Penn State football strength coach Chuck Losey was available for media on Monday following a summer weightlifting session. Though Trebor Pena and Amare Campbell weren't present at the lift, Losey discussed their fit with the Nittany Lions, the program's summer goals as a whole, and how the freshmen are generally performing and adjusting to Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are currently in their second micro-cycle of the summer entering the sixth week of training. Due to schedule adjustments in the spring, Losey said they were ready to dive into summer training despite the long postseason run.
"My goal every July when we test and evaluate is to be better than what we were the year before," Losey said, according to BlueWhite Illustrated. ". . . I got to bulletproof these guys to get them through fall camp because that time is so valuable from a football standpoint . . . they can't miss anything because of some type of physical limitation."
Adapting transfers to the program isn't difficult, according to Losey. He said that in knowing the talent and personality coming into the program, having a shorter amount of time in strength training doesn't effect their summer progress as much.
"Priority number one is just to get them comfortable within our team and getting them fit into our culture . . . we knew who they were from an athlete standpoint. Athletically, we knew what their capabilities were, both of them" Losey said of Pena and Campbell. "Pena, I knew that we could make jumps in his speed and his ability to be dynamic on the field . . . [Campbell's] in a little bit [of a] different situation: combo position player [and] probably came in a little bit more under-conditioned than Pena . . . again, it goes back to movement [and] efficiency."
At Syracuse, Pena had 84 catches for 941 yards and nine touchdowns. He also had 12 carries for 72 yards and one rushing touchdown. The wide receiver should to be part of the answer to the Nittany Lions' biggest gap on offense from 2024-25. Devonte Ross and Kyron Hudson were other additions in the position's room, however, Pena is expected to take the starting spot.
Defensively, Penn State's incoming freshmen are impressing the strength coach too. With the strides made in the summer, Losey said that the group contains "high output" players with a lot of power and strong mentality.
Aside from the defensemen, he also named offensive lineman Malachi Goodman as one of the newcomers standing out. The five-star and top 20 recruit from the class of 2025 was someone the staff new had natural talent. Over the course of the summer, Goodman improved week by week and quickly adjusted to the program's demands.
Nevada is the first opponent on the Nittany Lions' 2025 schedule, slated for Aug. 30, meaning Penn State can begin its fall camp early August. Player evaluation is set to start the week of July 20.