5 Things Penn State Football must do to close recruiting gap on Ohio State

 2. Hold on to Assistants as Long as Possible

This goes hand and hand with point one, but it deserves its own analysis.

Ohio State has been able to hold onto elite recruiters like Larry Johnson and Brian Hartline thanks to friendly salaries, but also by being in a great situation.

Johnson and Hartline are at different points in their careers. Johnson will most likely retire within the next couple of years, while eventually Hartline will get a job he can’t pass up.

Regardless, Ohio State has been able to keep them around to date, and they’ve recruiting very well because of it.

James Franklin holds on to assistants well. What the most important detail may be, is that when he loses an assistant, it’s because they got a clear upgrade of a job.

Holding on to Tyler Bowen another year would’ve been nice, but he was here long enough to make Penn State’s tight end room a brand. A brand that can recruit itself.

Holding on to offensive coordinator Mike Yurich will be Franklin’s next tough task. We saw the fate of college football change the last time an elite offensive coordinator left Penn State.

The threat of Joe Moorhead’s eventual departure was a reason Justin Fields de-committed from Penn State. Franklin won’t want a repeat of that.

Franklin can’t stop an assistant from becoming a head coach or an NFL coach, those jobs are too good to pass up, but paying them enough to keep them in Happy Valley long enough to recruit at a high level should be the goal.