Penn State Football: Franklin Sees Work Ahead, No Matter How Season Finishes

James Franklin knows that for as much as everyone would like to quarantine everything about 2020 in a bubble and burn it, that the ramifications of the Nittany Lions’ 0-5 start will last far longer than anyone might like.

‘Obviously whenever you have challenges like this. You know, it creates, work, it creates things that you’re going to have to work through,’ Franklin said on Tuesday. ‘I think obviously coming into this season before all the dynamics changed, I think everybody would agree that things were really going pretty well.’

Franklin’s point will be an interesting experiment in how recruits -because that is what it comes down to- really perceive Penn State’s season. Because on the one hand, Franklin is right, the Nittany Lions have been one of the better programs in the nation over the past half decade and nothing about that has changed.

On the other hand, Penn State is having one of the worst seasons in program history by any real measure. Certainly things played a role in getting the Nittany Lions to this point, but you are what your record says you are.

‘Obviously we’ve got a challenge right now, we’ve got adversity and life was about handling adversity and sports is about handling adversity,’ Franklin added. ‘And that’s what we’re going to have to do, there’s no other option but to find a way to get better today and find a way to get back on track.’

The bad news is that Penn State’s well documented 2021 class hasn’t gotten any more inciting, now ranked 23rd best in the nation and sixth best in the Big Ten. Of course recruiting rankings aren’t *everything* but as Ohio State continues to reel in top prospects and high level talent, it doesn’t come as a shock how highly rated those recruiting classes are.

Turning to 2022, Franklin and his staff have done a good job pulling together the third best class in the nation and the second best in the Big Ten – at least so far. The haul is only seven players deep so far, and with bigger fish still left to be caught, far from over.

Of course the challenge now: keeping those players committed. It’s one thing to have a great class on paper now, another to have it in just under a year when athletes begin to sign on the dotted line, making all those verbal commitments binding.

In the meanwhile, Franklin has to keep everything together in his own football building, before heading into other schools to recruit future Nittany Lions.

‘I think, really under challenging times we’ve done a good job of that,’ Franklin said of getting everyone to stick together. ‘I see it with the staff. I see it with the players and don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not saying there’s not frustration and disappointment but I see the guys really trying to do what we ask and are sticking together.’

If there is a silver-lining to all of this it’s that Franklin has done it before. Penn State may no longer be sanctioned or facing a bowl ban, but there are parallels to draw between that time and the one Penn State is going through right now. Of course similar doesn’t mean the same, and getting out of this mess will require a different plan of action.

And of course it’s worth remembering -as Franklin pointed out in closing- that this isn’t the first time a team has a bad season, let alone the first time Penn State has.

‘Were going to have to stick together to work through this,’ Franklin said. ‘We’re not we’re not the first program that has faced this. We won’t be the last program that has faced this, but we’re going to get it fixed.’