James Franklin nabs three-star tight end from ashes of Big Ten program for early signing day

Early signing day is here, and for James Franklin and Penn State, it usually comes with very little drama. However, this year, Franklin made a bit of a splash one day before the early signing period began on Wednesday, flipping three-star tight end Brian Kortovich from his commitment to Purdue. 

After a 66-0 drubbing at the hands of Indiana in the final week of the regular season, Purdue moved on from second-year head coach Ryan Walters amidst his hapless rebuild. The Boilermakers were in the basement of the Big Ten this season, finishing 1-11 overall and 0-9 in conference play. 

Kortovich is a consensus three-star recruit out of Cleveland, Ohio, and didn’t have much interest from other Power 4 programs. The 6-foot-4 230-pound tight end is the 26th-ranked prospect at his position according to 247Sports Composite rankings and is the third-highest-ranked tight end in Penn State’s now 26-player 2025 recruiting class. 

With Tyler Warren’s remarkable 2024 season, which had him on the fringe of the Heisman Trophy discussion let alone the Mackey Award for the nation’s best tight end, you players will be thrilled to come play for offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki if he stays in Happy Valley for another season and does not leave for a head coaching job. 

Even before Kotelnicki arrived at Penn State last offseason, the program had been a tight-end factory under James Franklin. When Warren is inevitably selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, he will be the sixth Penn State tight end taken since Franklin took over in 2014, joining Jesse James, Mike Gesicki, Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, and Theo Johnson. 

While Kortovich is officially the third tight end in the 2025 class, he may have become a need whenever Penn State decided to move Brady O’Hara from tight end to offensive line. The 6-foot-6 250-pound three-star tight end was listed as an offensive lineman on signing day, so Kortovich may only be joining consensus four-star Matt Henderson as freshmen in the tight end room.