Penn State Sports Magazine
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M A R C H 2 0 2 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A t his signing-day press conference in February, James Franklin sur- veyed the rapidly changing land- scape of college football. The advent of the portal and one- time immediate eligibility for transfers, on top of the increased use of the grad- uate transfer rule, has fundamentally changed the game. In addition, new rules governing the commercial use of athletes' name, image and likeness (NIL) have upended the very concept of how the sport operates. With many of the ramifications not yet fully known, Franklin readily iden- tified his personal feelings toward the changes. "I'm a guy that likes the structure. And I like the consistency that we've been able to have," he said. "I'd prefer not to have the changes that we've had." Still, Franklin's reticence hasn't im- pacted his fundamental understanding of what those changes mean for Penn State football. Choices made now will shape the future. And while reluctance or resistance might seem like ways to maintain normalcy, Franklin under- stands those aren't viable options. "You had better embrace them. Not only am I preaching it to the adminis- tration and the fans and [media], but I'm also talking to myself about that," he said. "Whether you totally agree with the transfer portal or whether you totally agree with NIL, the reality is, you have to embrace them, I have to embrace them. "And then once I've embraced them, I've got to do a great job of educating and explaining them to all the people that have a hand in Penn State football, whether it's inside the Lasch Building or outside of it, so that they under- stand what we're competing against currently." For the majority of his 44-minute press conference, Franklin detailed what the competition has been doing. Maybe more important, he also de- tailed the actions Penn State must take to compete. Programs like Miami, Southern Cal, Texas and Ohio State are studying the new rules and formulating ways to take full advantage of them, he said, whether that means using NIL as a massive selling point in recruiting and the portal, or creating new academic admissions protocols to accommodate transfers. To Franklin, two key elements now stand as differentiators. The first is institutional flexibility. It's going to be imperative for Penn State to avoid drawn-out decision- making when time is of the essence. In an environment that rewards a nimble approach, PSU must follow suit. Franklin also said repeatedly that the university needs to be "bold and ag- gressive" as it adapts to the new com- petitive realities in college sports. If the Nittany Lions are too timid, if they simply follow the pack, their successes and failures are likely to correlate. Whatever it does, there's no reason to deviate from who and what Penn State wants to be. It can balance tra- ditional norms with an embrace of necessary changes, Franklin insisted, and its path forward won't require it to sacrifice its values. "It's having an awareness of what are the core beliefs and values that should never change," he said. "These are the things that allowed us to be successful at Vanderbilt. These are the things that allowed us to come to Penn State and be successful at Penn State. And what's the next step? "[The biggest thing that] I think we're closer than ever to achieving is the alignment. The alignment with the board [of trustees] and down to the head football coach. I think that's really the next step for us so that we can consis- tently do what the fans and the alumni and the lettermen want us to do." Penn State is coming off a 7-6 sea- son in 2021 in which it was unable to achieve those aims. It was the second disappointing campaign in as many years, and Franklin understands that the big-picture elements that will guide the program demand a concur- rent on-field evolution. "It's what we do on the field that's important," he said, "but it's also all the things that we do off the field so that we're willing to compete in ev- erything year-round. We have got to be willing to compete year-round, because all the little losses that you have throughout the entire calendar year add up. All the wins that you have throughout the calendar year add up. "We have to be willing to do those things in all areas year-round for us to have the type of success that we want to have consistently." Penn State has brought in additional analysts and taken some small steps in the NIL market, and in doing so, its approach is beginning to take shape. To achieve the buy-in Franklin seeks, re- sults will be expected to follow in short order. ■ Franklin said he wants Penn State to be "bold and aggressive" as it adapts to new NIL rules and the relax- ation of transfer restrictions. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL O P I N I O N NATE BAUER nbauer@bluewhiteonline.com HOT READ James Franklin Seeks Proactive Approach To New Rules