For the first time in over a decade, it wasn’t James Franklin who met with the media after practice on Wednesday. Interim head coach Terry Smith took on that responsibility as he looks to right the ship in Happy Valley.
Smith touched on the impact of Franklin’s dismissal on the locker room, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer’s poise ahead of his first college start at Iowa and what he expects his team to show on Saturday in Kinnick Stadium.
Here are the highlights.
Taking the ‘e’ out of emotion.
The former cornerbacks coach painted a somber scene of Penn State’s last few days, starting on Sunday when Franklin’s firing became official. He said Franklin addressed the team one final time before he said a few words, then the team’s normal film study and practice were canceled to allow players a brief grieving period. Monday, which typically serves as an off day, was instead a practice day, as well as Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Sunday was really traumatizing to them,” Smith said. “Monday, they calmed down a little bit, but had some anger in them. And then yesterday was, show up for practice and give some effort. And today was, hey, we’ll run a little harder today. So I think we’re headed the right direction. We just got to close the gap quicker.”
Under Franklin, the Nittany Lions epitomized the 1-0 mantra and never spent time dwelling on past results, good or bad. This week, it seems that’s no longer the case.
Both current and former players expressed frustration with the decision to fire Franklin throughout the week, and it seems that impacted the level of effort at practice.
“Obviously this is a challenging week,” Smith said. “I think the guys are responding somewhat. We still have some work to do. You know, they’re all hurt and torn and disappointed in what happened. Coach brought everyone in the building in.”
Smith said he’s seen progress each day as the team looks to get back to practicing hard and moving forward with the second half of the season.
Grunkemeyer’s growth
After starting quarterback Drew Allar’s injury late in a 22-21 loss to Northwestern last Saturday, Ethan Grunkemeyer was abruptly thrust into action, not unlike Smith’s situation a day later.
Grunkemeyer has spoken about preparing as if he’s the starter, but going through a full week of practice with QB1 reps was still a new experience. Smith said the two sat down for a conversation on Tuesday and he’s handled himself well leading up to a challenging first start.
“He’s handled all the checks at the line of scrimmage,” Smith said. “We haven’t had any communication errors at the line of scrimmage, so he seems to be adjusting well. He’s doing good, making all the right checks. I’m kind of excited to see him. I think he’s going to give us a volt of energy.”
Preaching physicality
Smith promised that regardless of the outcome, the team will play hard on Saturday against the Hawkeyes, something that can’t be said for the previous two games. Despite some sluggish practices, he isn’t worried about the product on gameday.
“These kids are gonna play hard Saturday. I can see that,” Smith said. “I talked to them, I talked to the Leadership Council. One thing I won’t accept is a lack of effort, and the guys know that. They understand that.”
On Monday, Smith said he wants to “bring swag back.” He said he hoped to rekindle his players’ love of the game, which he felt had dwindled in recent weeks amid unmet expectations and three consecutive losses.
Smith said he reminded the Nittany Lions about their love for football, and that it produces an opportunity to take out frustrations in a unique way.
“This is the outlet that we’re going to look for,” Smith said. “It is physically OK to punish the Iowa players, much like they’re trying to do to us, but channel your energy in the right way, stay disciplined and knock them off the ball every play, and then get up, do it all over again and have fun while you’re doing it.”
