James Franklin Talks 2017 Recruiting Class

Penn State head coach James Franklin met the media Wednesday after signing a very solid 2017 recruiting class.

All the hard work and time on the road paid off for James Franklin and his Penn State staff on National Signing Day. The Nittany Lions inked another strong class, currently ranked No. 15 by 247Sports. The class contains 21 members, including one who waited till Wednesday afternoon to become official.

Franklin met with members of the media Wednesday afternoon inside of Beaver Stadium to discuss the new group of Nittany Lions.

The head coach praised the hard and tireless work of his staff to help put the best that together that they could. He referenced the fact that the coaches haven’t had a day off since July, so after a gathering at his house in the evening, they will have a long weekend to rest. ” We’re going to get after it pretty good tonight and then give the coaches off for a long weekend,” Franklin joked.

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He also spent a while thanking everyone for all they do, from the coaches, to the school administration, to the people who make the campus clean and pretty, and to members of the community.

Franklin made everyone aware of an interesting note that he’s very proud of.

"“The one stat I will throw out to you that I’m pretty proud of, if you look at the three previous years, before we got here, I think the average class ranking was 40, almost 41. The last three years, that one year where we got the job, that was kind of a combination year. If you take that out and go to the three previous years, then the past three, it’s 16.”"

Below are some highlights of what Franklin said during the question portion of the press conference Wednesday. You can read the full transcript at GOPSUSports.com.

On Getting Ellis Brooks:

“We felt like if we got him on campus that we would be able to make up some ground in a short period of time. But, I mean, literally, he had all kinds of people coming to his house. He had visited all over the country from the West Coast to the deep south, everywhere in between. He had a lot of opportunities.”

“When he came on the visit, dad was awesome. We felt really good about dad. Mom I was scared of. Mom got after me in a home visit pretty good. I survived it. We got her here on campus. Then dad went downtown to the bookstore and bought $300 worth of gear. Pretty good sign. Pretty good sign. ”

On Getting Help From the Early Commits:

“I think obviously the guys that jumped onboard were really good. They had a group chat going. They all became really good friends. That recruiting weekend we had a couple weekends ago, it’s not a recruiting weekend, it’s a celebration. They come. They’re all buddies. They’re all friends. They just enjoy themselves. Their parents know each other. The players know each other, the coaches, and our families.”

On C.J. Thorpe:

“Thorpe is a grown man. He’s got something that I think most coaches are looking for. It’s hard to find. He’s an offensive lineman with a nastiness to him. He plays with a really nasty demeanor. He wants to finish it. He wants to be physical. When you can find guys like that, they’re really valuable.”

On Yetur Matos:

“I don’t know the specific time. He’s a guy we identified early on. He’s got the body you’re looking for. Really good student, really good family. As we keep watching this guy play, he’s a guy that I think — to be honest with you, I know this sounds ridiculous — but you say the sleeper of the class. He may be the sleeper of the class. I know he’s a four-star recruit, all that kind of stuff.”

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