Penn State football media day 2013

Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien addresses reporters during the Nittany Lions' 2013 media day.

(JOE HERMITT, PennLive)

Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien and his Lions will travel to TCF Bank Stadium Saturday for a Noon kick with Minnesota, but first, the head coach spent 40 minutes Thursday night on the Penn State Football Radio Show.

O'Brien heaped praise on Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill and his staff for the job its done in the midst of Kill taking a leave of absence due to ongoing health issues, and made clear that one focus Saturday will be keeping the ball out of the Golden Gophers hands. Minnesota has only had the ball less than its opponent three times this season, and has had more than a 10-minute edge in each of its last three contests.

The head coach also talked about linebacker Ben Kline, offered some thoughts on recruiting, and spoke about hazing. But five bits in particular stood out.

1. Cautious with Kline:

Kline has played in just five games this fall, making 14 stops in total. His best game to date came last Saturday, where he made eight tackles.

The redshirt sophomore missed all of the spring after having off-season shoulder surgery, and has been sporadically in-and-out of the line-up and practice sessions. Now, O'Brien said the Dallastown High product will again have surgery this off-season.

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Ben Kline is such an important part of our team. His shoulder has popped out three or four times this year, and he's gone in and they popped it back in," O'Brien said. "Sometimes, he's back to practice the next day.

"He'll have surgery on it after the season, but he'll play through it the next four games."

2. Blocking Movement:

O'Brien has often been asked, both by the media and on the radio show, about his tight ends, a unit that was arguably Penn State's best a year ago but through eights games has just two touchdowns and 425 yards in statistical production.

It's a question without a good answer, but host Steve Jones took a different route, asking how the position grouping has done blocking, something O'Brien has been pleased by with just four games to go.

"Jesse [James] had a nice day blocking against Illinois. I think Adam Breneman is a much improved blocker. It's not easy to come from high school, where he was used on the perimeter of the defense a lot, and block more," O'Brien said.

"He's gotten a lot better at it. He's a tough kid. Kyle Carter is more of a receiver, but he's a tough guy and does a nice job."

3. Recruiting, Part One: When Penn State received scholarships back from the NCAA in September, it not only gave the Lions a boon from a competitive standpoint, but also opened up the door for all sorts of new recruiting ideas.

It also opened up more slots in what was nearly a full class of 2013, and going forward, one position that could see multiple players joining every year is running back.

The head coach was asked whether he prefers a 'scat back' or 'more of a power guy.' Three months ago, he may have had to pick. Now, his answer is simply both.

To date, Penn State has three running backs committed, as it has secured verbal pledges from Maryland running back Mark Allen, Virginia tailback Nick Scott, and Massachusetts back Johnathan Thomas.

"We'll look for both. With the scholarship numbers being modified, we'll look for both," O'Brien said. "We'll look for more of a guy that's more of a third down back, and a big back like a [Zach] Zwinak type of back.

"So, we'll always look for both as long as I'm here."

He later noted that current starting running back Bill Belton, who some may label a scat back, is not in his mind.

4. Recruiting, Part Two: There's a difference between a college staff building a recruiting class and an NFL staff building a draft board. Actually, there's a lot of them.

No one is more aware of this than O'Brien, who assembled draft classes with the New England Patriots after filling up rosters with scholarships players at numerous college stops and before he inked his first class at Penn State in 2012.

Asked whether he prefers one over the other, he didn't say. But there is a certain aspect of college recruiting that he certainly enjoys, and that opportunity doesn't present itself at the professional level.

"Here's what I love about recruiting: I enjoy narrowing the list down and getting to know the guys and their families. I try to recruit these guys personally," O'Brien said. "What I don't like is how many stars or who's recruiting this guy. I don't think that matters at all. I think what happens is; recruiting is about a fit. We have to be very upfront about what Penn State is.

"We tell kids: only 23,000 guys have played in NFL since it came into existence. That's not a lot of guys. We want everybody to have that dream, but the No. 1 thing is to come here and receive a well-rounded education. Then right up there with it is football. It's totally different than drafting. There are a lot of different factors that go into drafting. I enjoy recruiting and getting to know kids."

5. A Hazy Moment: No one seems to know exactly what is going on in the on-going saga plaguing the Miami Dolphins. And O'Brien certainly isn't one of the ones that knows.

If you haven't been following, Dolphins' offensive linemen Jonathan Martin abruptly left the team last week, and later details emerged that fellow linemen and perhaps others were harassing the former Stanford lineman.

O'Brien was asked Tuesday about his thoughts on the matter, and reiterated them again Thursday while adding some context to how coaches handle locker room interactions.

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We do a good job of [monitoring the locker room]. It's something you have to do. I know Joe Philbin; he's a great guy and excellent football coach. We have a leadership council here, great coaches on our team, and our coaches spend a lot of time in the locker room.