Penn State Football: James Franklin Radio Show Highlights As Team Preps For Ireland

By

Ben Jones

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August 25, 2014 – 7:57 pm

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Penn State head coach James Franklin might only be 24 hours from a flight across the ocean, but Monday night he was focused on his hour long radio show at Damon’s in State College.

After doing his first show of the season this past Thursday it was a quick turnaround for his second broadcast of the year with the Nittany Lions heading out of town for Dublin on Tuesday night.

Here’s his take on game preparations, freshmen, beer and more:

On his first game of his Penn State tenure.

“It’s different. It’s no different than doing your job. Experience counts. But the magnitude of Penn State changes things as well. My wife says to me all the time ‘Are you excited?’ I’m not someone that gets excited the week before. I’m too busy doing all the things that need to get done. You’re ready to play the game. The players are sick of looking at us. We’re ready to play a different opponent. But part of me wishes we had another seven months to get ready.”

Physical preseason practices:

“That’s the difficult part. In college, you’re still trying to teach physical and mental toughness as well as the schemes. In the NFL, if you’re not tough, they just cut you and bring the next guy in. We’re still in the development business with everything. It’s different. And that’s where you struggle as a coach. What we’re all trying to do is get people outside of their comfort zone. Until you learn to do that you’re never going to maximize your potential.”

Franklin’s taste in beer:

“I’m not a big beer person. Everyone says the Guinness is different in Ireland so I want to taste it. Part of the dinner at the Guinness factory is they give everybody a 3-oz. taster. The drinking age is 18. But there will be no tasters at dinner. We’re not gonna go that route. They’ll be eating a cheeseburger and washing it down with water.”

Value of tight ends with inexperienced offensive line:

“I think the tight end thing is really going to come down more to the fact that it’s our most talented experienced group of players. In the past, they’ve predominately been receivers. They need to become better blockers. Jesse James is 272 pounds right now, Carter is 250 pounds, Wilkerson is 250 pounds. Even Gesicki getting in is 238 pounds. They have the bodies where I think they can be dominant blockers that will help our offensive line.”

Comparing State College to NFL experiences:

“I would say Green Bay is a lot like State College. I was so impressed with history, traditions, the community support. You’re driving through a normal neighborhood and you make a left and the stadium’s there in someone’s backyard. It’s a unique place.”

On freshman making an impact early and often.

“I think there’s going to be a good amount that end up playing. Grant Haley, Marcus Allen, I think those guys have really bright futures. I think we’ll end up playing Cabind and Reeder. On offense, I think you’ll see both Saeed and Godwin at wide receiver as well as Gesicki at tight end, figure in for sure. That’s pretty much it. There are other guys we think might end up having to play at some point but it’ll be based on health.”

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