James Franklin hasn’t caught a break since Penn State’s College Football Playoff run came to close last month. First came the departure of defensive coordinator Tom Allen and subsequent hiring of Ohio State’s Jim Knowles. And, now, as winter workouts approach, he’s been tasked with finding a running backs coach to replace Ja’Juan Seider, who is on the move for Notre Dame.
“Everybody wants to know about the running back job, so a lot of people came today,” Franklin joked as he entered Pegula Ice Arena’s media room for his first press conference since the Nittany Lions’ loss to the Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl.
It was a fair assumption, and the questions followed suit with what Franklin had anticipated. Franklin wasted no time confirming in his opening statement that Seider, after seven years as Penn State’s running backs coach, was moving on. He will leave behind a program with national championship aspirations and one of the nation’s deepest running back corps.
Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the Nittany Lions’ two standout running backs who each eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards this past season, are returning for one final season. The timing of another coaching search, with winter workouts beginning shortly, is not ideal. But there’s a certain confidence Franklin possesses in filling this job, in particular.
“I would make the argument with Nick and Fat and the rest of the room coming back, and what we’ve recruited and who’s committed to us out there, it’s arguably the most attractive running back job in the country,” Franklin said. “So, those things help with that. I’m not hiring anybody that Nick and Fat (won’t) feel great about.”
The options are plentiful. This is a prestigious-enough gig that could be able to lure coordinators of less-established programs and attract running backs coaches of those schools that are more defined, all the same. It’s a free pass for a coach to build their resume, to compete for a national title and to say they helped develop Singleton and Allen once they eventually make the NFL.
But the list may be shorter than most anticipate. Franklin is looking for the best of the best, for a balance between experience and potential. A developmental project is not an option for a program going all in on the 2025 season, which will conclude the three-year run of Singleton and Allen commanding the team’s rushing attack.
“There’s some young guys that you can hire that are on the upper trajectory and are going to have really good careers, but you may not get the return on your investment until Year 2,” Franklin said. “And then there’s other guys that are much more seasoned, but you want to make sure that they haven’t gotten to the point of their career where their career is starting to decline and go in the opposite direction.
“So you gotta find that sweet spot of a guy that’s got enough experience, both in coaching and in recruiting at this level, and that we’re going to get the return on our investment quickly. We’re just not at a point as a program to come in and have to wait a year or two while we’re still developing somebody.”
There’s another aspect of position coaching that goes beyond what can be accomplished on the field. Recruiting is almost just as important, and Seider was exceptional in that department, especially in opening the door for Penn State to sign prospects from his home state of Florida, where he helped sign 10 players over the past four recruiting cycles.
That makes hiring a seasoned and savvy assistant all the more important. Whoever Franklin brings in would need to be as, if not more, diligent on the recruiting trail as Seider, who had already earned the Nittany Lions commitments from two four-star running backs, Messiah Mickens and Kemon Spell, for the 2026 and 2027 cycles, respectively.
It’ll be a search that also emphasizes fit, whether at the university, in the community or on the recruiting trail, Franklin said. What Seider brought to the table as a recruiter in the Sunshine Shine was certainly a plus, but Franklin isn’t basing relevance solely on success in that region.
“Probably changed a little bit with the Big Ten expansion. We’re probably doing more national recruiting than we’ve ever done, but I would still say the majority of our class and majority of our team still comes from the footprint,” Franklin said. “So I think that factors in. It’s not the end all be all, but I think when we can get somebody that’s from either the Northeast or the Big Ten footprint, that’s important.”
Despite the intrigue that could come with taking on the gift that is Penn State’s running backs job, Franklin is battling past a tedious road block: the NFL coaching carousel. That’s what initially created the vacancy at Notre Dame, when running backs coach Deland McCullough left for the Las Vegas Raiders this past Thursday.
Teams that lose a coach either directly or indirectly to the NFL, like Penn State did after Seider filled McCullough’s shoes, are forced to play catch up. This adds to the difficulty of making a hire because either the best available candidates have already found a home or have signed lucrative contracts with costly buyouts.
“It is very detrimental to lose people in your organization this late in the process,” Franklin said. “So, I think all those things … need to be looked at and determine what’s fair for both sides. But it’s something that is very, very challenging. And, again, the timing is problematic.”
There is, however, no room for excuses. And Franklin understands that. The opportunities ahead of his program have never been as fruitful. And it can only help that he has an athletic department and administration behind him that is willing to spend big to bring in distinguished assistants, like defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, the nation’s highest-paid assistant.
“I think when you look at the qualities for a running backs coach, it’s the same for all these positions,” Franklin said. “We’ve got to go out and get the very best candidate we can.”
