How Those Penn State Running Back Drills Actually Work
If you've watched any game tape from Saquon's Penn State days, you've probably noticed how he moves differently than most college backs. The difference isn't something that shows up in highlight reels. It comes from the kind of practice work that doesn't look glamorous but builds the actual mechanics underneath everything else. I spent years around programs that ran these same drill structures, and I can tell you where the method falls apart and where it actually delivers results. The core of what built him wasn't one specific drill. It was the combination of first-step explosion work, contact balance training, and change-of-direction repetition done at game speed over and over. Penn State under James Franklin ran a heavy emphasis on gap discipline and physical running between the tackles, which is the part people forget when they only see the breakaway runs. Saquon was developed for the inside work first, and the open-field ability came after that foundation was solid. The first-step drill is usually where people get the most out of this kind of training. It involves a static start from a three-point or two-point stance, then an explosive first step into a defined zone. The key detail most coaches miss is the hip position on that first step. If the hips open too early, you lose forward drive. Saquon's first step stayed compact because his coach kept him drilled on keeping the lead shoulder down and the feet accelerating under his center of gravity, not ahead of it. I've seen players who could flat-out sprint faster on paper but produce less yardage because their first step was technically loose. That gap between fast feet and effective first-step drive is exactly what these practice reps close.
Contact balance work is the second piece. This isn't about taking hits. It's about maintaining footing and forward lean when resistance is applied at different angles. The drill usually involves a sled push or a coach on a pad driving sideways into the back or hip of the runner as he moves through a lane. What separates good contact balance from average is how quickly the runner recovers after the initial impact. Saquon's ability to absorb a hit and keep his legs moving for three or four more yards came from doing this rep after rep until his core and lower body stopped reacting to contact with a brace and started reacting with continued acceleration. I ran into a real problem with this drill structure a few years back with a high school recruit who had great natural burst but would consistently fall apart on the contact balance work. His issue was subtle. He'd brace for impact on the first rep, take the hit, and then reset before the next one. That reset time added up. Over a full practice, he was spending maybe forty seconds per drill cycle just recovering his stance instead of staying in the flow. The workaround was switching from continuous contact reps to a staggered approach where the contact driver would only engage on every other repetition, giving him time to process the footwork without getting dumped into survival mode. Once he stopped treating contact as a disruption and started treating it as part of the movement, his numbers on that drill jumped noticeably within two weeks. Change-of-direction work at game speed rounds out the trio. This is where agility ladders and cone drills come in, but the version that matters most for a running back isn't the pretty footwork pattern. It's the read-and-react version. A defender or coach shows a visual cue and the back has to make a sharp cut at full speed toward a designated zone. The training value here isn't the cut itself. It's the deceleration before the cut and the re-acceleration out of it. Most players are terrible at decelerating under control. They slow down by braking hard, which kills their momentum. Saquon's cuts were fast because his deceleration was smooth, using his hips and lower body to redirect rather than fight his forward momentum.
There's a nuance here that beginners miss. These three drill types should not all be done at maximum intensity in the same session. The first-step work and contact balance drills tax the central nervous system and fast-twitch fibers heavily. Change-of-direction work adds eccentric load to the hamstrings and knees. Doing all three at full gas in one day leads to degraded form by the third drill block, which means you're reinforcing bad mechanics, not fixing them. I've seen coaches run kids through all three at max effort and then wonder why injury rates went up and performance plateaued. The fix is straightforward. Split them across days or sequence them so the highest neural-demand drill comes first and the volume work comes later in the session. Another thing worth noting is that these drills only work if the intensity is real. Going through the motions at sixty percent effort turns a first-step explosion drill into a warmup stretch. Saquon's practice highlights stand out because you can see he was competing in every rep, even when nobody was watching. That competitive intensity is what separates practice work that builds an NFL calibur running back from practice work that just keeps guys busy. The main limitation of this approach is that it requires qualified coaching. You can set up a sled and cones yourself, but if the person running the drill doesn't understand hip placement, leverage, and the difference between a good stumble and a bad one, you're just doing repetitions that reinforce poor technique. I've watched too many high school programs throw kids into contact balance work with coaches who couldn't spot a tilted shoulder blade from fifty yards away. The drill structure is sound. The execution is where it breaks down.
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If you don't have access to that level of coaching, the best alternative is to prioritize the first-step explosion work and do the contact balance and change-of-direction elements at reduced intensity with a focus on form over power. It won't produce the same results as a fully coached session, but it's better than reinforcing bad habits at full speed. The goal is to build the movement patterns correctly first, then add load and speed once the patterns are locked in. What made Saquon's Penn State development stand out wasn't any single drill. It was the consistency of high-intensity repetition across all three areas, done with proper coaching, and carried through four years of program structure. The highlights show the result. The practice work is what you never see, and it's the only part that actually matters.
