How Penn State football’s young defensive backs can make the defense elite this season

Transitioning to college football can be hard enough for recruits. The step up in competition, the move away from home and the intensity of what is essentially a full-time job when it comes to time and commitment level make up a drastic lifestyle change for high schoolers.

Dealing with a change in the climate? Well, that’s one of the easier things for players like safety King Mack to deal with — especially when it involves snow.

“I took like 20 videos and sent like 30 to my mom,” the graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida said with a smile. “I was making snow balls. I didn’t think it felt the way it looked. It was crazy.”

Mack is one of a small group of defensive backs who may end up being the face of the 2023 Penn State recruiting class when it’s all said and done.

And he’s not the only one who was seeing snow for the first time. Classmate and teammate Elliot Washington II — who Mack credits for the ease in transitioning to college — shared that same experience.

“No I (hadn’t seen snow) at first,” Washington said. “But I came in here in January so it was a good adjustment, and I was just trying to get him ready for it.”

Mack, Washington and safety DaKaari Nelson all came up from the south and were joined by cornerback Zion Tracy and safety Lamont Payne as the defensive backs in the 2023 class.

The group should be able to make a big long-term impact and may even be forced to do the same early on in their careers. Tracy and Washington were thrown to the wolves in the Peach Bowl, with last year’s starting cornerbacks Kalen King and Johnny Dixon opting out of the game. While both were tested in the game, and gave up their fair share of big plays in the loss to Ole Miss, they both also believe the experience will be better for them in the long run.

“It just told me what was really there for me, what’s really coming,” Tracy said. “So now going into this new year, I’m just ready for what’s coming up and getting prepared.”

Washington added: “Playing against some great receivers, it was good experience for us and for the room and for my experience, too. ... It most definitely did motivate us.”

That experience is important because they’re not rolling into next year with guaranteed spots. It’s fair to assume that Cam Miller will have a strong case to start at one of the outside corner spots, but things get messy beyond that.

Of course, there’s Washington and Tracy, two returning candidates who got valuable reps in the bowl. But then there are the two transfer additions — former Florida cornerback Jalen Kimber and former Georgia cornerback A.J. Harris — who come from high-level programs and most definitely didn’t come to Happy Valley with the intention of warming the bench.

Their arrival, though, has already helped the room.

“It brings a lot of competitiveness to the room,” Washington said. “It’s an open spot — everybody is competing. We’re all ready to compete. ... You got to realize it’s football. It’s a business. Not everyone is built for it, but I feel like everyone in the room is built for it. ... Jalen adds more of an older guy in the room, someone to lean on for the younger guys.”

Beyond the corners, you also have to mix in the nickel corner spot, with Daequan Hardy off to the NFL, where Mack and the safeties could potentially play a role.

That leaves defensive coordinator Tom Allen with, potentially, a good problem to have — too many good players with not enough spots to get them on the field.

Even Allen will be an adjustment for the corners. Any schematic headstart that Tracy and Washington have over the transfers may be washed away because the new defensive coordinator took over in December after former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz left to become Duke’s head coach.

Despite the change, several of the Nittany Lions still feel comfortable under Allen.

“I feel like it’s good right now,” Washington said. “It’s great. I love Coach Manny and I love Coach Tom Allen, so I’m excited to get to work.”

Mack added: “Tom Allen’s coaching style is actually not too (dissimilar from) Coach Manny’s. ... Tom Allen, he’s a great, great guy. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. ... Seeing how much of a family guy he is, how much he loves the game ... Coach Allen is such a great coach.”

That’s a positive for Penn State, because last year’s defense was one of the best in the country and this year’s will face a similar expectation — even with the personnel and schematic changes.

If the corners step up, the opportunity will be there for the defense to once again dictate the terms of engagement on Saturdays.