UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With six practices in the books for the spring
season, the Nittany Lion football team is nearing the mid-point of spring
practice period.
The Lions will practice two more times this week, on Wednesday and Friday. Before returning to the practice field this
week, new safeties coach Anthony Midget took some time to address the media on
a conference call. Take a look through a
Q&A with Coach Midget to see how his first spring in Happy Valley is going
and see an update on safeties.
Q:
Was there any hesitation accepting the job to coach at Penn State?
Midget: "Not at all. It was an
opportunity to come and be a part of Penn State. Yes, I understand what I was getting in to,
but there was never a doubt in my mind with Coach O'Brien and what the guys did
last year that I wanted to be a part of this staff and to be a part of getting
this thing turned around and taking this thing to the next level."
Q:
You did a little bit of everything when you were at Georgia State; how
different has it been for you to be able to just focus on one group?
Midget: "It has been great. When
I first got to Georgia State, I was the special teams coordinator and coaching
all four in the secondary. And then when
I got promoted to defensive coordinator, I still had all four (in the
secondary). And now here being able to
focus on one position has been great. I
think the game has changed so much, and I think it is a benefit to have two
secondary coaches and split it up so that guys are able to work with just the
safeties and corners. It has been truly
a blessing being at practice. Coach
Butler and I work well together. We meet
together, and we work together, but to be at practice and just work with the
safeties has been very good."
Q:
What has been the learning curve for you during spring practice?
Midget: "Well, it was actually good for me to be here a couple weeks
before we started practice. I had an
opportunity to sit through all of the cut-ups and basically learn the defense
while we were sitting in there watching cut-ups. It was beneficial. And then to have Coach Butler working with me
in the secondary to help the transition, it made it that much smoother. Actually, it has been an easy transition
picking up on things and fitting in with the defensive staff and picking up on
terminology."
Q:
How have the veteran safeties - Malcolm Willis and Stephen Obeng-Agyapong -
helped your transition here?
Midget: "That has been a key. To
have two seniors that have played a lot of football makes it a lot easier to
come in as opposed to if I was dealing with a lot of freshmen or guys that
didn't have a lot of playing experience.
To have two seniors back there - Malcolm Willis has been great,
especially as a tremendous leader, and also Obeng; he has been a great
leader. Those guys are basically coaches
on the field who understand the defense and understand what we want, and they
can help us with the younger guys and their understanding of the system."
Q:
Can you describe the way you perceive yourself as a coach?
Midget: "I am energetic. I coach
with a lot of passion. If you come watch
me coach, that is probably what you will see.
Coach Butler is the same way. It
is just a great fit for both of us back there.
I think the guys feed off of it.
We coach them hard. You have to
be demanding to get what you want, but at the end of the day we are able to
take that and turn the switch off and be a mentor or whatever we need to be to
the players. On the field, we are very energetic and very demanding and high
energy coaches that just love the game, and it shows the way we coach."
Q:
What do you see as Adrian Amos' role with the defense this year? And can you
talk about some of the younger safeties and some of their strengths and
weaknesses?
Midget: "Adrian Amos is a guy who played many roles for us last
year. He will probably do the same thing
this year. He is a guy that we can move
around to play safety, to play corner, to play nickel and can do many different
things for us. It's guys like that who
help us out because of his versatility.
Some young guys, we have moved Malik Golden to safety. He is a guy who is very talented that has
done some good things that I am very excited about. Take a guy like (Ryan) Keiser that had a
great offseason and it is translating to the practice field. So, I am excited about Keiser and Golden
moving forward at the safety spot, and I am excited about the playmaking abilities
they can bring to the position."
Q:
What is one characteristic Coach O'Brien has that sticks out to you?
Midget: "How passionate he is for the game. He is a great offensive mind, but one thing
that stands out is how great of relationship he has with the players and he can
really relate to the players. But his
overall passion for the game and his leadership is unbelievable. It has been great. I am blessed to be able to sit in the staff
meetings and learn from him and continue to grow. But he has been just great. But I would say the one thing is that the way
he interacts with the guys and his leadership ability."
Follow
GoPSUsports.com's Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
Spring Q&A: Anthony Midget Talks New Role, Spring Drills & Safeties
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