Smith on Castro-Fields' instant impact, Wade's development

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Terry Smith's meeting room figures to be one of the more interesting ones on the team.

With veteran cornerbacks like Grant Haley, Christian Campbell and Amani Oruwaiye, Smith and the players know what to expect and how to react. Then he has two true freshmen who already burned their redshirts in Tariq Castro-Fields and Lamont Wade, plus redshirt freshman Zech McPhearson and others who are still adjusting to college ball.

"Grant Haley's the leader of the cornerback room. He's what makes us go," Smith said Thursday on a conference call. "We call him the grandpa of the room. He's such a smart, great athlete, great football player and great person. When we recruit a corner, we want him to resemble what Grant Haley has done for us."



Grandpa Haley and the rest of the cornerbacks are already cashing in on their offseason vow to create more takeaways, with Oruwariye, Haley and safety Troy Apke each with a pick through the first two games. Making sure that momentum continues to roll is a focal point as the Lions prep for Georgia State to come to town for Saturday night's game. As Penn State readies to close out non-conference play, Smith's cornerbacks continue looking to make a name for themselves.

"We're LB-U and then with the 'Wild Dogs' up front, but our guys want to make a name for themselves," he said. "That's what they've done the first two games. It's a long season. The third game is up, and we're preparing to make some plays when they're presented to us."

Here are other highlights from Smith's conference call with reporters on Thursday:

Q: What have you seen in terms of progress from Castro-Fields and Wade?

A: "They're doing really well. They're progressing as we see and planned for them to progress. They've played a good amount of minutes and made plays in the first two games. As the season goes on, we want to have those guys ready so that when we get into conference play, you never know when injuries are going to set in. We want to have them ready so they can step into full-time roles as needed. They're both doing really well for us. We're excited to have them. They're playing as true freshmen, and they're deserving of it."

Q: We heard about the freshmen needing to earn their stripe. How long did it take Tariq to earn his stripe?

A: "Tariq came in really prepared. He's a mature kid. He's big, strong and fast. To be accurate, Tariq was the first freshman on the roster to earn his stripes. It was within a few weeks. He's had an instant impact. He's done a really, really nice job, and he continues to grow and get better."

Q: Justin King, your stepson and former Penn State letterman, how is he doing with his role now back at Penn State?

A: "He's doing really well, working in with the recruiting department. We've expanded our recruiting department this year and those guys are doing an outstanding job for us. They're bringing us recruits and information. They're doing a fantastic job. ... We're just happy to have those guys moving forward. ... In Justin's case in particular, him being a letterman and former alumni, it helps us in that recruiting department. Here's a guy that had his own personal testimony to tell these recruits of how effective and how good Penn State is. How it's been good for his life."

Q: Is it too early to tell if Justin wants to make this a profession?

A: "He definitely wants to make it a profession. That's his goal and he loves what he's doing. Sometimes when you wake up in the morning and it's never a struggle to come to work and that's what you've been designed to do, that's how he is. We work long hours, but you don't feel those long hours when you love what you're doing."

Q: Do you think Penn State's drought of not having a cornerback selected in the NFL Draft ends with this current crop of players?

A: "I don't want to be Nostradamus, but I think Grant has a really good chance to be drafted. I think Christian has a really good chance to be drafted. John Reid will be drafted. Amani will be drafted. I think our top-four corners that we have right now, all those guys have a legitimate chance to be drafted and a couple of them will be drafted extremely high. Then our young guys with the way they've come in — two true freshmen and Zech McPhearson a redshirt freshman — those guys at this point are more advanced than the older group of guys were when they first came in. My job is to keep these guys growing and pursuing greatness. Time will tell."

Q: Is there any update on DJ Brown and Donovan Johnson and how they're progressing?

A: "Those two guys are doing really well. Both guys run exceptionally well. They're on the practice squad right now, and they're getting really, really good reviews out there. They had really good camps. Next year, those guys are going to be expected to step into the mix and compete this spring for jobs. We're excited to have them."

Q: When there's a recruit in the building seemingly there's a signal, with the word bonzai, that you guys all stop what you're doing and go and interact with the recruit. Is that how it works?

A: "The bonzai is whenever a recruit comes to the building, we stop anything we're doing to address the recruit. It's all hands on deck. We know the most important ingredient to our program is the next recruit that signs to come to Penn State. We make sure that person feels really important any time they step foot on-campus here. We want them and their families to know that."