No matter what, Brent Pry’s job won’t be easy in 2016.

Pry is Penn State’s defensive coordinator after two seasons as second-in-command to the departed Bob Shoop.

And even if Penn State’s offense – ranked No. 101 in scoring at 23.2 points per game last season – is much improved under Joe Moorhead, Pry has some big shoes to fill.

There are those on a Nittany Lion defense that has lost three of its top four linemen to the NFL, as well as two other multi-year starters in the secondary.

And there are those of Shoop, gone to Tennessee. And, historically, the coaching cleats of Tom Bradley as well. And even those of Ted Roof’s, for that matter.

No matter how inconsistent – or non-existent -- Penn State’s offense has been in the 21st century, its defense has been the unit that has bailed out the Nittany Lions over the past 12 to 14 seasons.

Sure, there was the stretch from 2007-09 when Penn State averaged almost 33 points a game while winning 31 games. And L.J.’s rush to 2,000 in 2002 produced over 34 points per contest. But for four of the past six seasons, and much of the early 2000s, the Nittany Lions have struggled to score even three touchdowns per game.

This much is true: Over the past dozen seasons, Penn State’s defense has consistently ranked among the nation’s toughest. And that’s been through good times and bad. Penn State’s legacy of stingy defenses is hard to beat. Which has made the Nittany Lions tough to beat despite some onerous circumstances and especially in close games.

And they have been close.

A FIELD GOAL DIFFERENCE

Over the past six seasons, Penn State has outscored the opposition by a measly field goal (3.21 points) per game – and just 1.85 points per game if you discount the 2012 season.

Largely, it hasn’t been the fault of the defense. Since 2004, the Nittany Lions have been ranked in the Top 20 in both total defense and points allowed a total of nine times. Seven were under Bradley, who had defenses that ranked No. 10, 12, 15, 11, 8, 9, 35 and 20 from 2004-11 at Penn State. Under Roof in 2012, the Nittany Lions’ defense ranked No. 16 in fewest points allowed.

And all Shoop did was guide PSU to the No. 2 total defense in 2014 and the No. 14 total defense in 2015.

Pry can’t count on Moorhead’s up-tempo offense to be the complete panacea for an attack that has averaged just 21.9 points per game over the past two seasons. Sure, it will be better. But with a new quarterback, a new playbook and a schedule featuring Michigan and two rivalry games (Temple, Pitt) in the first month, there are sure to be growing pains.

And that’s not only on offense, but on defense as well – which will be forced to learn and play a style that is complementary in speed, aggression, mindset and depth to withstand the possibility of a series of quick three-and-outs.

That was evident in Moorhead’s first season at Fordham, when the Rams installed a new offense. They went 6-5 in 2012, a huge improvement over their 1-10 mark in 2011, but actually had the ball for fewer minutes per game and averaged fewer yards per play than the opposition, while scoring just 3.1 more points per game.

Fordham blasted the opposition in 2013-14, outpacing its opponents by over two touchdowns (14.8 points) and 136 yards per game on their way to a 23-5 record.

But in 2015, with an inexperienced starting quarterback, they had a tougher time of it. Their winning margin was cut by more than half (to an average of 6.2 points) and they outgained their opponents by less than 30 yards a game.

For the first time in a long time, a strong Penn State defense may not be able to cover any and all inefficiencies on offense.

PRY’S SECRETS TO SUCCESS

Here are six challenges Pry faces as the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator in 2016:

1. The aforementioned learning curve on offense.

2. An almost brand new front four. Gone are Carl Nassib, Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel, all selected in the NFL Draft. Only D-end Garrett Sickels has any serious starting experience among the returning group.

3. A linebacking corps that, while talented, is coming off injuries both big (Nyeem Wartman-White's ACL) and nagging (Brandon Bell), and is thin on depth to boot.

4. A new emphasis on turnovers, especially important when running an up-tempo, ball-control offense that needs the ball to be effective. For all its strengths the past two seasons, Penn State’s defense forced only one more turnover (50 to 49) than its opponent over 26 games. PSU threw 22 interceptions and lost 27 fumbles vs. 25 and 25 for its opponents.

5. Give up field goals, not touchdowns. This is part of Bradley’s old bend-but-don’t break philosophy at Penn State. It’s simple math – it takes three field goals to beat one touchdown and an extra point. When Moorhead’s Fordham teams were really rolling in 2013 and ’14, they scored 132 TDs to just 86 for the opposition. And nearly 60% of those Rams’ six-pointers in that time came on the ground (77 to 56).

6. Quality defensive practice against conventional offenses. By virtue of going against the Nittany Lions’ No. 1 offense, their defense will be in tune with defending the spread, up-tempo game. But the defense still has to be adept – and even constructed – to beat non-spread teams like Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa. And to make that happen, they’ll need to go against scout teams in practice that will be able to replicate the more-traditional Big Ten offenses. A deeper, post-sanction roster should help produce a better offensive look in practice in 2016.