UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The first day of practice his freshman year at Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki wasn’t sure what to do.
Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach John Donovan instructed Gesicki and the rest of his position mates to move into a three-point stance, something the talented former high school receiver was unsure about.
“I kind of stood there and was like, ‘I don’t, [know]. I’m not really sure how to get down and all the specifics and all this,’ ” Gesicki, now a sophomore and the team’s starting tight end said Wednesday on a conference call. “I never really played the position in high school. It was definitely a huge adjustment.”
Gesicki caught 11 passes for 114 yards last season and was one of eight scholarship freshmen to appear in a game. They all had growing pains, but now have a year’s worth of experience to take into the Nittany Lions’ opener against Temple at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The scholarship sophomores are part of a recruiting class that coach James Franklin and his staff put the finishing touches on while moving to town and having to re-recruit many of them whether they previously gave Penn State, Vanderbilt (where Franklin coach before coming to the Nittany Lions) or any other school a verbal pledge. Last year they were impact freshmen, learning on the fly while earning their teammates’ trust.
“I think it helped for this year, but, at times, it was painful last year, you know, that we were relying on so many young guys in so many key spots,” Franklin said. “I think there’s a little bit, you know, in football, a rite of passage, you know, that you’re sent to the scout team for a year and you earn your stripes down there and then kind of come up, where our guys, we didn’t really have the ability to do that.”
This year, sophomores Gesicki, safety Marcus Allen, linebacker Jason Cabinda, cornerback Grant Haley and receiver Chris Godwin are in line to start. Cornerback Christian Campbell, safety Troy Apke and receiver Saeed Blacknall will be key contributors as well.
The players who were recruited with them in that class, like redshirt freshman running back Mark Allen, who is listed as Akeel Lynch’s top backup, reserve safety/kick-returner Koa Farmer, and receiver DeAndre Thompkins, among others, will get their first playing time.
Earning their teammates’ trust took some freshmen longer than others. Haley, who played in every game and was the kick-returner while easing into cornerback duties, had his breakout game in November when Penn State beat Temple, 30-13, teammate Trevor Williams said. Haley returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown, more than enough proof for Williams that Haley was ready.
This time around against the Owls, Haley is in line to make his second career start. His first came in the team’s Pinstripe Bowl victory against Boston College .
Allen, who started the final seven games last season, will join him with a starting role at safety. They’ll have Cabinda, the sophomore linebacker, working in front of them.
“I’m close with everyone in my class, but me, Christian [Campbell], Grant [Haley], Troy [Apke] we’re pretty much like brothers,” Allen said. “We’re very close. We used to just work every day like after practice as freshmen. We didn’t take anything for granted, we still don’t.”
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
First Published: September 3, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
