STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Last winter, Lamont Wade came to Penn State with all the hype and a matching five-star ranking, but even Wade called his freshman season at times "humbling."
"Even playing against receivers on Georgia State those guys were still legit," Wade told DKPittsburghSports.com. "You just have to be on your A-game every single rep. You can’t take any plays off and can’t let fatigue get in the way.”
But before that humbling experience for the cornerback there was the behind the scenes transition when Wade, a January enrollee, had to first acclimate to Penn State's strength and conditioning program. That undertaking is one six of Penn State's 2018 signees will begin on Monday when they step into a college classroom for the first time and promptly get to work with strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt.
Signees Zack Kuntz, Trent Gordon, Isaiah Humphries, Jesse Luketa, Micah Parsons and Nick Tarburton will all arrive this weekend where they'll be dealt a not-so warm winter welcome as wind gusts whip around Happy Valley and they settle into their new home.
Gordon is already in town from Manvel, Texas. Parsons will join him after he returns from Saturday's U.S. Army All-America Bowl game in San Antonio.
TX✈️PSU....I’m home now #WeAre ? pic.twitter.com/qGavMXLU8r
— TG (@_TRENTG_) January 4, 2018
Expect there to be plenty of attention on Parsons, the five-star signee who already tweeted that his star ranking will be left behind in Harrisburg as he heads to State College. Given the team's need at middle linebacker -- where Parsons will get a crack at the job this spring -- the added attention will be warranted.
"He can play d-end right now so learning the Mike linebacker position is going to be a little harder for him," defensive line coach Sean Spencer told me. "The challenge will be do you leave him in there as linebacker or do you move him out at defensive end in rushing situations? That’s the beauty of getting such a talent. Josh (Gattis) could play him at receiver if he wanted to."
The path to early playing time for freshmen starts now as the January enrollees have a jumpstart on their teammates who will arrive for the second summer session in late June. That's often why most of them want to early enroll if they're academically cleared to graduate high school early and if their high school allows them to do so. Players who arrive in June aren't guaranteed to redshirt, but realistically learning the playbook and physically being ready to play after being on campus about two months before the first game is far from ideal.
"Getting stronger and getting in shape is one thing," Humphries, a safety signee told me of his desire to start college in January. He's the lone safety signee in the class. "You know, I’m going to look better at the end of it and you’re getting ready for training camp and the season and all that stuff. You get a head start on everybody else, all the other people who can’t early enroll so it’s one of the most important things and one of the things I like about it. ”
They trade the spring of their senior year and sometimes even prom too for workouts that will push them to the brink and they do so knowing all the while their new teammates are looking at them, checking to see how they respond and if they'll push through it. They'll get a public audition in Beaver Stadium during the spring game on April 21.
The coaches also keep a close eye on the freshmen during these training sessions, watching them get humbled right before their eyes.
"I love that first practice or that first tire pull when the five star or the four star gets beat and the vet stands over them and tells them that no one cares about your five star or four star or whatever it is," James Franklin said when the Lions inked the bulk of their 2018 class on Dec. 20.
While Wade said he thought he was prepared to make the jump to college, there's no such substitute for some of these early morning runs, strenuous strength and conditioning workouts and lifting sessions under Galt's supervision. Even some of the older Lions said the grind of winter workouts still snaps them back to reality when they return to campus after the bowl game and begin their next training cycle ahead of spring ball.
After all, they're all reminded that college football never ends and after winter workouts comes spring ball and then more summer training and classes all in preparation for fall camp.
Ready for his second go around in the strength program this winter, Wade's biggest surprise about his freshman season is one that likely will be echoed by these six signees next year around this time.
"Those workouts," Wade said with a grin. "Definitely the workouts. I knew they were gonna be hard and they were hard."