John Petrishen’s departure forced Penn State football to make changes
Pittsburgh safety John Petrishen knows Penn State football well. So well, that James Franklin was forced to make signal changes this season.
Why does Penn State football head coach James Franklin dislike the idea of players transferring to programs that are scheduled for the upcoming season? For obvious reasons such as the fact that changes needed to be made to both, the offense and the defense leading up to week three.
As we know, former three-star safety John Petrishen got his start with the Penn State Nittany Lions. As the Pittsburgh native was recruited in Penn State’s 2015 class, he initially planned to continue his football career in Happy Valley.
Unfortunately, Petrishen’s Nittany Lions’ career wasn’t what he expected. After dealing with injuries and a lack of playing time on the defense, Petrishen eventually decided it would be best if he got a fresh start elsewhere. After all, his chances of actually garnering a role beyond special teams were pretty much unattainable for his senior season in 2019.
So Petrishen entered into the transfer portal and was able to join the roster of his hometown University, Pittsburgh. While Penn State didn’t have any hard feelings about the departure, Petrishen’s eventual landing spot did frustrate a few as the Panthers were set to take on the Nittany Lions early on in the year during week three.
Changes were necessary
Petrishen might not have had a whole lot of experience on the field with Penn State, but he’s been around the program for roughly four years. Whether he has had plenty of playing time there or not, it doesn’t really change the fact that he has inside knowledge on the Nittany Lions.
Petrishen has been around long enough to familiarize himself with both, the offense and defensive signals for Penn State. Knowing that, Franklin had to make necessary changes in order to keep the insider knowledge outdated in case Pitt inquires about it.
Don’t worry, though; there won’t be much confusion for this week’s game. As Penn State did change signals for the sole purpose of week three, Franklin made it clear that they did it ahead of time, so there isn’t any confusion due to major changes happening on the fly.
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It’s good that the Nittany Lions addressed this potential issue early on — but now it raises apparent concerns for future situations with players transferring.
Franklin mentioned that he does see it as a somewhat flawed system, but right now there’s nothing they can do about it. Hopefully, changes can be made in the future. For now, though, Penn State has to deal with it in their own way.