Huff on Lions' use of Barkley as the kick returner: 'We're not idiots'

Charles Huff chuckles a bit when he reads the Tweets or hears the topic come up.

Penn State's special teams coordinator and running backs coach listened and read about it for more than a year and to him and the rest of Penn State's coaching staff it's clear: Saquon Barkley is the Nittany Lions' top kick returner and no, the returner isn't the most likely player to get hurt during a kick return.

"Those coaches who do football research, the returner is probably the safest player outside the kicker on the kickoffs," Huff said Thursday afternoon on a conference call. "The returner is probably the safest player outside the kicker on the kickoffs. He's not blocking anybody. No one's trying to run through him, and 90 percent of the time when you go to tackle him, you've broken down and tried tackling him just as you would if he ran inside zone.



"For some reason, people think that there's missiles running down there that are going to hit right in the middle of a tank and blow the tank up. We laugh all the time when people say that," Huff continued. "People just see 11 guys running down at once at one guy. But from a football perspective, it's no different."

Putting the Heisman Trophy candidate back deep was something that was supposed to happen more often than it did last season, Huff said. Last year Barkley returned three kicks for 74 yards, one of which came in the Rose Bowl. However, Penn State's desire to keep their kick return plans a secret on the depth chart all off season, knowing all along Barkley was their guy, actually stemmed from a conversation Barkley had with the coaches.

"The misconception that the injury level goes way up because he's on kick return," Huff said when asked about something that fans likely don't understand about Barkley's increased role on special teams. "Well, the injury level goes way up when he's walking to class. We're not idiots. The amount of reps on the body is the amount of reps on the body. But the fact that, 'Oh because he's a kick returner, he's going to get hurt.' Well, he could get hurt on a speed sweep."

James Franklin said since his arrival that special teams would get equal treatment in terms of starters used on the third phase and Franklin wants every starter to contribute to at least one special teams unit. Barkley went to the coaches and said he wanted to be the starting kick returner so this summer the staff helped him watch film of some of the NFL's best returners.

He wasn't the only veteran starter who asked for a role on special teams, which speaks

"Jason Cabinda is another young man who people may not see because he doesn't touch the ball, but he said 'Coach, I want to be on kick return,' " Huff recalled. "Actually, in the Georgia State game we were going to replace him with another young man and just give guys opportunities and he came to practice on Wednesday and said, 'Coach, I'm starting on kick return.' When you get that type of buy in and guys want to be a part of it I think it says a lot about your program."

Penn State's improved special teams play through the first three games of the season has been notable and Huff said part of that comes from the buy in the older players have. What was once viewed as the quickest way for a young player to see the field has become a badge of honor for the upperclassmen who don't want to be taken off of a special teams unit.

Special teams captain Nick Scott sets the tone, Huff said, telling the others on the coverage units that all they have to do is meet him at the football and he'll do the rest. Should a player beat Scott to the ball the redshirt junior safety will drop to the ground and bang out 50 pushups.

"He has that type of buy in and football players naturally are competitors so now Garrett Taylor, Irv Charles, Ayron Monroe, those guys are like, 'I'm not going to let this guy beat me to make the tackle,' " Huff said. "So now that starts to bring a little bit of a competition to not only play in the scheme, but to also be the guy that makes that tackle. ... Now, it helps your coverage, it helps your lane discipline and it helps you kind of squeeze the field."

QUICK HITS

• Huff said freshman running back Journey Brown, who arrived at Penn State in June, continues adjusting to college football. Brown, the two-time PIAA track and field standout in the 100-meter dash, came to Penn State as an impressive athlete and since his arrival he's gained weight in hopes that he'll be ready to contribute to a very deep backfield in the years to come.

"Some of the other guys had played some high level football in high school, some of the guys were a little more developed than he was when he got here," Huff said. "When he first got here he was a track guy who was really, really, really fast who was athletic enough to be a good football player. I think now he's put on weight, he's still very fast and you can tell when he touches the ball he looks different. Now he's starting to understand our schemes, our concepts."

• Huff isn't out on the road watching high school games on Friday night like most of the others on the coaching staff because Penn State holds their special teams meetings on Friday nights. Huff said next month during the Lions' bye week he of course will be at games.