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Josh Kaltenberger has the size, skill and temperament to be a key part of Purdue's offensive line in the future.
The three-star prospect from Seneca Valley High in Pittsburgh will graduate early and arrive in West Lafayette in time for spring football. The 6-4, 285-pound Kaltenberger--a first-team all-state pick in Pennsylvania--is one of four offensive linemen who are expected to sign with Purdue next Wednesday, the first day members of the Class of 2020 can ink letters-of-intent. He verbally committed on June 14, when he became the fourth commitment--and third o-lineman--in Purdue's 2020 class.
GoldandBlack.com spoke with Seneca Valley head coach Ron Butschle to get the lowdown on Kaltenberg's senior season.
GoldandBlack.com: How was your school's 2019 season?
Butschle: We didn’t do as well as I thought we were gonna do. We made the playoffs and lost in the first round. We had a lot of inexperience. We finished 4-7 and lost to Mt. Lebanon.
GoldandBlack.com: What were the issues?
Butschle: We had some significant injuries on the offensive line. Josh wasn’t one of them. But we lost the two guys who play right guard next to him a couple of weeks apart. That put a little different spin on things.
GoldandBlack.com: How did Josh do in 2019?
Butschle: In terms of Josh, he performed as expected. He was the best lineman in our conference. We actually moved him over to guard after the second kid went down because we didn’t have another guard and we had a kid who was kind of a JV player play center for us. I knew Josh could handle the load at guard and the kid at center did the best he could. At the end of the year, we were kind of playing with a patchwork offensive line a little bit. Josh played six games at center and five at right guard.
GoldandBlack.com: What position will Josh play at Purdue?
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Butschle: I believe he is a center at the next level.
GoldandBlack.com: How did the offense perform?
Butschle: We ran and passed about 50-50. At the end of the year, I think we were a little better running team than passing team. Because of injuries, we had to move some guys around—skill guys. Our downhill run game ended up being our bread-and-butter. That’s because of the guys we had up front. We ended up finding a hidden gem at tailback after a senior went down. He did a really good job.
GoldandBlack.com: What did Josh improve at?
Butschle: He progressed during the year in terms of getting to the second level, finishing blocks and things like that. College football is a different animal. College football in the Big Ten is a completely different animal. Josh has all the physical tools. He has a good base of fundamentals and technique that (Purdue offensive line) Coach (Dale) Williams is gonna take and make better. It’s just gonna be a big adjustment as it is for any college freshman especially for a kid who is leaving high school early. He’ll acclimate and he’ll adjust. Physically, he’s very gifted. The part of the game that Josh will have to acclimate himself to is the intensity and speed of college football. Once he gets that, I am sure he’ll do great.
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