Coordinator acknowledges shortcomings
Pry elaborates on ‘shoddy’ tackling, adjustments that were made too late
Life in the pandemic is rough, especially when you’re going through an 0-5 start at Penn State. Losing so many games takes a toll in various ways. When you’re the defensive coordinator of a team that allowed 30 or more points in five losses, as the Nittany Lions did, the stress can become visible.
According to Brent Pry, his tension reflects in his hair becoming grayer and his waistline smaller.
“That’s what 0-5 will do to you, man,” Pry quipped. “I’m down about 20 pounds, too.”
If there’s a positive for Pry, it’s that he’s one of a few Americans who dropped some weight in the pandemic. Of course, most didn’t have their best player — linebacker Micah Parsons — opt out.
And Pry couldn’t have imagined there would be so many injuries to players such as cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields. He acknowledges the losses without making any excuses.
“Micah’s presence was missed. He’s somewhat of an eraser,” Pry said in his first media session since the preseason. “When somebody is out of the gap or not in the right place, a guy like Micah can go track him down. What would be a 12- or 14-yard gain becomes a 5- or 6-yard gain with Micah on the field.
“So we miss that a little bit, but I think the guys have been improving. I’ve been pretty pleased with our stuff in the box. I think the guys on all the interior runs, I’ve been pleased. We’re just not making plays out in space that we’ve made in the past.”
Pry heard the critiques from broadcast booths to Twitter about the lack of a defensive presence through those five brutal weeks. No matter how harsh the words were, they weren’t sharper than Pry’s evaluation.
“The criticism starts with me,” he said. “That was some pretty shoddy tackling going on. Loose is the best word. There was just too much space, and we’re not getting in a good position to make the tackle. And when we did, we didn’t wrap.”
A lot of schools believe the head coach should be the singular voice of the program. Penn State adheres to the practice, explaining why Pry didn’t speak with reporters during the losing streak. But on Thursday, Pry was candid about why the defense didn’t get the job done before wins against Michigan and Rutgers.
“At the high school level and in college, tackling’s a lost art,” Pry said. “I don’t think we were very good at it to start the year. ... You practice it the best you can.
“It’s something we practice all the time. I’ve been most disappointed in my position. It’s the linebackers [who have been] a little bit of an issue. We’ve tackled well in the box, but we haven’t tackled well in space at my spot. Not well enough.”
Pry didn’t leave the blame on the players. He admitted that his schemes were too complicated for a group of first- and second-year starters. Pry simplified the defense heading into the Michigan game, resulting in a win. He kept it rolling with a bludgeoning of Rutgers.
Pry remembered one key factor: Even with all the injuries, the Nittany Lions are the more talented team against any Big Ten Conference opponent, except for perhaps Ohio State.
“I did a poor job,” Pry said. “I should’ve scaled things back earlier. Without having spring and having an insufficient camp, I should’ve scaled things back.”
Penn State held Rutgers to 12 rushing yards in the first half. The defense looked faster and more robust than at any other point this year. It wasn’t about the opponent. Penn State finally looked like Penn State.
“That was the first game where I felt like we looked like ourselves. We were gang-tackling,” Pry said. “We were running by people to get to the ball. We were reckless. We weren’t perfect. We still made mistakes in that game, but I thought we looked a lot more like ourselves.”
Michigan State enters a game Saturday against the Nittany Lions with just two wins, but don’t sneeze at the 24 record. One of those wins was against Northwestern, which will play Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. The Spartans can leave Beaver Stadium with another win if the Nittany Lions don’t tackle well.
Pry wants his unit to build on beating Rutgers.
“We talked about one of the things: We had a lot of guys as the second and third man trying to strip and punch [the ball during the] offseason instead of coming in and putting pads on the guy and finishing and getting knock-backs,” Pry said. “So it was a big approach going into the game. We needed to get back to gang tackling and pushing the pile, and guys responded.”