How new OL coach Phil Trautwein plans to turn his ‘dream’ job into a dream hire for Penn State football
Phil Trautwein always wanted a Penn State offer.
It just came a little later than he anticipated.
The new Penn State offensive line coach grew up in southern New Jersey and worked to earn an offer from the Nittany Lions. He even attended a football camp in Happy Valley during his junior year of high school and said the Nittany Lions were his favorite team because he wasn’t really aware of the state school in New Jersey.
“Rutgers really wasn’t big back then,” Trautwein said. “Honestly, they offered me and I didn’t even know who they were. It’s just the way it was ... Now, (Rutgers head) coach Greg Schiano in the next 5-6 years got that thing rolling and he did it with New Jersey kids. But in that time, Rutgers wasn’t where it was in 2010-2011 ... Penn State was that school that kids from South Jersey wanted to go to.”
After an offer didn’t come, Trautwein packed up his bags and left the area to attend school at the University of Florida, where he would go on to have immense success. The former offensive lineman won two national championships with the Gators and several honors, including a selection to the All-SEC first team in 2008. He moved on to the National Football League and eventually retired and began coaching. Eight years into his coaching career, Trautwein landed a job that is near the top of his wish list as the Penn State offensive line coach.
He didn’t hesitate when Nittany Lions’ head coach James Franklin called to give him that long-awaited offer.
“It’s awesome (to get the job),” Trautwein said. “That’s why when Coach Franklin called me I said yes right away ... This is my dream. This is a dream school for me. I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Franklin said Trautwein was on the list of coaches he keeps track of in case a spot on his staff comes open. He liked his story and how he got to where he is.
“I think he’s got a story that is attractive to our current players and also to recruits,” Franklin said. “(He) was not a highly recruited guy, (he went) to Florida, wins two national championships ... (He) doesn’t get drafted (but) finds a way to play in the NFL for five years ... Then you couple all of that with (talking to) the people I know and trust, and then watching film, and then studying the data, and (hiring Trautwein) just all kind of made sense and aligned.”
While the job is near the top of the list for Trautwein, he knows there could be more out there when it comes to coaching. Still, he said he loves coaching the offensive line and knows it may be difficult for him to earn a higher position.
“This is up there (among jobs),” he said. “Maybe being an (offensive coordinator) but I love offensive line play. A lot of (offensive coordinators) aren’t offensive line coaches ... but for me this (job) is pretty high.”
It’s far from impossible that the offensive line coach eventually earns a promotion to a coordinator position or head coach, but for now, he’s tasked with taking a good offensive line to the next level.
He’ll have three full-time starters return from last year’s team as well as two part-time starters. Still, Trautwein sees plenty of room for growth.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I do (go back and watch last year). They’re really athletic ... But there’s some things I want to try to fix ... They have a good base and I want to elevate them.”
Trautwein looks at traditional metrics when it comes to evaluating his players, like sacks allowed and tackles for loss allowed, but trusts his eyes as well.
“Right now we’re doing drills and we did drills Monday,” he said. “(I’m) just looking at them and looking at their technique. (I’m) fixing stuff (and) getting them to understand what I do and the technique that I do.”
Those evaluation skills will come in handy on the recruiting trail where he’ll be charged with bringing some of the best recruits in the country to Happy Valley. He has the brand of a big-time college football program on his side when he goes out to visit the best high school prospects in the country.
That’s something he didn’t have at his previous stops, and he said it’s changed how he’s received at high schools.
“The talent you can recruit here is really good,” Trautwein said. “The first school I went in to, they wanted to take pictures with me. It’s just a little bit different (than Boston College) ... The logo can get you in the door then it’s my job to get them to believe and me and believe in this program and try to get them here.”
The New Jersey native said part of his recruiting focus will be the area surrounding his hometown in New Jersey, where he’s already well-known because of his success in college. But even with his local fame at home and the Penn State brand behind him, his recruiting chops will be determined by his ability to build relationships.
As a former player, he knows all about what players want to hear from coaches and believes that will allow him to find success when he speaks with recruits.
“I’ve been recruited so I know exactly what kind of stuff they want to hear,” he said. “I can build a relationship on that and kind of help them through the process.”
Once he gets talented players to campus, Trautwein’s teaching will take over. He’s already begun to teach his run-blocking style, and said he’ll begin to implement his pass-blocking technique in the coming days. Fortunately for him, he has plenty of his own experience to lean on when he’s coaching his new offensive linemen. He took that experience and had success at Boston College, and now he uses film of that success to help teach his newest players.
“I show them, at least, my film from what I did at Boston College,” he said. “Then I just show them how it worked, then I just talk to them through experience I had.”
Trautwein will take over an offensive line that found success last season. It’s a group that has plenty of talent and shown it can play well. Now it’s his job to take it to the next level and make his dream job a dream hire for Penn State.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 12:39 PM.
