Penn State football assistant coach Marques Hagans kept smiling when asked about his group of receivers.
How will they improve? How are they handling the never-ending questions and criticism? How will their passing game look different?
Hagans, who's starting his second season in charge of Penn State wideouts, began to answer each question, positively and promisingly, before stopping in the middle of a thought. As if he didn't want to give away too much.
As if he knows how actions, when the 2024 season begins in late August, will be the only persuasive evidence to onlookers.
Penn State's pass game − particularly its group of mostly anonymous, underwhelming receivers − has the most to prove entering into what's being promoted as a potential Top 10 season with a first College Football Playoff bid.
Hagans and his group seem to understand the bull's-eye, so to speak.
"To say we don’t hear it or it doesn’t matter, I’d be lying to you," he said to a group of reporters in State College last month. "We hear it, use it as motivation, but that’s not everything to us. … I don’t want our guys to be associated with anything but their best.
“Our guys are really eager to prove that our culture is going to separate us. The guys take a lot of pride in that and I think it will show this year."
He smiled once more.
"You guys will see."
Penn State football breakthroughs? From Kaden Saunders to Julian Fleming
A significant turnaround is needed from what is arguably the biggest concern of this team.
No receiver was consistently productive from beginning to end last year. No one showed can't-miss traits of breakout now, either: Penn State's leading returning wideout made just 19 catches in 2023.
The passing attack, for all of the promise and promotion of quarterback Drew Allar, was glaringly anemic in the Lions' three defeats. It offered minimal downfield threat. The wideouts were not adept at making tough, contested catches or breaking free from tacklers once they did.
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So what exactly can change now? Especially considering how this season's lofty goals in an expanded and tougher-than-ever Big Ten may depend upon it.
Much of last year's receiver group returns. The most notable absence is catch-leader KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who all but disappeared down the stretch last fall.
The Nittany Lions do add three true freshmen and Ohio State senior transfer Julian Fleming, a former five-star recruit. Most of Hagans' recent positive talk focused on the natural growth process of his returners and the promise of the newcomers − all of it meshing with offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki's new direction.
Take promising juniors Kaden Saunders and Liam Clifford, who Hagans says, will be better for another off-season of work and maturity.
Consider how the entire group views the prodding of the coaching staff and the ongoing scrutiny from fans and media. Kotelnicki, for one, says he's impressed by the receivers' "want to improve."
"They got a chip on their shoulder. Oh hell, yeah," he said. "They really look forward to proving a lot of people wrong."
That supposed change of demeanor, he said, is evidenced by "how they’re going about their business, the extra work they’re putting in. On any given day I will walk by in the office and there’s always a receiver watching film or a receiver catching footballs on the JUGS machine … all the time. And I love it.
"Talking about wanting to do that and actually going do it are two separate things, completely," he said, continuing. "And they’re doing it. I love that they’re backing it up. … Their trajectory is really steep.“
Saunders, Clifford and fellow-junior Tre Wallace have been the returners mentioned most often by head coach James Franklin and his staff this spring and summer.
Saunders is regarded for his speed and quick-cutting ability as a slot receiver and for added upside as a punt returner. Both he and Clifford, the younger brother of Penn State's former quarterback, are being billed as growing, reliable leaders.
“(Saunders is) leaner, he’s stronger, he’s more confident. I think he’s more mature now," Hagans said. "He’s becoming the example of what you want the group to embody on a day-to-day basis."
Wallace is touted for his athleticism and big-play ability, as long as he can stay healthy. He missed about half of last season with injuries. Then there's Omari Evans, who's possibly the fastest of the group with the best downfield potential. He must improve his consistency and dependability, as well, to finally become a reliable producer.
For now, the group is leaning on the experience, confidence and diligence of Fleming, the former Buckeye.
Chucky Losey, Penn State's strength and conditioning coach, touted Fleming, who grew up only an hour or so from Beaver Stadium, for his willingness to adapt and improve as a fifth-year senior.
Fleming is not only the oldest receiver in the room at 23, he's also the largest at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds.
“He didn’t time well (as a runner) when he first got here. That’s not a knock on him by any means because he’s such a big body," Losey said. "But when you compare his initial baseline testing to the rest of the wideouts ... he was definitely a step slower.
"He’s closed the gap (now). Speed is a huge thing for him that we addressed early. He's leaned down. He’s in a really good spot now."
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: How Penn State football fixes receiver problems with Julian Fleming
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