During the search process for a new vice president of Intercollegiate Athletics, Penn State football coach James Franklin was not shy about his wishes in what he wanted out the new head of the university’s athletic department.
He wanted three things: an athletic director that was bold and aggressive, understood the challenges facing Franklin’s program and wasn’t afraid to change polices to streamline processes.
With Patrick Kraft hired into that new role and introduced Friday morning, he addressed — in part — Franklin’s wishes during his introductory press conference.
“I think it’s important to really understand the challenges and understand where they lie,” Kraft said. “… I need to go out and I need to sit down with colleagues across campus and say, hey, here’s some of the pain points that we’re having. How do I help progress them through the system that is Penn State, but I can’t be afraid to do that. We can’t operate in fear. We also have to communicate to the coaches that there is a process to these things.
“So whatever the hurdles, you have to accept the challenges and I think change is always difficult no matter what it is. But I think it gives you an opportunity to to take a step back and look at that and say ah, you know, that’s really good [or] maybe we need to tweak this. The industry is changing before our eyes and so we have to be ready. We have to be nimble and I think that’s really a key point to every administrator college sports right now.”
Kraft will have his hands full at the start of Franklin’s new 10-year deal as the department continues to build a foothold in the name, image and likeness climate while continuing to navigate a constantly volatile transfer portal. Perhaps even more urgently, the ability for Franklin and Kraft to get on the same page about the state of the program and what it needs to do next and how that might happen will go a long way towards forging a good working relationship out of the gates.
Because ultimately the fourth thing Franklin wants is alignment, and the more he and Penn State’s administration are aligned, the happier Penn State’s 10-year man will be. And for Franklin being aligned often means understanding the problem, and agreeing on the solution.
“My passion is for the student athletes,” Kraft said on Friday. “Their experience is paramount. Everything will start and stop with the student athlete and their experience here at Penn State. … I promise them they will have greatest student athlete experience in the country. Period.”
How obtainable that goal truly is remains to be seen, but no matter what, Kraft’s ability to achieve it will come down in no small part in a continued growth of the bottomline and the strategic implementation of that bottomline.
Being able to do that and do it well, according to Kraft, comes with the ability to identify and prioritize various needs across campus.
“What are your wants and what are your needs?” Kraft said. “And we’ve got to provide that for everyone. So how do you combat that? Well, you’ve got to go raise money, and you’ve got to generate revenue. Those are the key critical pieces. It’s having a discussion, it’s having the strategy, spending the money and looking at where every penny is spent. … I think that it’s important that you know where the money is coming in and how do we continue to use that revenue to offset some of the expenses in other areas? Everyone has their own challenges. Every sport is unique.”
The good news for the rest of the sports on Penn State’s campus, football overcoming its challenges might not come at their expense.
“We are committed to winning national championships and conference championships in 31 sports.” Kraft said Friday.
