Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1445781
5 8 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M a lot. We're just trying to recruit more to the class and get better. BWI How much were you in touch with Josh Miller leading into his com- mitment? BIRCHMEIER I was recruiting Josh hard the whole time. There are other offensive linemen, too, like Jven Williams from Pennsylvania. He's a really big recruit. I talk to Evan Link every once in a while. I know he's a recruit Coach [Phil] Traut- wein likes, and he has a good future. I definitely want him on my team. Chase Bisontis, Luke Montgomery, all of those big recruits. BWI Penn State had an up-and-down season in 2021. What are your thoughts on it? BIRCHMEIER Penn State has had back- to-back seasons now with pretty much even records. That doesn't affect me at all, though, when it comes to my rela- tionship with the school or make me question if I want to go there or not. It's just motivation for me and the other recruits to have big goals in mind. I think like, "OK, if this is the school I'm going to, let's aim for 10-plus wins every season." I want to try and play for a na- tional championship, and it's just mo- tivation for us to work harder and push ourselves. BWI You've been loyal to Penn State since committing, but I'm sure schools have tried to continue to recruit you. Do you get texts and calls from coaches at other schools still? BIRCHMEIER When you're a recruit, even if you're committed, schools don't really stop hitting you up. For me, the biggest thing I've done is just ignore most of that stuff, keep my eyes straight on and where they need to be. Because of that, I haven't had to deal with a lot of that. I don't do unnecessary phone calls. It's mainly just been schools reach- ing out to offer. I don't see any reason to acknowledge that stuff and let the pub- lic know. Once you're committed, offers and that stuff just aren't important. BWI I want to learn more about your wrestling career. You were a state cham- pion wrestler last year in Virginia. How does wrestling help you with football? BIRCHMEIER Wrestling goes hand- in-hand with football. It helps you stay low, it helps with leg drive. When you're wrestling, you really feel your opponent's weight shifting, and that's great for of- fensive line play. It helps you understand where guys are going, where your hands need to be, especially on reach blocks and stuff like that. It's been a big help for me as an offensive lineman. BWI If you could be the top-ranked interior lineman nationally, which you basically are, or the top-ranked heavy- weight wrestler in the country, which would you pick? BIRCHMEIER When I was little, I hated wrestling. It was one of those sports my dad signed me up for. Over the years, I've grown to love it, but I don't think it beats my love for football. Every time I'm working out, I'm not thinking about what's going to make me better at wrestling. Obviously, that's a goal, too, but it's not my primary mind- set while I'm working out. Football is what's always on my mind. It's about getting that extra rep in to be the best offensive lineman I can be. BWI Did any schools recruit you for wrestling, especially before you com- mitted? I assume most have stopped now since you have a full scholarship already. BIRCHMEIER Before I was commit- ted for football, I had a couple in-state schools — Virginia and Virginia Tech — reach out to me for wrestling. But my coach and I knew I didn't really want to wrestle in college. Football was always my goal for college. BWI I'm going to finish this with a couple fun questions. I'll start with this: Is there a current or former Penn State player that you're most looking forward to learning from or competing against? BIRCHMEIER One of the guys who I followed pretty closely, watched all of his film in high school and really model myself after is Landon Tengwall. He's been a guy that I've been basing myself off of for a long time. I don't want to be one of those sloppy, big offensive line- men. I want to be in great shape. I want to be strong and be able to move well, and I think Tengwall really fits that kind of mold. So, I would say Landon. I'm looking forward to working with him. BWI Do you have a favorite sports team? You can't say Penn State. Any other team. BIRCHMEIER I never really had a fa- vorite NFL team growing up. For me, I always just grew up supporting the teams that my family played for, so places like Ohio University, Navy, Vanderbilt, those kinds of schools. My dad played at Ohio University, my brother is at Navy and my cousin played at Vanderbilt. BWI Can you share one thing you want your future teammates or coaches to know about you? BIRCHMEIER I love competition. If you put anything into a competition format, it'll probably make me work twice as hard. I don't know what it is, but when- ever workouts become competitive, it just takes things up a notch for me. BWI Favorite thing about being a Divi- sion I recruit? BIRCHMEIER I would say having it over with. Having that pressure off of me is great. I enjoyed the visits and getting to know coaches, but I like not having to fo- cus on my recruitment. I like focusing on making myself better. Just not having to travel all over, send film out to coaches, all of that. I've been watching some of my teammates struggle with that. It stresses people out. BWI Your least favorite thing about be- ing a Division I recruit? I think you may have just hit on it. BIRCHMEIER Just the unwanted atten- tion sometimes. It's good, and I appre- ciate it, but it's just not needed some- times. I'll be getting ready for a wrestling match, and people will come up to me. Not saying it's a bad thing, but I just want to compete and not have to deal with all of that sometimes. ■