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shaminy recalled Franklin sketching out plays in the coaches' office between classes. "He has always been a football nut, John " Chaump told the Philadelphia Daily News. "He loves the game." East Stroudsburg coach Denny Douds recalled Franklin's high-energy approach to both playing and coaching. Said Douds, "He will bring as much enthusiasm and passion for Penn State as the fan base does. " At Vanderbilt, Franklin was known for his bravado. He had a penchant for bold pronouncements, like the one that has since become a bit inconvenient in which he stated that there were only three conferences in football that mattered: the NFC, AFC and SEC. He was almost too quotable for his own good at times and once got himself into trouble when he joked about the attractiveness of his assistant coaches' wives during a segment on a radio show. That comment had to be walked back, but with so little history to build upon and so much indifference to overcome, self-effacement wasn't really an option in Nashville. JAMES FRANKLIN TIMELINE FEB. 2, 1972 Born in Langhorne, Pa. Franklin goes on to attend Neshaminy High School. 1995 Graduates from East Stroudsburg University after a stellar career as a quarterback. He sets 23 school records and is nominated for Division II Player of the Year honors. 1995 Breaks into coaching as a graduate assistant in charge of wide receivers at Kutztown University. 1996 Returns to East Stroudsburg as a grad assistant and defensive backs coach. Also in 1996, Franklin serves as offensive coordinator of the European League's Roskilde Kings. 1997 Coaches wide receivers at James Madison. Penn State doesn't have an indifference problem, but Nittany Lion fans can probably expect a bit of showmanship anyway. Franklin said he and his wife plan on being active in the community and are eager to appear at speaking events and social functions. "If people ask us to blow up balloons at their kid's birthday party," he said, "we'll do that as well." The boldest pronouncement he made during his introductory presser was his pledge – repeated several times for emphasis – to "dominate" Pennsylvania in recruiting. "That is the first thing we're going to do, he said. "I believe in the high " school coaches in this state. I know how well [players] are coached and developed. I know how talented this state is. I know how important football is here. I think that's very, very important, so that is the first thing we're going to do. We're going to work very, very hard and put a staff together that will help us dominate the state of Pennsylvania." Franklin's reputation suggests that's 1998 Heads to Washington State as a graduate assistant working mainly with the Cougars' tight ends. The following year, he receives a master's degree in educational leadership from Washington State, posting a 3.74 GPA. 1999 Leaves Washington State to coach wideouts at Idaho State. That season, the Bengals' wideouts total 3,300 receiving yards and 29 TDs. 2000-04 Coaches wideouts for five seasons at Maryland, including one season under Ron Vanderlinden. When Vanderlinden is let go following the 2000 season (he would go on to become linebackers coach at Penn State), Franklin is one of two assistants retained by new Terrapins head coach Ralph Friedgen. In 2003, he is named the Terps' recruiting coordinator. Maryland's 2004 class is ranked among the nation's top 20 by several recruiting services and is considered the best in school history. Rivals.com no idle threat. He's got a vivacious personality that plays well in schools and living rooms and a history of simply outworking rival coaches. He only sleeps about five hours a night, and in 2012, while putting together his second recruiting class at Vanderbilt, he kept both a BlackBerry and an iPhone within arm's reach at all times just in case a recruit happened to call during a time when NCAA rules prohibited him from calling back. "Even if I'm in my boxers," he told Sports Illustrated, "I have both of them hanging off my waistband." When prospects do call, it's often with good news. The class that Franklin recruited in 2012 was labeled the best in Vanderbilt history. It contained players who spurned the likes of Tennessee, Alabama and Ohio State to play for a team that had been a perennial Southeastern Conference straggler before his arrival in 2011. During his three seasons at the school, he recruited 22 four-star prospects, including players from such football-rich names him one of the nation's 25 best recruiters in 2003 and '04. 2005 Spends a season as receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers, where he works with Donald Driver, Javon Walker and Robert Ferguson. Driver sets career-highs with 86 catches and 1,221 yards, and the Packers finish sixth in the league in receiving yards. 2006-07 Serves as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kansas State. In 2006, the Wildcats go 7-6 with a 45-42 victory over fourth-ranked Texas, and they go on make their first bowl appearance since 2003. In 2007, Kansas State's offense sets a number of school records, as Josh Freeman throws for 3,353 yards and All-America receiver Jordy Nelson catches 122 passes. 2008-10 Returns to Maryland as assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, taking

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