Penn State Football: Top-25 players of the James Franklin Era
By Brad Weiss
Penn State Football: Top-25 players of the James Franklin Era
. Linebacker. Nittany Lions . Mike Hull. 14. player. 806
Mike Hull came to the Penn State football program as a legacy, as his father helped the team to a 12-0 record back in 1973, and his uncle played for the Nittany Lions as well. He would go on to play only one season under James Franklin, his final season at the school, but put together one of the more productive campaigns of any linebacker under the head coach.
In 2014, Hull was all over the field for Penn State, racking up 138 tackles, ten of which were for a loss, and had two sacks and an interception. He would go on to win the Butkus-Fitzgerald Award, given to the best linebacker in the Big Ten, while earned first-team All-Big Ten status, and really dominating after Franklin moved him to the inside.
Tough and fierce, Hull not only became a leader for Penn State, but a team captain, and he was very proud to carry on the “Linebacker U” tradition. Who can forget his 16-tackle performance against Northwestern, and when the three-time All-Academic selection was done in Happy Valley, he was widely considered one of the best linebackers in the conference.