Talking points: Penn State TE Mike Gesicki on blocking and keeping it light

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The conference call line was open for tight end Mike Gesicki Wednesday morning.

Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki, a sophomore, continues to emerge as one of the more intriguing players on Penn State’s the offense. A former three-sport New Jersey standout, Gesicki said he's now an improved blocker too. (Audrey Snyder/Post-Gazette)

Here are some of the highlights from Penn State’s 6-foot-6, 255-pound sophomore who is listed as a starter heading into Saturday’s season opener against Temple:

Q: What kind of adjustments did you have to make last year, including your three-point stance since you hadn’t really played tight end before?

A: Mike Gesicki: “Yeah, last year I kind of went out for the first practice and coach [John] Donovan said, ‘Alright guys, Day 1, let’s get down in the stance.’ I kind of stood there and was like, ‘I don’t [know], I’m not really sure how to get down and all the specifics and all this because I never really played the position in high school.’ It was definitely a huge adjustment for myself. Coach Donovan and the upperclassmen, guys like Jesse [James] and Kyle [Carter], even Adam [Breneman] who didn’t play last year, they all played such a huge role in my development and I wouldn’t be where I am right now or wouldn’t have done anything that I was capable to do last year without them and I mean it took probably, definitely all of training camp and I wasn’t really comfortable playing—wasn’t extremely comfortable playing—last year until mid season when I was comfortable in there, knew my role, knew my assignment.”

Q: What do you think you did to earn the starting job this year?

A: Gesicki: “Yeah, the depth chart came out yesterday and everybody wants to talk about the starters and the backups and everything. I’m not really getting all twisted up in it and not focusing on who is starting and who is not just because all the guys are going to get a chance to go in there and make plays and have a chance to get on the field and show what they can do. To say I did something that another guy didn’t or to say that I was able to do something better or anything to kind of solidify myself as a starter I’m not really sure. You’d have to ask coach [John] Donovan or coach [James] Franklin and see.”

Q: I think people are calling you Little Gronk. Now that you’re in Week 1 and have that starting role are you still having fun or all you all business now?

A: Gesicki: “[Laughs] My outlook on anything that I do is I’m not going to go out there and – there’s a time to be serious and a time to have fun—and I’m always trying to have a good time and have fun with things because when I’m doing things with a smile on my face and I’m doing things because I love to do it I’m gonna do it better than I would if I was trying to be too serious with it. That’s just how I’ve kind of been my whole entire life. Don’t get me wrong, on Saturday at 3:30 when it’s time to go I’m going to be all business, but I’m going to be out there trying to have a good time and trying to be all business at the same time. That’s just kind of who I am and my personality. I love having a good time. I love to be fun and be happy and things like that and I feel like when I do that then I’m able to be more successful than if I wasn’t.”

Q: How are you a better blocker this year and who has helped you out in that regard the most?

A: Gesicki: “Right. Initially I think it was pretty obvious I didn’t adjust very well to the whole blocking thing. I wasn’t successful as a blocker, I didn’t really get the job done and we got to the point where the only time I was really in there was on passing downs and after my freshman year ended I kind of put a chip on my shoulder and told myself that if I want to be the player I want to be and wanted to do the things I wanted to do on the football field then I had to accept the blocking role and kind of change my mindset to wards it. That’s exactly what I did.

”In the springtime we went out there and I felt day in and day out that I was getting better as a blocker and coach Donovan helped me out tremendously, coach Franklin helped me out, told me that I couldn’t use the excuse of I didn’t play tight end before anymore. I couldn’t use that excuse anymore. I had to accept the role of blocking and be able to do both because if I do both then it would help me out in the passing game as well so I kind of used that as a chip on my shoulder my freshman year to help me get better and better and I just kind of changed my mindset to accept the blocking role and to not only help myself and my production, but to help out the team.”

Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.