If you spend any amount of time following the news and conversation surrounding Penn State football in the offseason, it becomes pretty clear what the talking points are.
James Franklin is excited for another season, the team has more depth, Hackenberg will be better and so will the offensive line. He might not know how much things will change, like Bill O’Brien he too is not a genie. Nevertheless he is enthusiastic, if not simply itching to get back to football.
And so with nothing major to share at Big Ten Media Days on Friday it was a fairly straightforward Q&A. Talking points as sharp as ever.
But in the interest of keeping you informed, even if you’ve heard this all before, here are the five biggest things Franklin had to say this morning.
James Franklin Is Feeling Positive
So many positive things falling into place for us right now. Penn State being able to get the scholarships back, having an opportunity to go to bowl games, the way recruiting is going, the way we played in the bowl, and the way the season ended. Just so many positive things falling into place right now. Really happy for our kids and our program. We’re coming into this season with nothing floating over our head. They have the ability to be able to chase their dreams at the very, very highest level. So really, really excited.
Finishing up summer school right now, getting to that point in the year when everybody has the itch and ready to get going. The funny thing is we’re trying to get our guys to be as present as they possibly can be because they’ll be telling us the same thing two weeks from now that they’re ready to stop hitting each other and play another opponent. So really excited about the opportunities.
We have a two-deep at every position now that’s available to play in games. Some positions three deep, which I know sounds crazy. But the way we’re going to be able to practice, the way we’re going to be able to develop, it’s going to have a major impact on everything.
The Offensive Line Will Be Better, Maybe:
Obviously offensive line is going to be a big storyline going into the season. We’re just in a different position. I think we’ve made great progress. We still have a lot of progress that still has to take place. Last year we came into the season with one returning starter. This year we’re coming into the season with four returning starters. We went out and signed a number one junior college offensive tackle in the country, and he was able to get on campus in December, which was really, really valuable.
We were able to get a grad school transfer in Kevin Reihner, and we’re excited about his opportunity as a center to be able to compete for that job. So I think our depth is just different.
Last year our left tackle would go down. We’d move our right tackle to left tackle. Our center would go to right tackle, and the backup center would come in. Hopefully, we’ll be in a position this year where if we do have some bumps and bruises, the backup could slide in and it’s just interchanging one spot.
All those offensive linemen that we recruited last year, they all redshirted. So now they are available. They’re all freshmen. At this point last year, we were the second youngest team in college football. I haven’t seen any studies where we’re at this year, but we’re still really young. So I think we’re going to make progress. I’m excited to see how much progress we’ve made in camp once the pads come off.
Hackenberg Had A Good Summer:
I told everybody our concern wasn’t with Christian Hackenberg, it was all the pieces of the puzzle around Christian. Like I said, we had one returning starter on the offensive line last year. This year four.
Three of our four receivers last year were freshmen. We lost Adam Breneman, tight end, who we were expecting big things out of before the season started. And all those guys are back and with more experience. So I’m excited that Christian is going to be able to continue his development. Keep him upright, allow him to deliver the ball to the playmakers now.
And then also the impact of a running game. We weren’t able to consistently run the ball last year as well. So all those things are going to be really, really important.
All those other things and the other point you brought up, I’m focused on Penn State and I’m focused on Temple, our opening season game. And I’m excited about Christian’s opportunities and what he’s going to do this year.
Akeel Lynch Also Had A Good Summer:
Akeel has had a great summer. You look at how productive he was last year in a limited role. As the season went on, that grew. He’s a mature guy. He’s big, strong, fast, physical, very, very intelligent. He’s doing it the right way. He really is.
If you read some articles about Akeel and his upbringing and his mom, his mom has had an unbelievable impact on him and done an unbelievable job in raising a quality, quality young man. So I’m excited for his future and what he’s going to be able to do this year. He’s obviously also going to be impacted by the offensive line and the tight ends, the experience we have there now.
Also excited, we had three guys that we redshirted last year behind him. Those guys are ready to go. They’re bigger. They’re faster. They’re stronger. They’re more mature. And then we also have two highly touted true freshmen coming in as well. So I think you have Akeel who is obviously more of an established guy.
And then you’ve got a bunch of young guys that have never touched a ball in a game before. So that’s going to be interesting to see that battle and who’s going to be in the rotation. Typically, at this level, whether it’s the NFL or major college football like the Big Ten, you’re going to need three backs. You’re going to need three backs. So figuring out who those other two backs are going to be is going to be really important for us.
James Franklin Really Doesn’t Do Rivalries:
We have tremendous respect for the entire conference. I think the addition of Maryland and Rutgers have been awesome. Got tremendous respect for their programs, their universities, their head football coaches in Coach Flood and Coach Edsell.
But we kind of approach it one game at a time. If you look at Penn State historically, we have not really had a true rival per se in the Big Ten. And we’re just focused on Penn State and building this program back to where everybody wants it to be.
Redshirt Players To Watch:
You know, that’s a good question. I try not to point out specific guys because what happens then I walk off the stage and I’m upset with myself that I missed someone I should have mentioned.
I would say probably as a group, the offensive line just because the value that they’re going to bring in the way we’re going to be able to practice and also the way we’re going to be able to play I think is going to have as big of an impact as anything.
Again, you look, we had 65 or just under 65 scholarship players last year. We played at the end of the year against, I think, Ohio State with 45 scholarship players and Michigan State, I think, was 41 scholarship players available at game time.
So to have those guys in practice and be able to get the reps, I think that’s what people sometimes overlook. They think about the game, and the game is important. But it’s also preparing your guys and getting enough reps in practice so it has a trickle-down effect to everybody.
If your second team offensive line cannot block your second team defensive line, you can’t develop the backup quarterback. You can’t develop the wide receivers. You can’t develop the corners.
When you have to reduce practice reps to keep people healthy, it just has an effect. You’re talking about that effect over three years. So being able to go back to more of a traditional model and the way we’re going to practice — and I’m not talking about the banging. It’s not necessarily about the banging. It’s just about the reps.
We talk about mental reps and the importance of mental reps and how much you can get out of it, but there’s nothing like experience. So standing and watching is one thing. Being out on the field and actually doing it in practice and in games and building up that muscle memory as well as the fundamentals and techniques and footwork necessary to be successful is critical. And we’re a program that believes in the player development, mentally, physically, emotionally. And then also in recruiting as well. So we’re excited about where we’re going.
