UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sophomore tight end Mike Gesicki shook his head and smiled. He knew the question was coming when he met with reporters for the first time in at least a month.
What did you learn about yourself this season?
Gesicki was asked that last week at Penn State’s TaxSlayer Bowl media day, and while the Lions’ Jan. 2 game in Jacksonville, Fla., could be an opportunity for Gesicki to regain confidence, this season was full of growing pains.
“It definitely didn’t go the way that I planned it to. Definitely didn’t go the way any of you guys planned it to,” Gesicki said, thinking back to a preseason full of high expectations.
He caught 13 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown.
“I’m excited for another opportunity this season and I’m excited for the next two years, but most importantly I’m just excited to continue to grow and to develop and get better.”
Poised for a breakout season this year, it was anything but for Gesicki, a 6-foot-6, 255-pounder whose athleticism was the talk of last offseason. One of the team’s top performers in the weight room and a former high school basketball, volleyball and football standout with stellar skills and athleticism, he dropped seven passes while being criticized for his blocking and penalties. He didn’t make the trip for the regular-season finale against Michigan State because of a shoulder injury but said the time off leading up to the bowl game has helped him heal.
Handling criticism made this season unlike any other for Gesicki, and while he removed himself from social media — particularly Twitter, which he deleted from his phone — he said he was harder on himself than anyone else. He has since returned to Instagram, but said he has no interest in hearing what others outside the team have to say about his play.
“I don’t read anything anymore, I don’t look at anything anymore,” he said.
When people asked Gesicki if he would be OK and how he was holding up mentally, he told them not to overreact to his on-field struggles. The same guy who likes to joke and dance around was humbled, though he said that same fun-loving person is still there thanks to his support system of teammates, family and friends. Despite his shaken confidence, he has learned to tune out his critics.
“I’d obviously rather go through it now than in the future,” he said. “It’ll be my fault if I don’t use it the right way to become better from it. If I don’t take these negatives and turn them into positives, then I didn’t go through this process the right way.”
Former Penn State offensive coordinator John Donovan, who also coached the tight ends, was fired after the loss to Michigan State. Gesicki called his former position coach to thank him and to tell him that their conversations this season, ones where Donovan told Gesicki to “be his biggest critic,” didn’t fall on deaf ears.
Penn State’s tight ends caught 32 passes for 296 yards and one touchdown this season, numbers redshirt junior Brent Wilkerson said didn’t sit well with anyone in the group. Wilkerson and Gesicki met with new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead last week and will use this offseason to learn the playbook and put this season behind them.
“I think we were all disappointed in our production,” Wilkerson said. “We’re looking forward to this last game and going out there and ending on a positive. We’ll work hard in the offseason, and then next year go out and prove everybody wrong.”
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
First Published: December 25, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
