Penn State is comfortable with options to replace Micah Parsons

In a shortened season bound to be filled with uncertainty, one thing will be concrete for Penn State.

There will be no Micah Parsons.

On Aug. 6, the star linebacker decided to opt out of the 2020 campaign because of the coronavirus pandemic as well as his prospects as a high pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

His coach talked with him about reversing that decision, though.

“We had a great conversation with Micah and both his mom and dad,” coach James Franklin said via video conference Wednesday. “There was legitimate possibility for that to happen. But as we continued to talk and continued to work with it, the timing of it make it challenging. He had been gone for so long and had been in California training. That made it a little bit more complicated than we were able to work through. That won’t be happening, and we understand the decision. Just like we were on the front end: supportive of the decision.”

Franklin professes comfort with the options to replace the All American.

“In a lot of ways, the time has allowed us to work through some of that. Obviously, there’s a lot of excitement about Jesse Luketa and Ellis Brooks and Brandon Smith and Charlie Katshir and Lance Dixon. And obviously the new guys as well in Curtis Jacobs, Zuriah Fisher and Tyler Elsdon. So we feel like we’ve got a really good group there. There’s flexibility there in terms of guys that we would consider to be more box (linebackers), guys that we think are more suited to be field ’backers. And then obviously also, the ability of today’s age in college football to play star in our nickel situation where we play with five defensive backs. So we think we’re in a good place. It’s obviously a position of strength. You never want to lose players, but we feel like that’s a position of strength for us. Excited about what those guys are going to be able to do moving forward.”

Defensive coordinator Brent Pry shares that optimism because of the group’s diversity.

“(Parsons) obviously was an important piece to it,” Pry said. “But we have a lot of flexibility in the room. Several guys playing multiple positions. It’s almost like if he suffered an injury, and all of a sudden you have a starter that’s on (injured reserve). More than anything, it was full-steam ahead. I’m excited about the guys in the room. They’re super excited. We still have a ton of competition. With Micah’s departure, it actually opened up and created a little bit more competition just with that spot opening up. So we’ve got a bunch of hungry guys that are ready to make people forget No. 11.”

Luketa and Smith appear to be the leading candidates to absorb the bulk of Parson’s duties.

A native of Ottawa who graduated from Mercyhurst Prep, Luketa appeared in 13 games and started two last season.

“He’s an animal right now,” Pry said. “He’s big, he’s strong. He’s taken ownership of the defense. He’s a guy that’s played (weakside linebacker) and (middle linebacker). He has real command of things. … He’s a take-charge guy. The competition of him and Ellis out there right now, you have two who have played the position. A lot of great communication going on. He’s a powerful guy, he’s got a big demeanor, runs the show. Just a real presence out there on the field. He knows this is his time. I think back to the Maryland game when Micah was tossed for targeting. The way Jesse stepped up and owned that moment and had a big-time game ... I couldn’t be more excited about Jesse, excited about his opportunity, excited about what he brings to our defense. This guy is going to have a really, really nice season for us.”

During a 59-0 road win against Maryland on Sept. 27, 2019, Luketa recorded five tackles and one pass breakup.

Smith, a native of Louisa, Va., appeared in 13 games last season.

“He’s a big part of the plan right now,” Pry said. “There’s not a lot of guys now walking around at (6-foot-3, 237 pounds) and run like he does. He’s got tremendous length, he’s very physical. He runs very well. He’s raw but he’s eager, and he’s learning every day. He’s become very coachable. We’re super excited about him. His role is obviously going to increase ten-fold. The range he has coming off that edge, being an alley guy, that field ’backer … they’re going to have to worry about No. 12, I believe.”