There was a fight of sorts taking place on the Penn State football practice field Friday morning, under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and wrapped in the frigid air that comes with a 5:30 a.m. February workout in Happy Valley.
Quarterback Matt McGloin was in the middle of it, as usual.
As a concession to the 30-degree temperatures, in addition to his blue sweats and tights, McGloin was wearing white gloves and a blue knit cap.
Curtis Drake was there, too. The receiver cum Wildcat wore a grey homemade do-rag, an earring and a half-frozen smile.
But — unlike a locker room scuffle involving the pair 62 days ago in the midst of a scandal-torn football season– this time around was different for the two players. This fracas had a purpose. And they weren’t fighting each other, either.
As part of Friday’s early morning outdoor workout session that was open to the media, Penn State’s players faced off in an eight-foot circle outlined in orange tubing. There they wrestled, mano-a-mano.
The clashes were actually encouraged – sanctioned, if you were. McGloin and Drake were cheering on fellow teammates. And everyone had to have four matches.
“Do you want some of this?” laughed one of the wrestling Lions to a reporter, the player on his knee after taking a teammate to the ground.
It was here that defensive tackle Jordan Hill went at it with offensive tackle Adam Gress – a combined 601 pounds and 151 inches of Lion linemen going half-Cael Sanderson, half-WWF and all-out. Hill got the best of Gress, in part because he pulled Gress’ shirt over his head.
“You liking this?” Drake was asked between bouts.
“Oh….yeah,” he answered while sucking a bit of cold wind.
“Is it fun?’
“Well…yeah, kind of…” Drake said, his face looking a bit numb and his hands ice cold. “As much as it can be.”
BACK TO FOOTBALL (WITHOUT THE FOOTBALL)
It’s work with a purpose. New head coach Bill O’Brien had his band of Lions outside working out not just to keep them in shape, but to reshape their minds and their mindsets – back to football. Even though there wasn’t a pigskin in sight.
“This is a great thing for the kids,” said a longtime member of the Penn State athletic department, his hands stuffed in his pockets, watching underneath the Friday Not Night Lights.
“This is what they need after going through all that they did last year. They deserve to have some fun, to focus just on football. They’ve been great. Look at them.”
At one end of the field, a running back was running around cones and then taking a flying leap over a three-foot hurdle onto a big blue landing pad. At the other end were the wrestling rings.
And at midfield, the QBs and receivers had moved onto to some up-downs, followed by a 15-yard sprint. That’s where McGloin was getting an earful.
Dwight Galt, an assistant strength and conditioning coach hired just this week, was barking orders at the erstwhile signal-caller as McGloin upped and then downed – then downed and upped. The 6-foot, 4-inch Galt, dressed in old-fashioned grey sweats, looked like an old-fashioned drill sergeant. Sounded like one too.
Galt used to play defensive line for the Maryland Terrapins before heading to South Carolina to work for Penn State’s new strength coach, Craig Fitzgerald. Even though O’Brien’s career has been built on working with quarterbacks, that doesn’t mean he isn’t happy when an old D-lineman gives one of his new QBs a hard time.
“There’s a lot of spirit and enthusiasm; that’s what Fitz does,” O’Brien said after practice to a group of about 20 reporters. “And at the same time they’re getting better. I wouldn’t say we have 100 percent buy-in, but we’re getting there. The guys have seen improvement in their own performance, so that’s good.”
FIGHT AT THE FINISH
Practice ended before sunrise, with the biggest gladiators, some of the team’s stars and leaders, going one-on-one, offense vs. defense. One player grabbed hold of “The Tug,” a hard plastic, three-foot wide blue saucer. His opponent grabbed the other end. Then, surrounded by scores of their teammates and coaches, they tugged. Cue Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York.”
Michael Zordich vs. Gerald Hodges.
It was great theater, Zordich in his kerchief and Hodges in a black knit hat that covered his head and most of his face. To cheers of “Z…Z…Z,” Zordich pulled Hodges over the finish line, a win for the offense.
Hill vs. John Urschel.
That match was over much faster, Hill adding to the dominance he showed in the ring. Based on Friday morning, there may be no Still in 2012, but it sure looks like defenses will get their fill of Hill.
With the players at a fever pitch, O’Brien called them into a big group huddle. After a few words, the new coach reminded the rejuvenated players that there was a team meeting at 3 o’clock Friday afternoon.
Then O’Brien turned over the end of practice to running back Silas Redd, who may be a junior next season but is a leader now.
“It’s on us, it’s on us,” Redd barked to his teammates. “It’s on us to carry this team.”
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