At Penn State, Brian Gaia has been accustomed to playing with one hand behind his back.
Gaia, a two-way prospect out of Maryland’s Gilman School, spent his first two years at Penn State on the defensive line, behind studs like Jordan Hill, DaQuan Jones, Kyle Baublitz and Austin Johnson.
Then, in the spring of 2014 when James Franklin arrived as head coach, Gaia switched to the offensive line.
He transitioned quickly, starting at guard 25 of 26 games over the past two seasons. Still, he was a visible part of an oft-criticized offensive line trying to protect a round-pegged quarterback stuck in a square-hole offense. It got rocky.
Now, he’s playing one-armed again. Only this time it’s on purpose. With purpose.
Gaia will be the Nittany Lions’ starting center come fall – the first time he’s ever played the position as he enters Year 5 at Penn State.
“Brian has made huge leaps between the end of last year to now,” said Andrew Nelson, a fellow Nittany Lion linemate. “He has really adopted the leadership mentality. He’s really taken on the ‘I’m going to master my craft’ mentality. You see him out there snapping every day and really being a leader of the unit.”
He made the switch from guard to center just weeks before Penn State’s most recent spring practices started, more than four years after he signed with PSU and then-head coach Bill O’Brien on Feb. 1, 2012.
“Coach Franklin asked me as we were headed into spring ball, during winter,” Gaia recalled last Saturday, prior to Lift For Life. “They asked me as one of the returning inside guys if I’d feel comfortable playing center. It was obviously easier than the transition from offense to defense.”
IT’S (ALMOST) ALL NEW
Now a graduate student with an undergraduate degree in management, Gaia is the lynchpin of a new spread offense that makes many demands of its center.
The transition has been multi-tiered. After a decade of organized football, Gaia is not only playing a new position. It’s a new position in a new offense. In fact, it’s a new position in a new offense that is up-tempo and requires a deep snap to the quarterback on every play. Not only that, it’s a new position in a new offense that is up-tempo and requires a deep snap to the quarterback on every play and never stops to huddle.
And…you get the idea. But wait, there’s more.
Gaia also makes the initial call for the O-linemen on every play. “I come out and make the Mike (middle linebacker) points and all that stuff,” Gaia explained. “Then (quarterback) Trace (McSorley) gives us the actual play and we’re all set to go. It’s about the same as last year, just different actual words that we’re saying.”
Gaia has worked hard to absorb all the changes all at once. He got some pointers from past Penn State linemen Stefen Wisniewski and Angelo Mangiro, both of whom played guard and center. He made dozens of extra snaps to McSorley every day after spring practice. And he screwed up a lot.
“If I didn’t really focus in the spring, I’d sail a snap over the quarterback’s head or pull one way left,” Gaia said. “You just have to get the muscle memory of getting the ball back there every time and then blocking your person.”
McSorley thinks hiking the ball, as well as serving as a squad leader this summer, is now a snap for Gaia.
“I’ve been really impressed by Brian and his leadership,” said McSorley last Saturday. “He’s taken a lot of guys under his reins and really taken that role as being the veteran offensive lineman in that group. He’s done a great job moving to center. It’s been a seamless transition. The first couple weeks getting snaps was something he wanted to work on a lot. I’d stay after practice and get 50 snaps with him, just letting him get that feeling.”
NOT A BLOCK PARTY
Gaia admitted one of the toughest parts about the switch has been learning how to block with just one hand, since the other is otherwise initially occupied with snapping the ball.
“It was a little rough at first, snapping and blocking people,” he said. “It’s a lot different, because you only have one hand to start, so you have to make sure you get your off-hand in there fast because they’re going to get the jump on you.
“A lot of times you have help; it’s really just when you’re solo with a weird look and you have to block a guy by yourself. At first, it was really hard because you’re used to being able to go two hands on someone. You have to make sure that off-hand placement is perfect.”
The 6-foot-3 Gaia weighs in at 290 pounds these days, down from the 300 he carried the past two seasons. That’s essential, since a faster offense places more of a premium on stamina and quickness.
“I want to keep it a healthy weight since we’re a no-huddle team now,” he said. “This offense gives us more of an attacking mentality, so if we snap the ball and pop a big run we’re right back on you and ready for the next play. It gives us the opportunity to get the defense on its heels and wear them down a little bit.”
SO FAR, SO GOOD. SO FAR…
After 15 practices at center in the spring, as well as a summer filled with 7-on-7’s and all kinds of veteran player-led drills, Gaia said he is happy with how he’s handled the second-biggest transition of his Penn State career.
But he does admit he can’t be sure until the 2016 season – his last at Penn State — begins.
“Going against a really good All-Big Ten defensive tackle in front of 107,000 people is a lot different than going against a scout team in practice,” he said. “Experience helps with confidence. If you’re not confident going into the snap, you lose right there.”
