Penn State Football: James Franklin delivering on decade old promise

Penn State Football needs to continue its recruiting success at home in order to win on the field. 

When James Franklin took the Penn State football head coaching job back in January of 2014, he made a recruiting a personal priority for him.

During his introductory press conference back in January 2014, Franklin made this proclamation about recruiting:

"We will dominate the state, we will dominate the region."

Franklin backed up his words right away. While the 2014 recruiting class was mostly set by this time, Franklin got to work on the 2015 class. Less than 13 months after this press conference, Franklin signed his first full Penn State recruiting class.

In that 2015 class, Penn State signed the Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 18 and 20 players in PA. That group is of course highlighted by Saquon Barkley, but also included John Reid and Kevin Givens amongst others.

The following cycle, the Nittany Lions signed only four recruits from the home state, but that group included all hits in Miles Sanders, Michal Menet, Connor McGovern and Shaka Toney. The 2017 class was also a bit of a struggle as Penn State landed the Nos. 2, 4, 9, 13 and 14 players in the state. Out of that group, Lamont Wade and Journey Brown were the headliners.

Franklin was able to get back on track in the 2018 class. The Nittany Lions signed Micah Parsons, the No. 1 player in the state, along with Zack Kuntz (No. 3), Jahan Dotson (No. 6), Juice Scruggs (No. 8), Jesse Luketa (No. 9), Nick Tarburton (No. 10) and Charlie Katshir (No. 17). This group resulted in two first round picks and multiple other NFL caliber players.

The state was not exactly loaded in 2019, but the Nittany Lions did well with the players they reeled in considering that group included Joey Porter Jr., Keaton Ellis, Jaquan Brisker (JUCO) and Daquan Hardy.

The 2020 cycle started a downward trend for Penn State in Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions landed the Nos. 4-7 players in the state, but outside of Tyler Elsdon, that group hasn’t done much on the field. The big miss in that class was the No. 1 player in the state, wide receiver Julian Fleming.

The following cycle was even worse. The Nittany Lions only landed three players from Pennsylvania, and the highest ranked one, Lonnie Walker, picked pro baseball over college. Another signee, Nate Bruce, never made it to campus. The last man standing is Khalil Dinkins, who has a chance to make an impact at tight end this season.

There was a lot of talent in the state that cycle, including 5-star OT Nolan Rucci, 5-star QB Kyle McCord, 4-star LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., 4-star S Derrick Davis Jr. and 4-star WR Marvin Harrison Jr. Penn State missed out on all of them.

With his back up against the wall, Franklin did not back down.

Penn State Football came back with a vengeance in 2022 and landed eight of the top 14 recruits in PA. This group is highlighted by running back Nick Singleton (the No. 1 player in the state) and Abdul Carter, who were stars as true freshmen this past season. This group has a chance to be really special.

Building off of this success, Penn State Football just signed six of the top ten in-state recruits on the 2023 class. The group is headlined by 5-star offensive lineman Jven Williams, the No. 1 player in the state.

Now, the Nittany Lions are forcing the issue in the 2024 cycle. With Kenneth Woseley’s commitment on Friday, Penn State has a commitment from three of the top ten players in Pennsylvania. Franklin certianly isn’t done either, as 5-star athlete Quinton Martin, 4-star offensive tackle Kevin Heywood and 4-star quarterback Semaj Jones remains top targets.

Landing these three would once again give Penn State Football six of the top ten players in the state and the No. 1 player in the state for the third consecutive class.

There was a rough patch for Franklin in trying to keep his promise, but he righted the ship and has this program headed in the right direction.