Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1454229
1 8 M A R C H 2 0 2 2 LOUD AND CLEAR Penn State signals its intent to compete at the sport's highest level by signing one of the best recruiting classes of James Franklin's tenure C oaches like to talk about filtering out "the noise." The noise can come from anywhere. It can emanate from the mainstream media, from any of a thousand online message boards and social media platforms, or from your own locker room. It can be internal or external, and keeping it out of people's heads when you need them to stay together and remain on-task is a crucial part of coaching. It's also a crucial part of recruiting. Just ask James Frank- lin. Even when things were going well last fall, the Nittany Lions were making the kind of noise you don't want to make if you're trying to keep a star-studded recruit- ing class from breaking apart. For several months, Franklin's future with the program was a ma- jor topic of conversation around the country, with some speculating that he might be interested in coaching vacancies at USC and LSU. Nothing turns the volume up to 11 faster than coaching melodrama. When that speculation finally began to cool off in November, it was only because the Nittany Lions themselves had done likewise, dropping five of their last seven regular-season games due in large part to an underwhelming performance on offense in coordinator Mike Yurcich's first season. The Lions' slide seemed to remove Franklin from the list of buzzed-about coaching candidates, but it didn't exactly feel like a respite from the cacophony. Also not a respite: the news in late November that defensive coordinator Brent Pry was leaving to be- come head coach at Virginia Tech. While Franklin was pleased to see his friend and colleague finally get a Power Five head coaching opportu- nity, Penn State lost a nationally respected defensive strategist and a dogged recruiter when Pry opted to move on. Given all that, the two dozen, highly coveted prospects in Penn State's 2022 recruiting class had any number of rea- sons to look askance as the De- cember signing period neared. But amid all the noise, Franklin and his staff kept their class together. During the fall and early winter, Penn State lost only two committed play- ers, with three-star defensive back Jordan Allen leaving by mutual consent in late Octo- ber and eventually signing with LSU, and three-star offensive lineman Andre Roye flipping to Maryland in December. The December signing day was a quietly officious affair, at least as these things go. The first letter of intent arrived at 7:17 a.m., and by lunchtime the Nittany Lions had received 22 more, with Roye's flip constituting the only real surprise. Then on Feb. 2, the traditional signing day, they added two three-star players to their haul: safety Tyrece Mills of Lackawanna College and offensive lineman Vega Ioane of Graham, Wash. M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G • T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2022 ON3 CONSENSUS • TEAM RANKINGS RK TEAM 5-STAR 4-STAR 3-STAR 1. Texas A&M 8 20 1 2. Alabama 4 19 2 3. Georgia 4 18 7 4. Ohio State 3 16 2 5. Texas 2 20 6 6. Notre Dame 0 17 4 7. Penn State 3 13 9 8. Oklahoma 0 17 4 9. Michigan 1 12 8 10. North Carolina 1 11 5 11. Miami 0 11 3 12. LSU 1 6 8 13. Clemson 1 10 8 14. Kentucky 0 12 7 15. Missouri 1 9 6 16. Tennessee 0 10 11 17. Oregon 0 10 5 18. Auburn 0 8 10 19. Florida State 0 8 8 20. Stanford 0 7 15