Drew Allar arrived at Penn State in the winter of 2022 with the fanfare customary for a highly-rated quarterback recruit.
After getting his feet wet as the No. 2 signal caller behind Sean Clifford last fall, it is Allar’s turn to take over the reins as the Nittany Lions strive to improve on an 11-2 campaign, which culminated with a win over Utah in the Rose Bowl.
We caught up with Allar earlier today as he prepared for an event with Mission Tiger in Bellefonte, Pa., to discuss his partnership with the organization, the upcoming 2023 season and much more.
Let’s get started:
The Spun: If you don’t mind, could you fill us in a little bit on how you got started with Frosted Flakes and Mission Tiger and what you are hoping to accomplish?
Drew Allar: The main mission of this partnership is to give back to the local community and specifically youth sports and middle school sports. It’s something that’s very important to me and Frosted Flakes and Kellogg’s because we know how important youth sports are to communities. Obviously, right now there’s a lot of different things going on in the world and we just want to provide the most opportunities for kids to go out and play the sports they enjoy and have fun with it, because at the end of the day, sports are supposed to be fun.
The Spun: Moving to football, obviously this is a huge season for you. It’s your first season as a starter and last month, ESPN came out with an article and the headline was “Drew Allar gives James Franklin his College Football Playoff Shot.” You were a five-star recruit and had all those expectations. Do you feel any individual pressure to perform and meet those benchmarks?
DA: No, I think we do a great job as a team. We all have high expectations for ourselves but we keep those to ourselves and focus on whatever we can do to put the team into the best position to go out and win every week. I think we’re going a great job with that right now. I think we have a lot of great leadership throughout the coaching staff and also with the players, so I don’t think that really affects any of us throughout our workouts and stuff we’ve been doing throughout the summer.
The Spun: Obviously, you guys are coming off a great season, 11-2 and a win in the Rose Bowl. The next step is to win the Big Ten again and get to the College Football Playoff. How much added emphasis is there amongst you guys, whether its the coaching staff or players, about beating Ohio State and Michigan, which is something you haven’t been able to do?
DA: We never really focus on those types of things in the offseason. We focus on what we can do each day to get better. I think this offseason has been tremendous for us in terms of utilizing the facility all day and all night, getting in extra work, doing position-specific stuff, which I something that I think is a little bit different compared to last year. I think we have more guys hanging around the facility. I think the biggest thing is we focus on going 1-0 every week. That’s something Coach Franklin stresses to us. We don’t worry about specific opponents until they are ahead of us that week.
The Spun: For you, as an Ohio native, what led you to stick with Penn State after Ohio State offered you?
DA: I think it was just from the standpoint that I was committed to Penn State for 8-9 months at the time. For me, personally, it just felt super late in the process and I was very comfortable with my decision, sticking with Penn State. I felt like it was the best situation for me personally.
The Spun: How much did early enrollment prepare you not just for your freshman season but also give you a little leg up going into this year as well?
DA: I think it was very significant in my development, just because it allowed me to get an extra semester under my belt with school and football. I kind of had my learning curve come early, so when the summer came and everybody else was getting here from my class, I was able to teach them the offense as opposed to running the offense like I was in the spring.
I think it just helped my overall familiarity and comfort with the offense, Being able to go from learning it to teaching it really helped me and played a huge role in my development so far.
Sunday Morning 🎯practice with @AllarDrew #QBX🎯💪🌪 pic.twitter.com/U7iQC8ix9v
— Brad Maendler (@BradMaendler) June 11, 2023
The Spun: What was your “Welcome to College Football” moment last year?
DA: I would just say going against our defense every day. Obviously, it’s a very talented defense and very well-coached. Probably one of the best defensive staffs it not the best defensive staff in the country along with the talent we have on the defensive side of the ball. Just going against those guys every day makes the offense a lot better and I think we make the defense a lot better as well.
The Spun: What’s the best piece of advice you received from Sean Clifford?
DA: I learned so many things from him, but I think the biggest thing I tried to take away and hone in on is to never get too high and never get too low. Just always have to steady the ship and be smooth and calm.
The Spun: Obviously, preparing for your first year as a starter, I’m sure you’re working on everything, but what were one or two of the major things you tried to stress in your development this offseason heading into the summer?
DA: For me personally, there were just a lot of things I wanted to improve on. Specifically, getting more involved with the coaching staff with why we want to run certain stuff. Being on the same page with [offensive coordinator] Coach [Mike] Yurcich and [head] Coach [James] Franklin more often, just understanding the reasoning behind why they want to do things specific ways. And then, for me, I’d have a better understanding of how to help teammates along as well. So, I think just being on the same page as Coach Yurcich and Coach Franklin and also attacking the weight room. I think we have the best strength staff in the country.
The Spun: What’s something about James Franklin that an outsider to the Penn State program may not know?
DA: I would say the biggest thing that people don’t realize is how supportive he is and how much he truly cares about us. He sacrifices a lot of his time around the facility but he goes out of his way to make sure we’re fine and have all of the resources that we need to be successful, on and off the field. If we have any personal issues we can go to him as well.
He’s just a very honest guy and he’s great to be coached by.
LETS GO! https://t.co/7Og2fSbeJb
— Drew Allar (@AllarDrew) April 29, 2023
The Spun: A lot of Penn State fans are excited to see you this season, but who are some guys, either on offense or defense, that you think are ready to surprise some people and fans should be excited about?
DA: I think our receiving corps is going to be really good this year. I know a lot of people have questions on them but they have put in a lot of work and I think [wide receivers] Coach [Marques] Hagans has done a great job already in a short time being here setting a standard. We have a different standard in there now and I think specifically ‘Dre [Keandre Lambert-Smith], Liam [Clifford] and Trey [Harrison Wallace III] are taking that receiver room along with them and they’re doing a great job.
Defensively, I would say K.J. Winston and Dani Dennis-Sutton. Two hard-working guys, they’re both great teammates. They’re doing amazing things right now in the weight room and out on the field. They’re both very instinctive football players who I think are both going to have big years for us.
The Spun: You mentioned a new standard in the receiver room. How did that come about?
DA: I think it’s just the mentality that Coach Hagans has. He’s very similar to Coach Franklin in that respect, where’s very demanding but he’s also very caring at the same time about everything, no matter what the situation is.
I think Coach Hagans gives a different mentality, just from his background and how he grew up and how he played football in college and the NFL. I think guys are very attracted to that mentality. They’ve done a great job with that.
The Spun: Last question is always a fun one. What’s your favorite flavor at the Penn State creamery and why?
DA: [Laughs] Probably just mint chocolate chip, just because I’m kind of basic from that standpoint and have always been a mint chocolate chip kind of guy.
You can read more of our interviews with athletes and media stars here.