ALTOONA, Pa. -- Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons was the latest to become a superstar for Linebacker U. The Harrisburg-native accumulated 191 total tackles, 6.5 sacks and 6 forced fumbles in his two years in blue and white.
Parsons' last game, the Cotton Bowl against Memphis, saw him record 14 tackles, two forced fumbles and two sacks. That performance cemented his place alongside the great linebackers in Nittany Lions history but also solidified him becoming a first round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
It also made his decision to opt out of the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic easier as he looks to still find his name called early on draft day despite not playing this season.
Replacing Parsons won't be easy for Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Brent Pry, but it has made a lasting impact on the linebacker room.
"He's obviously an important piece but we have a lot of flexibility in the room ..." Pry said. "With Micah's departure, it actually created more competition in the room. We have a bunch of hungry guys looking to make people for get #11 somewhat."
That hunger will be needed to return the Penn State defense back to what it was in 2019 when the Nittany Lions were No. 8 in the country in points allowed per game at 16.
A major part of that defense last year was Jesse Luketa who served as the backup to Parsons. This year though, he'll be replacing Parsons at Will linebacker. Luketa, an Ottawa, Ontario native, spent his off-season and quarantine watching film and working out with another legendary Penn State linebacker in LaVar Arrington.
“Being a diligent student of the game is going to make me a better player," Luketa said this week during Penn State virtual media day. "Once the game slows down for me up here, psychologically, it’s like stealing candy from a baby out there on the field.”
The diligence in the film room and in training will hopefully get Luketa to be mentioned in the same sentence as those who've come before him such as LaVar Arrington, Parsons and all the way back to Jack Ham.
“The only thing I’m concerned about moving forward is, how are people going to remember Jesse Luketa? That’s the only thing. That’s what wakes me up day in and day out,” Luketa said. “I go into practice, and I practice with a purpose. That’s my only focus.”
It won't just be Luketa out there as redshirt junior Ellis Brooks will line up as the starting middle linebacker position with redshirt freshman Lance Dixon and true sophomore Brandon Smith competing for the Sam linebacker position.
Brooks and Luketa were positioned to compete for the middle linebacker spot prior to Parsons' departure, but the two are seemingly great communicators on and off the field with the work ethic of Luketa not being lost on Brooks.
“Jesse’s attention to detail is through the roof right now,” Brooks said. “Me and him go back and forth with each other about different formations, different aspects, just being a student of the game. He’s played the Mike position as well, so it’s like having two Mikes out there. He’s great at communication, helps me get out calls, a very talkative guy. So he’s like another coach on the field to me. He helps out the weak side of the defense, he helps get people straight. It’s been a blessing to play beside him, and I think he’s going to have a great year.”
The dark horse in the linebacker room is Smith, who's 6-foot-4 and is as physical as they come at linebacker.
"He's a big part of the plan right now," Pry said on Wednesday. "There's not a lot of guys walking around at 6-4 and 245, 250 and running like he does. He's got tremendous length, he's very physical, he runs very well. He's raw, but he's eager. He's learning every day. He's become very coachable and we're super excited about him. He's a guy that his role is going to obviously increase tenfold.”
Dixon has been learning both the Sam and Will linebacker positions which has prepared him to be versatile and allows Pry to have more options as well.
The linebacker crew seem ready to take on whatever challenges teams from the Big Ten as they look for success in their new roles. One thing is for certain though, the group will do whatever they can to live up to the Linebacker U name.
“It’s the standard,” he said. “When we see the rich history of linebackers who have come here and left their mark – from Paul Posluszny to Sean Lee to NaVorro (Bowman), the list goes on and on – the standard is the standard.
When I’m watching film and I’m able to pull up those old clips of Mike Hull, [Michael] Mauti and all those guys, seeing how they played, the style of football, the swagger, just how aggressive they played, that’s what we want to continue to uphold. So when you’re number is called, when your opportunity is finally here, that’s the level we need to be playing at.”
More from Friday's media day:
• Tight end Pat Freiermuth on considering opting out: "I kept telling my parents and the coaches that if there’s not a season by this deadline, I’m going to leave. If there’s not a season by this deadline, I’m going to leave,” Freiermuth recalled. “But I just kept pushing it back because I still wanted to play for Penn State.”
“Obviously, there was definitely some serious talks about me leaving and, you know, I was thinking about it a lot,” Freiermuth said. “And at the end of the day, I was talking to my mother and my father, and they kind of were just like, ‘Think about it as if the (2020) season were to come back. What would your feeling would be?’ ”
“I made a commitment to Penn State that I would come here and get my degree and play as long as I could,” he said. “Last year, I could have left, and who knows, maybe I could have been a potential day two draft pick. But at the end of the day, I’m very happy with my decision to stay, and I still owe so much more to this Penn State community. It’s just an amazing experience at Penn State. I love every aspect of it, and I just think that I can never replay the stuff that Penn State has given to me. I think that I need to play another year to show my gratitude to Penn State and continue to boost my draft stock and all that.”
• Quarterback Will Levis on technology: "Being a quarterback, regardless of what age you are and whether you like it or not, it comes with a leadership position. And that's something that I've been trying to embrace since I was a freshman here. Now I'm kind of just settling in. I'm one of the old heads in the room, even though it's only my third year."
• Safety, and Clairton native Lamont Wade on his support system and fatherhood: "That’s one thing that I can say kept me grounded, because I have best friends sitting in jail right now. I have best friends dead right now. My support system is literally what kept me from being dead or in jail. So I thank my family tremendously. Whenever I get to that next level, I can’t wait to be a blessing to somebody else. That’s my biggest thing about making it to the next level. It’s gonna be cool whenever I make it and everything, rah-rah. But I can’t wait to be a blessing for my mother, as much as she’s sacrificed for me. I can’t wait to be a blessing for my grandmother, as much as she’s sacrificing."
"... Fatherhood probably changed my life for the best because it grounded me, more to a sense of my more human side now. When I had my son, I stopped caring about what everybody else thought. I stopped caring about what everybody else did. And I just decided that I’m living for me and him now."
"... Before, I was kind of worried about getting comments or backlash from people, or I was worried about just everything that didn’t really matter. So I guess having him brought that sense of what I’ve really got to do, that sense of priorities to me."