James Franklin at 100 Career Victories: ‘He’s Just the Most Consistent Dude’

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — More than four dozen reporters and TV people were squeezed into a small room adjacent to the Penn State locker room in the bowels of SHI Stadium here Saturday night.

Penn State had just defeated Rutgers, 55-10, like it always does— the Nittany Lions are 31-2 vs. the Scarlet Knights with their only losses coming in 1918 and 1988. The 45-point margin of victory was Penn State’s largest in the lopsided series history.

A half-hour after the game, after receiving the game ball from his new boss, PSU athletic director Patrick Kraft, for winning his 100th game as a college football head coach, Franklin entered the snack break room-turned-media center and stood at the podium.

The 100th win game ball! 🏈💯 pic.twitter.com/OtbYmapBMc

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 20, 2022

Pinned to the right shoulder of his sweatshirt was a small orange ribbon, in memory of the University of Virginia football players slain earlier the week.

Franklin stared down at his two pages of post-game notes, then looked up from the lectern emblazoned with a big red Rutgers “R” on it. He began his 11-minute and 33-second Q&A like he has always begun every press conference, home and away, midweek and post-game, for nearly nine seasons. There have been 300 such pressers, give or take.

“Like always — I know I say this and you guys probably ignore the first statement — but I do appreciate you guys coming out and covering Penn State football,” said Franklin. “I also appreciate the people that you work for allowing it because the industry obviously has changed a lot. So, we appreciate you guys coming out and covering Penn State football, and the support that we get.”

And then he began a rundown of statistics from the game.

Like he always does.

Franklin is nothing if not consistent. Boy, is he ever. And, as he acknowledged in his very first sentence Saturday evening, he knows he is so consistently consistent that folks’ eyes sometimes gloss over.

In many ways, that is the secret to his 100-career victory success achieved over his three seasons at Vanderbilt (24-15) and nearly nine seasons (76-36) at Penn State. That he has won consistently at both places under more-than-challenging situations is testament to his grit, vision and consistency.

When Franklin took over at Vandy in 2011, it was historically, and almost hysterically, the worst team in the SEC, by far. And when he took over at Penn State in 2014, the university was not too far removed from the worst scandal in college football history.

GOING 1-0

That consistent approach is the essence of Franklin’s 1-0 mentality. It is how he stays on point, and keeps a program of 100-plus athletes and scores of staff, on point and focused— through the valleys of 2014-15 (14-12) and 2020-21 (11-11) and the peaks of 2016-19 (31-9, three NY6 bowls) and 2022 (9-2).

Of going 11-22 against Top 25 opponents at Penn State. And 65-14 against everyone else.

Of 11 losses against non-Top 25 teams in 2014-15-20.

And only three such losses total in 2016-19 and 2021-22.

“I get it,” Franklin shared last week. “There are games that people are going to focus on and talk about these being what they would say are big games or really important games. 

“But the consistency is also important. We’ve seen programs also have the big wins and then they win, but they lose two or three games that they’re not supposed to. What you’re really trying to do is do both, which is challenging.”

Since falling 44-31 to Ohio State on Oct. 29 after what had been a tight contest for three-and-half quarters, the Nittany Lions have not collapsed. They have rebounded and bounced even higher, winning 130-24 against teams that they should beat. Not an easy task, as Ohio State’s harrowing 43-30 win over Maryland on Saturday — a week after Penn State shelled the Terps 30-0 – proves.

Franklin has been consistent at a time and in a profession and in a conference where others have not. In his nine years in the Big Ten, there have been 39 other head and interim head football coaches. Nebraska, Rutgers and Illinois have each had five. Wisconsin and Maryland both have had four. Among current head coaches, only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (hired in 1999) and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald (2006) have been in the Big Ten longer.

Franklin has gone through three university presidents, three athletic directors, 26 full-time assistant football coaches, six offensive coordinators, three defensive coordinators and four special teams coordinators. And counting.

But, Penn State is different. At PSU, though, Franklin’s consistency and longevity are the norm. There are 24 varsity head coaches at Penn State. Fourteen have been at Penn State longer than Franklin.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAY

After the game on Saturday, I asked Nittany Lion linebacker Curtis Jacobs what Franklin’s biggest strength is as a head coach. Jacobs laughed. He did not hesitate in his response.

“That is the most consistent man I’ve ever met in my life,” said Jacobs, who has known Franklin for five years, dating back to when he was a high school recruit out of McDonough School in Maryland. “He said things my freshman year and I’m just like, ‘All right, he’s a coach and he says that stuff.’ (Now) he comes in and still says that stuff every day. I honestly strive to get that type of discipline in my life, because he honestly has the most consistent manner.”

Ten yards away and two minutes later, safety Ji’Ayir Brown said basically the same thing when I asked the same question.

“Coach Franklin has been the same since I got here,” Brown said. “He’s the same person. He says the same things to give the same messages from when I got here in 2020 to where I’m at right now in 2022.

“Consistency is probably one of the hardest traits to obtain. And this guy is the most consistent person I’ve ever met in my life. I’m telling you, he wears the same clothes on practice days. Like, that’s how consistent he is. You got to admire that about a guy because that’s one of the hardest things to do in this world — to be consistent. And he does that, you know, more than anybody I know in this world.

“When you have that kind of role model in front of you as a head coach, we all in the program look up to Coach Franklin. He shows us day in and day out how consistent he is as a coach and as a family man and as a man, period…Me personally, I pick up on it, you know? I try to live my life to be consistent. Having a coach like that who is like that — you know, it’s what makes men into boys.”

Franklin’s relationship with quarterback Sean Clifford extends through six playing seasons, a record four captaincies and Clifford’s 30-14 record as the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback. Clifford committed to Penn State on July 13, 2015 — the day before his 17th birthday. He is now 24 years old.

Beginning with that commitment, Franklin and Clifford have been together as head coach and QB for 2,687 of Franklin’s 3,235 days at Penn State (he was hired Jan. 11, 2014). That’s 83% of Franklin’s time at Penn State. So, there may be no one better to speak to Franklin’s consistency — and his impact on the program — than Clifford.

“Coach Franklin sets the tone for everybody,” Clifford said on Saturday night, after his final Big Ten road game. “He gets in early and stays late. He’s the same guy every single day. Everybody has their ups and downs. Coach Franklin is somebody who’s very consistent with his work ethic, how he drives the culture, the players and the coaches.

“He’s just the most consistent dude. That’s why there’s so much respect in our locker room for him.”