Penn State’s first Lift for Life under head coach Matt Campbell doubled as a loud, sweaty snapshot of where the Nittany Lions stand heading into the fall: a bunch of players grinding through medicine-ball throws, sled pushes and weight pulls, and a few key names finally back in the mix.
The annual 90-minute competition, staged Wednesday morning in Holuba Hall and on the outside practice fields, featured full participation from quarterback Rocco Becht, linebacker Tony Rojas, defensive end Max Granville, offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh and tight end Andrew Rappleyea - all players who had seen little or no spring work. The event also served its usual purpose off the field, raising an announced $20,000 so far for rare disease research through Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes chapter.
Becht’s return drew the most attention. The nation’s most experienced returning quarterback has been working back from offseason surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, and Penn State strength and conditioning coach Reid Kagy said the staff is focused on building him back the right way.
"We're working every single day to make sure we build up some of that resiliency so he can play healthy," Penn State strength and conditioning coach Reid Kagy said on Wednesday. "The biggest thing I preach about Rocco is he’s team-first and one of the toughest guys on the entire team. What he did last year for our team was incredible, what he’s going to do here is going to be incredible.
"Is Rocco getting faster? He is. ...
He loves to talk about it," Kagy said. "He’s going to run the ball.
He’s getting faster, he’s getting stronger. Rocco’s a leader ... and his toughness bleeds into the rest of the team."
Rojas was another encouraging sight. The defense’s top playmaker, perhaps, was lost after just three games in 2025 when a leg contusion suffered in the loss to Oregon turned into a more serious injury the next week in practice. On Wednesday, he was running, lifting and pulling weights without issue, and he even led one of the defensive groups with new team leader Armstrong Nnodim, the Oklahoma State tackle transfer.
“Tony made a huge impact behind the scenes" in the spring, Kagy said. "He was creating relationships, he’s helping the other linebackers, he was in the meeting rooms.
He was making an impact by (helping) others. That’s what’s great about Tony.
I don’t think he cares that anybody saw the impact he was making or not, he cared this team felt that ..."
Granville’s recovery is another one Penn State is watching closely. The redshirt sophomore, now over 250 pounds and looking lean, is a candidate to grab one of the two open starting defensive end jobs. He missed the entire 2025 season because of an undisclosed lower-body injury, but Kagy said the body transformation and the work behind it have stood out.
"I’ve been super-impressed with his work ethic," Kagy said.
"Coming back from injury is hard, you can get caught in a lot of spaces, you can get lost in the whole process of it and sometimes you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. What Max is done from the time we’ve got here to now," is impressive, Kagy said.
Wednesday’s event also lined up with the first day of the university’s new apparel deal with adidas, along with the first of a series of pop-shopping events for new gear. The morning wrapped up with a brief autograph session for fans admitted with a requested monetary donation.
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