Penn State’s Michal Menet sees max prep, attention to detail under new O-line coach Phil Trautwein

Michal Menet has been around about as long as is permitted with one program in college football. This will be his fifth season, counting a 2016 in which he redshirted.

Combined with his mature appearance, you’d not be surprised if the Berks County native gets his share of “Pops” references from teammates:

“When you’ve been here as long as I have, you’re kind of molded into that role,” the Penn State center said during a Friday video conference. “Being one of the old guys who’s been around the block, I’ve kinda seen it all and done it all.

“And it also helps that I look like I’m at least 30. I think I’ve always been a little bit more mature and businesslike, so that’s the role I’ve fallen into.

“I don’t mind it. I’ve always looked older. People used to ask for my birth certificate when I played youth football.”

But the way he looks has nothing to do with the breadth of events he’s experienced at Penn State. What Menet has seen since arriving in 2016 and what he could see in 2020 is liable to span about as wide a spectrum as possible for offensive line play. His first year was, of course, the magical season in which the Lions somehow overcame a plague of injuries to an O-line already diluted by NCAA sanctions that were still having an effect.

“That season had tons of moving parts,” said Menet. “Tons of guys had to step into bigger roles, especially Connor McGovern.”

And this year, Penn State is starting fresh with a new O-line coach but maybe as stable and promising a group as it has had in many years.

“I think the biggest difference between then and now is the depth we have. Whether there’s moving parts or not, we’ll have tons of guys who can step in and play a role and there’s not going to be a drop-off. That’s going to be one of our strongest points this year.”

Specifically, this looks capable of being a very strong running team with three talented and experienced running backs on hand in Journey Brown, Noah Cain and Devyn Ford. All averaged better than 5 yards per carry a year ago, Brown at 6.9 yards per carry with 12 touchdowns. The trio combined for 23 TDs in 2019.

Offensive linemen are generally known to love hitting a groove with the running game.

“Obviously, whatever’s working that day is great and we’ll do whatever we’re asked. But if you can run the ball really effectively and ground-and-pound, it’s going to open up a lot of aspects of your offense and help things click a lot better.

“I think it also gives the O-line a sense of pride when you get back to the locker room after a game and have a couple hundred rushing yards.”

The Nittany Lions have come very close to averaging 200 in back-to-back seasons. They recorded more rushing yards per game in the past two than any year in the previous nine. You must rewind all the way back to the Big Ten champions of 2008 (206) to find a PSU team that rushed for more per game than either 2018 (205) or 2019 (191).

So, that’s a good sign for the offensive line, especially because it occurred in the post-Barkley era. And that improved ground attack has helped keep the Lions in every game but one (Michigan, 2018) in those two seasons.

But the fact is, there’ve been instances where the Lions didn’t protect Sean Clifford or Trace McSorley all that well (more than 30 sacks allowed in both years) and didn’t make the line to gain in vital short-yardage situations against better defensive fronts. Notably, last year against Iowa (3.3 ypc), Michigan (3.5) and Ohio State (2.8), the Lions didn’t get much push.

In general, the O-line is slowly improving, but has a ways to go. And James Franklin didn’t think he could wait any longer on Matt Limegrover as his position coach. He made the switch to Phil Trautwein days into the new year and the 34-year-old Jersey native is, by all accounts, exhibiting a different style than his predecessor.

Part of that might be his relative youth and a little field cred. As the cornerstone left tackle on Urban Meyer’s 2006 and 2008 national champions at Florida, Trautwein was All-SEC second- and first-team, respectively.

Generally thought to be neither quite quick nor strong enough to play in the NFL, especially after suffering a stress fracture in his foot before what would’ve been his senior season, Trautwein went undrafted in 2009. But he still managed to latch on with five different NFL organizations on practice squads and did make the Rams’ 53-man roster. Only another injury eventually sidelined him for good. So, he had four years of pro work behind him before becoming a coach, most notably on Steve Addazio’s run-based Boston College offense.

“I’ve been excited about Coach Traut since the day that we hired him,” said Menet. “The experience that he brings from playing in the NFL against the best players in the world.

“He’s a high-energy guy, very positive, but he’ll rip into you if he needs to. He demands a lot out of us and everybody across the board has gotten a ton better so far. I’m excited to see where we can continue to build by the time game 1 (Indiana) comes around.”

What will fans notice first about this O-line under Trautwein?

“I know for a fact we’re gonna be the most prepared offensive line in the country when it comes game day. (Considering) the amount of detail Coach Traut is putting right now into correction notes from practice, and pre-practice notes on what we’re doing that day, I can only imagine what his pre-game notes are gonna be.

“There’s always gonna be looks that we don’t see, because defenses game-plan just like we do. But I think we’re going to be really, really prepared and we’re going to know what’s going on, more than we ever have. And I think that’s going to lead to us being a very consistent group, from the first snap to the last.”