If Micah Parsons wanted to play as a freshman at Penn State, he would have to play linebacker. It wasn’t a hard decision for the Harrisburg native who grew up playing running back and defensive end. He wanted to play.
It was four years earlier that Parsons met Penn State Defensive Coordinator Brent Pry. After Parsons fourth game of his freshman season, he had an offer from Penn State. Thus began Parsons relationship with Coach Pry.
“We’ve been like 7 years deep in reality, and a lot of people don’t know that,” Parsons said of his relationship with Pry. “Coach [James] Franklin and Coach Pry mean the world to me. They never gave up on me, even when things hit the turmoil in high school. When things weren’t looking good; when academics weren’t the greatest they believed in me.”
Pry describes the linebacker as the “most competitive guy I’ve ever coached.”
Micah’s father, Terrence, says Micah would spend hours in Pry’s office after practice. The first-year linebacker wanted to learn as much as he could at the position to become a starter as a freshman.
“I wanted to separate myself,” Parsons said. “I used to ask why I wasn’t a starter. What do I have to do to work on? I had the desire to want to make it out. There was nothing that was going to stop me to get away from chasing my dreams.”
Within two years at mike linebacker, Parsons would led the team in tackles as a freshman and be named the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year as a sophomore. He says Pry was instrumental in that development.
“For me the standard was set, and it was up to me to reach it,” Parsons said. “The only way to do that was to learn everything I could have possibly learn to get there. And the only person who knew more than me, was him.”
Pry details exactly what Micah will bring to whichever NFL team drafts the linebacker on Thursday, April 29th.
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