Penn State Sports Magazine
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quickly, what we think we're going to be able to do for $69 million is really proba- bly going to cost us $80, because by the time we get to it, the prices just continue to go up with inflation. If we can do it quickly, then we'll get back to a very healthy place with our peers that we're competing with, and now it's not these massive chunk projects, it's just contin- ually updating and doing smaller chunks yearly. No different than you do on your house or anything else. BWI Switching to personnel, what is the impact of Tommy Stevens' transfer on the quarterback position group, your expectations for it, and maybe for the team as a whole? FRANKLIN Obviously, a little unex- pected. We had a lot of conversations with Tommy and his dad. And I don't feel like either side got exactly what they wanted out of those conversations, but I felt like we had kind of gotten to a com- promise and then moved forward. But at the end of the day, I wish Tommy noth- ing but success. I would have loved for it to be here, but I wish him nothing but success. I do think in a lot of ways, obviously, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Sean [Clifford] was able to get a lot of those reps this year for some circumstances that were outside of Tommy's control but allowed Sean to gain some experi- ence. Now it's thrust [Will] Levis into a more prominent role, and then those two freshman quarterbacks; good thing we signed two. The thing that is helpful for me is, I just got back from the Big Ten head coach and AD meetings, and one of the challenges for us, as well as the fans and media sometimes, is that we're in our own bubble and things are magnified in that bubble because we only focus on us. But when I talk to other coaches and ADs, everybody is struggling with this. If you're on social media, every day it seems like there's another one. I just saw one recently, I don't know which pro- gram it was, they had two quarterbacks transfer. So it's a challenge and it's an issue. But for us, I think we had a really good room that was competitive and as healthy as those rooms normally are. So we've got to move forward. Ultimately, in a perfect world, this works out great for Penn State and this works out great for Tommy, which is truly what I want. I would have loved for it to be here, but I also know that people ultimately have to do what they think is in their best inter- est. BWI Is Sean Clifford the presumptive starter? What are his strengths and areas for improvement? FRANKLIN I think that's where a lot of the problem stems from. We don't like to talk about presumptive starters. The media and everybody else can do that, and I get that, but even when Trace was the returning starting quarterback, I went into every single year saying every position was an open competition. I've always done that. Now obviously, if you've got a returning starter, then peo- ple presume. But I don't want to ever make promises or make statements and then not live up to them. We don't do that in recruiting. A lot of schools do that in recruiting. They promise a guy a number, they promise playing time. We just don't do that. To me, we're sup- posed to be using the game of football to teach kids life, and you earn things in life and you earn things in college football. So for us, yeah, Sean has got an op- portunity, and no different than I said a year ago, we have to send them out with someone in the first group [in presea- son practice], and we'll do that. But that doesn't mean that guy is the starter. It'll be an open competition and we'll go from there. But you also have to remember that Sean was able to get a lot of reps because we had some injuries this spring. Last fall, we had some in- juries. Last spring, we had some in- juries. So Sean has been able to get a lot of reps. The other thing that I'm really proud of is how he's worked. He got here and he ran a 4.8 [40-yard time] and has worked himself to a 4.5. So probably the one thing that people question with him is his athletic ability and ability to run. He's worked himself into that type of guy. ■ 111 E. Beaver Ave s State College, PA 16801 www.The-Phyrst.com 814.234.4406 137 Elmwood St. s State College, PA 16801 www.HappyValleyBeer.com Wood-fire Grill 12 Beers on Tap 200 Year Old Barn 821 Cricklewood Dr. s Toftrees, State College www.AmericanAleHouse.net 814.237.9701 s Piano Bar s Sommelier 814.238.1406 814.234.7700 s 1611 Atherton St. s State College 814.941.7788 s Plank Rd. Exit s Altoona www.ChampsSportsGrill.net s Best Game Bar s Large Groups Welcome c lc e W We s p u o r G e g r a L s a e B m a st G e B s S n S h 1 A 1 6 1 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 me co r a l l C S r G s rt o p S s p m a h C . www s t i x . E d k R n a l P s 8 8 7 7 1. 4 9 . 4 1 8 S s . t n S o t r e h t 1 A 1 6 1 s 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 t e n . l l i r na o o t l A e g e l l o C e at t S