Here’s how Penn State football’s newest safety is adjusting to position change
Trent Gordon spent plenty of time playing in the middle of the field in high school. He spent most of his time at safety, reacting to the play in front of him without much knowledge of why or how it was happening.
“It’s just high school football, you just go out there and do what you’re told,” Gordon told the media last week. “It’s nothing to it really.”
Now a redshirt sophomore at Penn State, Gordon has transitioned back to safety with a fresh perspective on the position after spending two years at cornerback.
“Being at corner for me was really a learning experience,” he said. “It taught me where eyes should be. It helped me with eye discipline. It helped me further my knowledge at safety and take that with me. So what I could see at corner I can now see at safety.”
His move back to safety comes after 14 appearances in two seasons on campus, including 10 in 2019 when he defended five passes and registered 20 tackles. Gordon was in a crowded cornerback room that includes several players from the 2019 recruiting class that quickly established themselves in the group.
Keaton Ellis and Marquis Wilson proved their worth last season, opening the door for Gordon to move back to safety and compete at a position with less depth.
Part of his transition to his new role includes gaining extra weight. Gordon is currently listed at 5-foot-11, 191 pounds on the Penn State roster but said he took the time to add some extra pounds to play safety at the request of the staff.
“Being a corner, I didn’t really have to deal with running backs as much and I was kind of good playing at 185,” he said. “As a safety, I have to look at things and say, ‘If you want to hit the big guys then you have to put on some pounds.’ Right now I’m weighing 202 ... I kind of picked up the pounds pretty quickly but I’ve definitely been managing it from a healthy standpoint. Especially with the help of our nutritionists. They’ve pretty much got me at a good weight that I can play at.”
The redshirt sophomore’s added weight should help him make the move, but his inability to practice at safety in college will put him behind his new position mates for the time being. To make up for some of that lost practice time, Gordon has stayed highly focused in virtual meetings and has tried to make up some ground that way.
Still, the transition hasn’t been a walk in the park.
“There’s so many levels to playing safety that it’s actually a little overwhelming at times,” he said. “Which is something I’ve got to deal with. Now having to know how the defense should be line up, what everyone should be doing ... and just the pressure of everything, that was kind of the hardest part for me. ... It’s easier, the more that I deal with it. So I don’t think I should be having any problems with the transition from safety to corner.”
Gordon is currently working through the move, but welcomed it when the coaching staff approached him with it. Penn State co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Tim Banks said the move was always an option for the redshirt sophomore.
“We knew when we signed him it was a possibility he could be a corner or he could be a safety,” Banks said. “We’re excited to have an opportunity to bring him into our room. ... He’s been trained to cover, he has the size, the speed to fit in the box as a safety. Obviously time will tell how much playing time he gets.”
Gordon isn’t likely to contribute early at safety but the Nittany Lions won’t need him to. Jaquan Brisker and Lamont Wade are in position to start this season as seniors before both spots open up next year. That’s when Gordon will have a chance to earn time on the field. He’ll be competing with Tyler Rudolph, Jonathan Sutherland and Enzo Jennings for playing time when the time comes for Brisker and Wade to move on.
For now, he has to work through the growing pains of learning the position without a full offseason. He’s been forced to learn his new responsibilities virtually and try to adapt his game without the benefit of putting on pads and learning what to do within a practice setting.
Gordon has more than enough responsibility ahead of him, but the newest safety is putting in the effort to prove to his coaches that he’s ready to go.
“I have to keep my head on a swivel in the classroom in our football meetings,” he said. “Just proving to Coach Banks that I know what I’m doing without actually being on the field. It just gives him an indication that he can actually trust me, even though he hasn’t actually seen what I’ve been able to do yet as a safety.”
