Highlights from James Franklin’s National Signing Day press conference
James Franklin addressed the media on National Signing Day after putting pen to paper on 27 prospects in December and another few on Wednesday.
Penn State head coach James Franklin took to the podium on National Signing Day, addressing everything from his contract extension to National Signing Day, from his new assistant coaches to the February Dead Period.
We’re here with highlights from the press conference.
On Sean Spencer’s departure:
“What I always try to do, I always, I want more times than not, for our current players and our parents and for our recruits to hear it from me before they hear it from someone else. Take for instance, we knew about Sean (Spencer) leaving before anyone else but how do I get that information across to our players so it doesn’t break on the Internet before they’ve heard it from me. I think that’s really important.
“The same thing for when we hire someone, hopefully, that person can call all of the commitments and talk to our players before it’s announced publically. I think that’s family business and I’d like for it to be addressed there first.”
On his new coaching staff:
“Obviously we’ve had some staff changes since the last time we spoke. That’s the hard part. I do my part to hope our players and staff achieve their dreams, whatever that is. It’s pretty cool when you look at it. It’s challenging, I’m not saying I love it but we’ve had two assistants leave to be a head coach, one to (offensive coordinator) and one to the NFL… People want a piece of our guys. It’s a win-win, we need to have a great list of people we want to hire. Every change that happens is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to get someone with a similar skill set, and maybe in some spots upgrade.
“I think you’ll like what you see with these guys.”
On the James Franklin contract extension:
“There hasn’t been a delay, it’s about language and making sure both sides are comfortable. That takes time. There was a verbal agreement made, then it takes lawyers to get involved. I think signing it will happen soon. It’s agreed upon, it should be here very soon.”
On the February dead period:
“The dead period is really good. One of my concerns is the new recruiting periods and early visits. When do we spend time with our own players? Even when we are on campus, we have people coming in to see us and that take away time from the current players. What used to happen in the spring where you visit high schools for the next class now happens in December and January because most schools are done with the current class in time for the December signing period. There are always unseen consequences for every decision you make. It amazes me how many decisions are made without a lot of college football coaches being consulted. I do think Todd Berry and the AFCA have done a good job.”
On his receiver room:
“We’ve got to be more consistent in throwing the ball and accuracy. We’ve got to be able to make the defense defend the entire field… I think we’ve done a good job of attacking with our slots and our tight ends and need to take more advantage of attacking with our outside wide receivers.
“We’re running the ball much better than we were over the past five or so years. There are some really good opportunities to compete at receiver. We have guys that we think we’re ready to make the next step and we need them to. That will be an emphasis this spring.”