in the, let's say top 10 of my board that are new, that, let's say we did not know about. But other than that, once again, Coach Franklin has done a great job of putting people in place that handle looking ahead.
And so, me getting here, there are some guys that okay, you look at them, OK, these are some really good guys. So now you just build relationships. So that's what we're doing right now. I do think our recruiting department and our creative department has had to find more creative ways to push out content of what our facilities look like. Each coach on staff, we've introduced them, so we have been finding creative ways to do these things during this time. But it's still about building relationships and that's what we've been able to do. And it has been more through these avenues of zoom or FaceTime or whatnot.
On challenges getting acclimated to Penn State in a pandemic:
That has been a challenge. I think it's been a challenge for all of us. Right after recruiting, we had a good five weeks before spring break and then we come back we work remotely. It has been challenging. Shoot, my house is supposed to be done here in about two weeks. I don't think it's going to be done in two weeks.
It's been a transition. We've had to change plans almost weekly as to when we go up there to actually move into our house. But there's a great support group. Other guys are going through it. Other guys are going through the transition as well.
Coach Franklin has been extremely supportive in regards to just understanding where everybody's at in the move. I'm fired up to be able to move into my house whenever that will be, but the town is kind of cool. You go walk down the streets when I was there and you see that there are some cooler shops and there are some cool little places to eat and whatnot. So I'm excited to just do more of that, and especially when the weather's a little bit nicer too.
On the depth chart. and what led to Daniel George and T.J. Jones joining Dotson as projected starters:
To be honest. Not a lot. And I told my guys when that depth chart comes out, it is ever-changing. And I told the guys that are at the top, do not sit there and beat your chest and be like, 'Hey, I made it.' And if you were a third or fourth string guy right now, to also not put your head down and say, 'Dang, I don't have a chance.'
Because we didn't really have spring ball and we have a room that's full of young guys. We do a little bit of workouts, I mean some of it, of how we kind of structure who's at X and who's at Z, a little bit of that. But yeah, it is going to be ever-changing right now. And I hope that everybody, every single one of them, is really motivated to either keep it where they're at or to change it. And so, I don't even think it was in pencil that it was written in, it might have been in watercolor ink, possibly disappearing ink, that that was written in.
On helping underachieving group last year reach potential:
The wide receiver room, the players that we're talking about, the players in the room right now, they did not really play last year. So I do think a lot of the attention to this room as underachieving, there's a lot of the guys in the room that did not even play.
So, what I'm approaching these guys with is, whatever is said about last year's team, who had a phenomenal year, this is 2020 and we have guys in this room that need to be ready to take the next step in their career, in our development, as our room, to just produce. Flat-out produce.
I'm not talking to J.D. and saying J.D., you know what, last year, your rout against Michigan really wasn't... I'm not saying that to him because he didn't play. There's just a lot of young guys that now have to, after being here a year, whether it be two years, they have to be ready to make a big play.
On the impact of lack of experience on leadership in the room:
Obviously, when you've played, like Han, you have some instant credibility to you. So the natural leader would be somebody like a Jahan, but I don't think Jahan is somebody who likes to be extremely vocal. I think that he's kind of a quiet guy that likes to do what he's supposed to.
And so, are we challenging him on that? Absolutely, but in a way that he's comfortable with.
There are guys like Daniel George that some guys look up to because they've seen his work ethic. Guys like Lutz, that have earned the respect of the team. I mean there's guys like (Justin) Weller, who's a pretty smart guy, and so when guys have questions, they come to him. So there are different kinds of ways that right now, that the leaders have been trying to be formed.
And you're right, it is still something that is going to be developed, and I still think that's something that's going to come together. And it's going to come together, probably a little bit easier, when we do start practicing to see a little bit more of somebody trying to bring the guys together, who's going to be the second voice or a reflection of my voice in our room. I do think that we have a few guys that are willing to step up, so I'm excited about that.
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