Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1516624
1 6 M A R C H 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M At Penn State, one of the an- nual highlights of National Sign- ing Day is the chance to sit down with Andy Frank, the Nittany Li- ons' general manager of personnel and recruitment. Frank has been one of James Franklin's right-hand men since their time together at Vanderbilt. He was one of the staffers that Franklin brought along to PSU in 2014 and has been working ever since to boost the Lions' recruit- ing efforts. Frank has seen a lot in his de- cade in Happy Valley and is usu- ally ahead of the game when it comes to trends in the college football landscape. We sat down to talk NIL and Penn State's re- cruiting strategy in the modern era. BWI: Another recruiting cycle is in the books. What lessons did you guys learn recruiting the class of 2024? ANDY FRANK: "There are changes, and you have to adapt. Obviously, the world of college football is changing every second — the NIL piece of it, the transfer portal piece of it — so you're trying to figure out how to put it all together. … You're trying to make sure that you're still staying [true to] the core of who you are as a pro- gram and trying to bring in those types of kids, while making sure you expose yourself to a big enough group of kids and families." BWI: Is it harder to deal with the pros- pects and families these days because of the money aspect? FRANK: "Ultimately, kids these days are the same as they were those days. They have the same things that they re- ally want out of life. "Are they maybe more distracted now because there's more going on? Sure. I think that there are maybe more things now that they have to worry about. I know growing up, I had a lot less things I had to think about, that I had to con- cern myself with. They've got a lot more on their plate. In most cases, they're equipped to handle it, but in some cases not." BWI: You're 10 years in, and a lot has changed. What are the biggest chal- lenges still facing Penn State? FRANK: "I'll start out with some of the improvements. Coach [Franklin] talks about it all the time, but align- ment. Things are in a really good place right now with President [Neeli] Benda- pudi, with [athletics director] Pat Kraft, with Matt Schuyler, the president of the board. That's been a big advance- ment for us in terms of being able to fight fewer fights. When you can fight fewer fights with people on campus and things are getting done quicker and easier, you have time to spend on things that are going to help you get players and win games. "We've made strides in the NIL de- partment. Obviously, for us and really for everybody in the country, it's the new realm you have to compete in. It will never stop. We will have to continue to advance. Wherever we get to tomor- row, we'll have to be somewhere else five days from there. I think we're continuing to advance in that area. We have made strides because of that alignment, but we're going to need to go much further." BWI: Everyone says they're be- hind in NIL because everything is so vague. Where do you think you rate among your peers? FRANK: "It's hard to say. Every- body says they're behind. It feels that way, I think, for most of us. I don't want to necessarily rank it. I do think we have scratched and clawed our way up the pecking or- der, but it's an area that we'll need to continue to improve on." BWI: Is that more prevalent in the transfer portal than in traditional high school recruiting? FRANK: "We're telling kids and families up front what committing to Penn State is and what it's going to mean for them. The kids who commit to us understand what it looks like from an NIL perspec- tive right now. They've picked this place knowing those things, but also knowing that they can get a great education, they can play football at the highest level, they can play for a coaching staff that's going to really care about them and help them grow as people. "I think that's why there's probably less volatility coming out of high school when it comes to us. We've told them what it's going to be, and they signed up for that. "At the transfer portal level, a lot of kids are at the end of their college ca- reer, so they're looking for slightly dif- ferent things. The players who are in the transfer portal, there are different desires than if you're a 17- or 18-year-old senior who's got an entire college career in front of you. You're looking to grow up and mature and get a degree, all those things. Transfers may already have a degree. They may have done a lot of maturing, so I think their desires are a little bit differ- ent. I think NIL probably plays a bigger factor in that group." ■ Sitting Down With General Manager Of Personnel And Recruitment Andy Frank Frank has been part of coach James Franklin's staff at Penn State since 2014. He had previously worked under Franklin at Vanderbilt. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER