BWI Live: A Penn State football podcast from Blue White Illustrated

Penn State presumably punched its first ticket to the NCAA tournament since 2011. Today the BWI Penn State Hoops podcast discusses The Nittany Lions' 79-76 win over Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament. Nate Bauer and Thomas Frank Carr break down the game, the storylines that led into the event, and what happens next for the team.

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The BWI Daily Edition prepares you for spring football with a preview of the next week hosted by Nate Bauer and Sean Fitz. Today they’ll discuss the camp battles that they find interesting, give an update on the defensive line coach search, and discuss what they expect to hear from head coach James Franklin. 

Check out the full show tonight at 7 pm on YouTube. If you haven’t yet, subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube and enable notifications. 

No news yet on a Penn State defensive line coach

Penn State insider Sean Fitz has nothing solid yet on who head coach James Franklin will hire as his next defensive line coach. In fact, he says that no one outside of Franklin knows anything. However, he does think there’s a timeline for when news could come out.

“Every time, it’s getting tighter, and it’s getting even worse to cover. But I think they’ll have something soon. Of course, with spring practice starting to or Tuesday, you’ve got that, I guess, an unofficial barrier that you have to get something in place before that, not necessarily have to do it, but it seems like they want to get something done. So a Friday news dump would not surprise me for the defensive line position,” he said. 

The Nittany Lions still have defensive line assistant and analyst Deion Barnes on staff, so the transition, whenever it happens, can be smooth. Barnes remains a candidate to get the job as well. 

Next, Bauer and Fitz preview what Franklin will address in his Tuesday press conference to start spring practice. Bauer knows the rhythm of how these press conferences go.

“I think he’s going to talk about the newcomers. I mean, is there anything that you’re specifically looking for from that press conference on Tuesday that sort of sets the stage of? Because it happens every year? Right. There’s always a theme. I think he’s going to talk about the newcomers,” Bauer comments. 

Penn State’s early enrollees usually take center stage as the media are curious about the players they don’t know yet. However, there’s also another aspect of this that Fitz touches on during the conversation. Check out the show for more. 

A real quarterback battle?

Finally, Bauer and Fitz tackle a tricky subject. Is there an actual, honest quarterback battle brewing for spring practice? Or will freshman backup and former five-star prospect Drew Allar be the undisputed starter over fellow Class of 2022 quarterback Beau Pribula?

“I guess this is kind of the natural trajectory of this conversation, right? What are we doing with quarterback? How are we going to frame this? Because in the minds of literally everyone, I don’t know anyone outside of the internal coach-speak who is framing this as a battle,” Bauer says. 

It’s a problem Fitz understands keenly when discussing the topic with source.

“It’s so funny because, when you talk to people in the program, you have to sort of filter out what’s going on in terms of Beau because they are so excited about this kid.In another year, if Drew’s not here, he’s a starter. That’s kind of where they feel about this, and you have to balance out what that means in relation to Drew.”

Penn State’s spring practice media day starts on Tuesday. Check out Blue White Illustrated on YouTube to get James Franklin’s comments to kick off spring football.

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Recently, Blue White Illustrated got the chance to view a boxing class taught by martial arts trainer Bruce Lomabard where he instructed Penn State offensive linemen the art of using their hands effectively. Today, he sits down with host Thomas Frank Carr to discuss his MMAFx program, how he developed this football specific training regimen. He also gives his thoughts on his pupils and what he's seen of their progression so far.

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With spring football just around the corner, the BWI Daily Edition is gearing up by checking out the updated roster released after winter conditioning. Host Thomas Frank Carr and reporter Greg Pickel will discuss the group's most interesting weight gains and losses and single out any players that grabbed their attention. 

They'll also discuss the recent NFL Combine and which players had a good day or a bad day, depending on their performance in testing metrics. Lastly, Pickel will recap the Big Ten wrestling championships and Penn State's dominant run to another conference title. He'll also preview how the weekend set the team up for the NCAA tournament. 

As always, you get a final say on what T-Frank and Pickel talk about! Join the show at 7 pm to discuss what's on your mind by joining the live chat. Subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube and enable notifications, so you don't miss any live shows or breaking news. 

Penn State roster Udpate

One of the larger swings on the Penn State roster came at the offensive line, where several players made big jumps in overall weight. Overall the offensive line gained 255 pounds or just over 12 pounds per player. So Does that mean the team is intentionally getting bigger, like head coach James Franklin wondered out loud after the team's loss to Michigan? Or is it a normal course of growth for this time of year? T-Frank and Pickel will discuss that idea on the show and give their thoughts on how the team progressed this offseason. 

Another position group that T-Frank wants to discuss is linebacker. Several Penn State stars made big jumps at that position too. What does Abdul Carter's weight gain mean for his position? The same can be said about Curtis Jacobs, who packed on some pounds during winter conditioning. 

Combine testing results in poor overall showing

Next, T-Frank will give his thoughts about the standout Penn State performers from the 2023 NFL Combine. He'll argue why Brenton Strange and Juice Scruggs stood out at crowded positions while Ji'Ayir Brown failed to reach several benchmarks. 

Penn State Wrestling takes home the championship

The Penn State wrestling team's dominance continues this year, with a regular season title and now a Big Ten Tournament title. What's more, the group sent nine contestants to the NCAA championships with their efforts this past weekend. As Pickel previously reported, the team also crowned four champions.

Super senior Roman Bravo-Young and senior Aaron Brooks are now three-time Big Ten champs. 'RBY' beat Minnesota's Aaron Nagao in the 133-pound finals to cap off a perfect tournament. At 184 pounds, Brooks crushed Kaleb Romero of Ohio State 11-2 in the finals. Junior Carter Starocci is a two-time Big Ten champ at 174 pounds. He beat Nebraska's Mikey Labriola 6-2 in the finals after a 2-0 effort led him there. Finally, freshman phenom Levi Haines won his first conference crown by beating top-seeded Peyton Robb 3-1 in a thrilling sudden victory outcome.

Read the rest of his article by clicking here. 

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Penn State hasn't named a new defensive line coach yet, but the region is ripe with quality defensive line prospects this cycle. Whoever gets the next shot will have a lot of targets. Today on the BWI Recruiting show, Ryan Snyder and Sean Fitz discuss the names to know on the d-line.

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Penn State held max testing day Thursday at the new Lasch Building weight room. Reporter Greg Pickel joins Thomas Frank Carr to recap what they saw and who stood out from squat max.

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Each week the BWI Daily Edition opens up the mailbag to discuss what's on the mind of the audience. Today, they'll discuss the top four position battles in spring ball, the situation in defensive line recruiting, and more.

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Penn State defeated Northwestern 68-65 in overtime to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive in dramatic fashion. Here by popular demand, senior basketball analyst Nate Bauer discusses the game with host Thomas Frank Carr.

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What was supposed to be a 20-minute converastion about Penn State's prospects at the NFL Combine turned into a full blown preview of next season with PFF's Max Chadwick. The lead collge analyst for the data company isn't just an expert on college football, he's an unabashed Penn State fan and he's as excited about next season as you are. He and Thomas Frank Carr discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the team heading into next season and if the Nittany Lions can challenge for the Big Ten crown. Finally, they get to breaking down the draft stock of the seven players at the Combine. Lastly, they discuss Will Levis, Sean Clifford and Penn State's decision after the 2020 season to stick with Clifford.

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The end of February is heating up with news after a slow few weeks on the calendar.Not only is Penn State looking for a new defensive line coach, but they're also about to end winter workouts and start spring ball. On top of that several Nittany Lions head to Indianapolis this week to interview in front of 32 NFL Team for the 2023 Combine. All of that, plus T-Frank players with superstar potential on today's BWI Daily Edition. 

Join the show live at 7 pm on YouTube to discuss what's most pressing on your mind in the world of Penn State football. Penn State insider Sean Fitz will join the show to discuss the latest on the search for a new defensive line coach, and give his thoughts on Penn State's latest commit in the Class of 2024, linebacker Kari Jackson. 

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Penn State searching for a new defensive line coach 

What's the situation with Penn State's search for a defensive line coach? Should fans be concerned about the lateness of John Scott Jr's departure to the NFL? Fitz will discuss his thoughts on the program's latest hiring search and what to expect in the coming days and weeks. They'll also look back on Scott's time and resume that he compiled at Penn State to determine if the team can upgrade the position or if they'll look to replicate what Scott brought to the room. 

Of course, they'll also dive into the idea of elevating Deion Barnes to the role of defensive line coach from his current analyst role. 

Next, T-Frank and Fitz will recap Jackson, Penn State's newest commitment in the Class of 2024. What does Fitz see in the 6-1 linebacker? How did his relationship with the staff develop? They'll also discuss the relationship between Penn State's perceived weaknesses and the team's acquisition of two middle linebackers in this class. 

Finally, T-Frank will give you his list of players that could vault their way into superstardom next fall for the Nittany Lions. He has a list of five offensive and defensive players from his recent articles on the same subject that he'll share with viewers. 

Join the BWI Daily Edition at 7 pm on YouTube to discuss which players you think have superstar potential. Also, coming up tomorrow on the BWI Daily Editon, Max Chadwick of PFF will preview the 2023 NFL Combine with T-Frank and discuss Penn State's roster for next fall. 

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