Meet Penn State Football’s unsung heroes of Nittany Lions’ 3-0 Start

Penn State Football Defensive Coordinator – Brent Pry

Brent Pry has done a great job of putting this Penn State Football defense in position to be successful so far this season.

I am no John Madden, but from what I can tell, Pry has his unit in good formations and schemes more often than not. He has also done a great job so far of dialing up the blitz, while at the same time not leaving too many holes in the second and third level.

Pry has thrown a lot of different looks towards opposing offenses. On a third down early in the second quarter against Ball State, Pry had a dime defense on the field (six defensive backs), and the only defensive lineman in a three point stance was PJ Mustipher. The defense was visibly confused, as they did not know who would be blitzing, and who would be dropping into coverage.

As well as defensive coordinator, Pry is also the linebackers coach. The entire linebacker group, especially Ellis Brooks, has looked so much better than they have in the past, and Pry deserves a lot of credit for that.

Brent Pry’s defense is top 15 in all of Power 5 as far as points allowed, giving up 14.3 points per game.

Finally, the other coaches on the defensive side of the ball deserve a ton of credit too, especially Anthony Poindexter (safeties) and Terry Smith (cornerbacks), as the secondary has been excellent.