Penn State coach James Franklin says not to read too much into which players walk out of the tunnel during Senior Day festivities this weekend.
“Everything’s kind of changed obviously with the COVID deal,” Franklin said. “We had a number of guys that took part in the senior ceremony last year and then still decided to come back.
“So, I think our staff, as well as the players, understand some guys may not walk with the intention of coming back. Some guys may walk and still haven’t made that decision yet until we sit down after the season and decide. So, it’s very different.”
This will be true for the next couple seasons as the result of an NCAA ruling that effectively gave all student-athletes a free year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn, far more decisions will be made in the coming years about returning for one final season despite potentially having exhausted the traditional four years of eligibility.
Last season was an example of this as safety Jaquan Brisker and corner Tariq Castro-Fields both took part in Senior Day but ultimately opted to return for another year. This time both players will participate, but neither have any remaining eligibility and will not return.
As of Tuesday afternoon Penn State has yet to announce who will take part in Senior Day this coming Saturday, but as Franklin noted the variables make things far less straight forward.
“It’s just kind of a mess to predict,” Franklin said.
Penn State has a somewhat limited pool of players who are still left to make decisions about their respective futures. Defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher, who is still recovering from a season-ending injury suffered against Iowa, and safety Ji’Ayir Brown are both eligible to return.
Additionally fans are still waiting for the decision of quarterback Sean Clifford, who could opt to return for one final season in 2021-22. The three-year starter has greatly improved from his 2020 season but still appears to be on the outside looking in with regards to NFL evaluations.
Asked about his thoughts on returning for another season prior to the Michigan game, Clifford said he was focused on the present far more than the future. That said, it seems likely that Clifford has a general plan already laid out, even if he is keeping that private.
“I’m not looking at it in any way right now, honestly,” Clifford said “Just more so taking advantage of this time with my team. When the time comes, I’ll have decisions with my family, the coaches, other players. But right now, it’s really hard to look in the future when you have so much in the present, so much opportunity, and it would be stupid to look that past that right now when we have such a great opponent coming in to play us this weekend.
“The mindset’s 1-0, and that’s what it’s going to be until the end of the season.”
Clifford will only have to go 1-0 three more times this year as Penn State faces Rutgers and then travels to Michigan State over Thanksgiving weekend. The Nittany Lions would subsequently find themselves headed to a bowl game having already reached the six-win mark on the year.
