The Iowa State linebacker room was transplanted into Happy Valley this offseason when Kooper Ebel, Caleb Bacon and Cael Brezina transferred to Penn State, bringing much-needed depth at the second level of the defense.
Despite their familiarity with each other and with head coach Matt Campbell, the group has to learn a wildly different scheme under defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
“It’s been a big difference … We definitely have had to unlearn some old habits, not necessarily bad habits, but old habits,” Ebel said after the Blue-White Practice on Saturday.
Instead of the 3-3-5 defense run by the Cyclones, the Nittany Lions will operate out of a 4-3-4 base defense this fall, meaning different responsibilities for the linebackers.
With an extra defensive lineman on the field, the group has been lining up further from the line of scrimmage — five yards as opposed to three — and must be more versatile in their responsibilities. With three down linemen at Iowa State, the defense was susceptible to the run unless the backers were quick to get downhill and fill gaps. Adding an extra defensive tackle lessens that burden.
“There’s definitely a different flow to it, I guess I would say,” Ebel said. “I would say the biggest thing is that I almost had to learn how to have patience. I felt like in the old defense, you either won or lost your rep on your first step because you were so close to the line of scrimmage. But I feel like I’ve almost had to teach myself to like, ‘Hey, you can slow down a little bit. You can let the play develop, and then you can read it and play fast.’”
Communication has become an important element under Lynn, which Ebel is right in the middle of as the Mike linebacker. Though the team has experimented with different players, Ebel has primarily worn the green dot with in-helmet communication, a responsibility he carried during Saturday’s showcase inside Beaver Stadium.
“The more you play with people, you kind of get a feel for one another, and you start to flow, just things become more smooth,” Ebel said. “So I felt like we did a great job there. We have a great team, from our D-line to our back seven and just working together. Obviously, there’s a ton of communication. There’s a lot of things between the whistles. So I think the biggest growth that we had is the things between the whistles, all the communication, the alignments, all the mental side.”
As the expected starter, Ebel’s command of Lynn’s system will be central to Penn State’s defensive identity in the fall. Campbell thinks he’s shown growth from his three seasons at Iowa State, when he totaled 149 tackles, including a team-best 77 last year.
“Kooper Ebel, we felt was one of the best linebackers in the country coming back, and I think he has really grown himself forward,” Campbell said.
