Abdul Carter’s star power has risen at Penn State. His football roots begin by way of North Philly

As he continues to shy away from a mounting pile of accolades, Abdul Carter lets his passion for football speak volumes on the field. For three seasons at Penn State, he has been driven to become the best player in the country. His latest season, which could be his last if he decides to go pro, has matched that standard.

Teammates, opposing players, and coaches are well accustomed to watching the blur in the blue and white No. 11 jersey. Southern Methodist is up next in the College Football Playoff, and this week its third-year coach Rhett Lashlee called Carter “the best defensive player we have played [in] my time at SMU, based on the film I’ve seen.”

Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who coached against Carter with Indiana for two seasons, says his defensive end is “the best defensive player in the country — and he’s proven it every week.”

Every positive or negative thrown Carter’s way is used as motivation. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in the country, went to South Carolina’s Kyle Kennard instead of Carter, and the Nittany Lions star reacted by doing push-ups “until failure. Until my arms gave out.“

“I like finding ways to get an advantage, get an edge, but just finding any kind of way to get better,” Carter said.

» READ MORE: Edge rushers Abdul Carter and Donovan Ezeiruaku are AP All-Americans

The development of the former off-ball linebacker to game-wrecking defensive end was three years in the making. Penn State coach James Franklin wanted Carter to play defensive end initially out of La Salle College High School, but Carter and his father, Chris, resisted. However, the position change has paid off as he earned a first-team All-America selection and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award. Ranking third nationally with 19½ tackles for losses, he’s playing with joy this season.

“I’m living out my dreams, I’m having the most fun I ever had playing football,” he said Tuesday.

“He’s got plays that you’re like, ‘Wow, those are impressive plays,’” Franklin said last month about Carter’s impact. “I think it took him a little time to get comfortable at defensive line, and specifically defensive end, but he’s a disruptive player. When you talk about tackles for loss and you talk about sacks and you talk about pressures and you talk about offensive coordinators spending all week on how they’re going to manipulate their protections to deal with him, you know he’s an impactful player.”

During a sweltering hot July day in Hunting Park this summer, Chris Carter watched from the sideline, seated under a tent to catch some temporary shade while his son’s first football camp unfolded. Abdul grew up at 11th and Ontario Streets, approximately four minutes away from Aztec Football Field, home to a Pop Warner youth team, the North Philly Aztecs. It was at this field that Chris knew his son would play professional football as Abdul flew around making plays wearing No. 22 as an 8-year-old.

The camp was 10 years in the making. Chris Carter watched Abdul and his teammates make it to the 2011 Pop Warner Super Bowl. He bestowed the nickname “Incredible” on his son. It’s a word that shows up in both of their X profiles and is the basis of Abdul’s INCRDBL foundation.

“The young man did everything I asked him to do at a high level, that’s how he got the nickname Incredible,” Chris said. “That’s where Incredible derives from. … To see it materialize, it’s amazing.”

The competitive edge that drives Abdul in the film room, on the field, and in every aspect of his life, came from his father. Chris Carter, who played linebacker and defensive end at Bloomsburg University, says he consistently strives to be the best father, husband, and friend, and it has rubbed off on his son.

So it’s poetic that the kid who grew up on 11th Street wears No. 11 for Penn State and is being coached by Deion Barnes, who grew up two blocks down on the same street.

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“It is an honor that Deion Barnes, also a great Penn State player, is now coaching my son,” Chris Carter said. “It’s a dream. That’s no mistake, any of this — we all are living the dream.”

La Salle College High coach John Steinmetz hit it off immediately with Carter and his father. Carter started at outside linebacker as a freshman for the Explorers, then spent the next three seasons at weakside linebacker.

Steinmetz still remembers a play vividly from his freshman season — against Haverford, Carter jumped up and nearly picked off a screen to his side of the field in the first half. “And I joked with him when he comes off the field, ‘Hey, next time, why don’t you catch that?’” Steinmetz said. Haverford tried the same play to Carter’s side in the second half. This time, he intercepted the pass. “That just was incredible,” Steinmetz said.

While the flashes showed early, Steinmetz, now retired after coaching football for 45 seasons, says the biggest improvement from Carter came between his freshman and sophomore seasons, specifically in the weight room. During those two years, he notably set program records for squat, high jump, and long jump. But his transition to off-ball linebacker — the opposite of what he ended up doing in college — largely relied on his athleticism.

“As he progressed into his junior and senior year, his football IQ — the term I always use — it started to really increase, and he started really being able to diagnose plays sooner and faster,” Steinmetz said. “And that’s when he kind of skyrocketed as a premier Division I player.”

Carter credits Steinmetz and La Salle for getting him to this point.

“Being at La Salle, they helped me a lot,” he said earlier this summer. “They helped me get where I’m at today.”

Although Carter is a bit more outspoken now, Steinmetz says the four-star recruit’s demeanor at La Salle was reserved and Carter “let his game do the talking.” But outside of the player’s accolades and growing accomplishments at Penn State, Steinmetz is most impressed by how Carter continues to give back to his North Philly community.

“He’s done some things for the Little League team that he played for; he ran a great football camp this year for youth football during the summer that had a bunch of former La Salle players,” Steinmetz said. “He’s very grateful from where he’s come from, and he’s doing a nice job of giving back to that [community].”

Carter got off to a slow start at defensive end for Penn State this season. Switching to a new position always comes with challenges, but even Carter admitted that he was doing “too much” in his early transition. But that changed quickly. During a four-game stretch from Sept. 21 to Oct. 12, Carter collected 9½ tackles for losses and four sacks, including his monster performance against Illinois (four tackles for losses, two sacks) to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors.

But he saved his best stretch for Penn State’s loss to Ohio State, sacking Downingtown West’s Will Howard twice, and getting two more the next week against Washington in front of a “Whiteout” crowd at Beaver Stadium.

Although Carter hasn’t recorded a sack or tackle for loss in two of his last four games, his impact is still felt, and the gravity he creates against opposing offensive linemen is opening up opportunities for his teammates.

» READ MORE: Penn State’s Abdul Carter showed his high upside in win over Illinois

“Abdul is so dominant,” SMU’s Lashlee said. “Last year, he played more linebacker, so you watch games from last year and you see him at linebacker, and he is just incredible. He’s physical, he flies around and makes plays, and then they moved him to defensive end this year, and he’s got as good a get-off as anybody in college football. There’s a reason he’s a top-five, top-10 pick in the upcoming draft.”

Integral to Carter’s development has been Barnes, a Northeast grad who authored a great playing career with the Nittany Lions. Barnes is quickly garnering a track record of developing NFL edge rushers, from Adisa Isaac (now with the Ravens) and Chop Robinson (Dolphins) last year to Arnold Ebiketie (Falcons) in 2022.

In October, Barnes provided some insight on how quickly Carter and teammate Dani Dennis-Sutton pick up on offenses and how they treat the meeting room “as a job.”

“They want to know everything, and they have to know as far as the information for the game, and they want to be able to be as detailed as possible,” Barnes said. “I think they do a good job with their details and understanding what they’re about to get. And with the plays that we’ve run, they’ll ask those deep questions as far as, ‘We [are] about to run this play. How does this help the defense winning this situation?’

“I hear it all the time, Dani and Abdul will call out the plays, they know what’s coming because of how we scouted [teams]. … They do a good job of picking up on keys.”

All eyes will be on Carter as No. 6 seed Penn State hosts No. 11 seed SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday (noon, TNT/Max). Steinmetz, who witnessed Carter’s two-sack performance against Ohio State in person this season, says he’ll be watching from home. He says the Mustangs should “have their hands full” trying to block Carter.

Carter’s speed has caused offensive line issues for opponents all season, and teams have held the Penn State edge rusher in an attempt to slow him down. Franklin pointed out after the Oregon loss the lack of holding calls his defensive players received — mainly Carter, who didn’t finish with a sack but generated consistent pressure on Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel. But Carter has learned not to get discouraged by it.

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“Whether I get the call or not, [I will] just try to keep playing and give 100 percent effort each play,” Carter said. “I’m going to just keep working, and eventually I’ll get a call or get a sack.”

“[Teams] have to be able to prepare for him to be at different positions and different responsibilities or techniques,” Allen said. “He has so much flexibility, which I know is a big value for his future is to be able to play in different positions and be a tremendous one-on-one nightmare for offensive players. His burst to the ball is as good as I’ve ever seen.”