Penn State football head coach James Franklin held his first press conference today since the 2020 season ended, answering questions about the offseason.
Franklin offered a state of the union on Penn State Football, and answered questions on the comings and goings off the busy offseason thus far.
There was a lot to discuss, as the Nittany Lions have added four players via the transfer portal since season’s end, lost three players to the portal, made a major coaching change and had a few very key players decide to return for 2021.
The busy month has seemingly injected some optimism in the fan base, coming off of a weird but disappointing 4-5 season, one the Nittany Lions started 0-5 for the first time in program history.
However, with the players coming to happy Valley and the players they have coming back, it would be fair to think Penn State Football will be back to being a contender in 2021.
Franklin took questions for about 45 minutes earlier today, lets take a look at three big takeaways from his time with the media.
Mike Yurcich was Franklin’s white whale
Earlier this month, Penn State football shocked the college football landscape when they announced a major coaching change.
Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich would be joining the team, while Kir kCiarrocca would be relieved of those duties after just one short year.
When asked about that today, Franklin unsurprisingly would not go into too much detail on why he made the change, but continually referenced that Yurich was a guy he’s had his eye on for some time now.
Franklin said they have had many conversations over the past few years and cited “offensive philosophy” as a reason for the change, and philosophically his offense can get Penn State football to where they want to go.
"“It’s going to be back to who we were the previous three or four years,” Franklin told reporters. “It’s going to be spread, it’s going to be tempo, there’s going to be an emphasis on explosive plays. Obviously we’re still working through all those types of things, but me and Mike have been talking for a long time, and we’re on the same page in what we want to do and how we want to do it. And Mike has lived in that world.”"
The head coach detailed further that an emphasis on explosive plays, not having turnovers and scoring points is what offense is all about.
Whether or not it was Ciarrocca’s fault this season, they were not very good at any of those three things.
Ciarrocca’s offense was built to eat up the clock and grind out drives, while it seems Franklin is more interested in speeding up the tempo, spreading it around, and he referenced getting more players involved in the offense.
Franklin admitted it was very tough to move on from Ciarrocca, and said Kirk handled it with class.
This is a “critical offseason” for the program, Franklin noted, and seemingly did not want to miss out on the guy he’s been chasing.
Franklin is adapting, whether he likes it or not
Franklin has long been a vocal opponent to the transfer portal and allowing players to go from school to school without penalty, that view seems to have changed in recent weeks.
Until this offseason, Penn State Football’s biggest acquisition through the portal has been kicker Jordan Stout, who with no disrespect is not moving the needle for the program.
Now, the Nittany Lions have been one of the most aggressive teams this offseason in acquiring players via the transfer portal. Franklin and the Nittany Lions have already signing four players who were starters at their last school and expected to play a significant role on the team next fall.
When franklin was asked if he was comfortable with the direction of college football and where it is going he was as open and honest as he has ever been, saying, it doesn’t matter if he is or not.
This is college football in 2021 and where it is going, and it’s not changing. In other words, adapt or die. And to Franklin’s credit, he has, and he’s shown that urgency this offseason with all these headline moves.
Franklin once again mentioned that defensive end is an area of need, and a position they are still targeting in the portal as well as high school recruiting. He also noted defensive back, as it’s fair to assume they will look to the portal to replace Lamont Wade who is off to the NFL.
Of course, coach was also asked about quarterbacks. He made a point to say they are not in the market for a quarterback, but reading between the lines sure make’s it seem like if the right one was available, Penn State football could pounce.
"“We’re gonna be as aggressive as we have to be at every position to help our football program. If there’s anything that makes sense then we’re going to look at it”. Franklin stated."
The head coach even simply stated, quarterback is a position they need to be better at.
Some things are bigger than football
It was well documented that Franklin had not been able to see his family since about June when players and staff reported to campus.
One of Franklin’s daughters has sickle cell disease, which makes her very high risk if she was to contract COVID-19, so his family has been quarantined in Florida while the head coach is hard at work in State College.
Franklin let the media in on a secret today, that he quarantined and surprised his wife and two daughters on Christmas Eve at their home in Florida, who did not know he was coming.
Who wouldn’t want to see a video of that homecoming?
He was open and transparent about the risks of getting his family back to Pennsylvania in the coming months, but from the day of his introductory press conference, family has been by his side, and undoubtedly played a part in their struggles this past season.
Without drawing to many conclusions and making to many assumptions, Franklin looked tired and beaten down on the sidelines this season, and maybe missing his family played a role.
Getting his family back together and a sense of normalcy for 2021 could do wonders for Penn State football, as Franklin has always preached about a family atmosphere within his program.