James Franklin begins his third year at the helm of the Penn State Nittany Lions football team on Saturday. Since the day Franklin was introduced, he has talked the talk about continuing the Success With Honor culture former head coach Joe Paterno instilled during his tenure.
Franklin inherited a program with a quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who was coming off the best year a quarterback has had since the Nittany Lions were quarterbacked by future NFL quarterback Kerry Collins. Franklin also inherited a depleted roster as a result of the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
It’s well known that Franklin and the star Bill O’Brien pupil Hackenberg did not see eye-to-eye while Hackenberg lined up under center for Penn State. Together, Franklin and Hackenberg made it to two bowl games, something that was a long shot when the sanctions were handed down. They won one, the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl and lost to Georgia this past January in the TaxSlayer Bowl. The biggest news out of the TaxSlayer Bowl wasn’t that the Nittany Lions lost, but that Hackenberg declared for the draft putting a bow on an up-and-down career in blue and white.
Prior to the bowl game, John Donovan served as the scapegoat for the offensive issues that plagued Penn State since Franklin and company took over. Out is Donovan and in is former Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead. With Hackenberg to the NFL, Franklin now has a quarterback he’s recruited no mater who ends up under center this fall.
The dominoes have fallen into place for Franklin to build on the two 7-6 records his teams have earned and put together a team capable of winning more than seven games. The crutch of using the sanctions as an excuse for terrible play is gone, the team has a full allotment of scholarships and experience at nearly every position on the roster.
Gone is the excuse Hackenberg was not the right fit for the system. Now it’s a Franklin-recruited quarterback calling the shots. Franklin finally has his guy, a guy who he recruited at Vanderbilt and was able to flip to Penn State calling plays for him in the huddle in newly named starting quarterback Trace McSorley.
Coaches this century are judged by signature wins, and Franklin’s biggest win so far came in that 2014 Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College. While that is his biggest win to date, Franklin has had some awful losses the last two seasons. Losing to Temple by 17 last year was a terrible loss for a program who hadn’t lost to them since 1941. While the Temple game was on the road, the 2014 loss to Maryland at home will seemingly always be a game Franklin should have won.
Franklin has as good of an opportunity as any this year to get the elusive signature win. Penn State plays five game Big Ten games at home this fall. Those teams include Minnesota, Maryland, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State. Wins against three of those five teams would work wonders for the reputation of building a winner in State College. A win against Ohio State, Iowa or Michigan State would give Franklin the signature win he’s been looking for.
One thing is for certain; Franklin can talk the talk. Franklin has been a master recruiter for the Nittany Lions getting three top-25 recruiting classes in a row and that doesn’t look like it will change any time soon. The players in the program are mostly guys he has brought in; there aren’t any more excuses for Franklin to choose. It’s time for Franklin to walk the walk and put a team together that gives fans what he’s been talking about since setting foot on campus – a team that will compete at the national level for years to come.
