Blue White Illustrated

Penn State will have attached itself to it. If there's a trial and Franklin's a part of it, Penn State would be a part of it, too. COAC HS PEA K CHRISTINE BRENNAN USA TODAY At the outset of preseason practice last August, Franklin spoke about sinking roots deep into the community, saying he "would love to have the fairytale of your kids going to the same school for 18 years." The fairytale ended on Saturday. In retrospect, the fairytale has been unraveling for quite some time as Franklin assessed the coaching landscape here and elsewhere. It really was just a matter of time before he jumped. DAVID CLIMER THE (NASHVILLE) TENNESSEAN All coaches speak confidently at their introductory press conference, but if his Vanderbilt tenure was an indication, Penn State fans will soon find out that his tough-talk persona is a 365-day thing. In Nashville he was a relentless self-promoter, never turning down a radio interview, speaking at every fraternity or sorority on campus. On Saturday he said he'll come to birthday parties and fill up balloons if invited. (Careful there, coach. Penn State's got a lot more fans than Vanderbilt. You'll soon have 100,000 birthday invitations.) And the "dominate recruiting" line should not be cast aside. The guy signed a Top 25 class at Vanderbilt. In football. That doesn't necessarily mean Franklin is going to start beating Ohio State's Urban Meyer and Michigan's Brady Hoke on every blue-chipper for whom they compete. But you can be sure he'll win his share. STEWART MANDELL SI.COM When Franklin said he intends to recruit every high school and every neighborhood in the state, he might have meant it. He grew up just outside of Philadelphia on the eastern side of Pennsylvania. His father grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh on the western side. "We plan on being here for a very, very long time, Franklin said. " "This is my dream job. This is where I want to be." Penn State could use a little James Franklin. The university is going to get a lot of him. IVAN MAISEL ESPN.COM Patrick Mansell FULL HOUSE Franklin addresses reporters in the Beaver Stadium media room. The following are excerpts from James Franklin's introductory news conference Jan. 11. Penn State's president is going to be stepping down on June 30, if not before, and a new president may bring with him a new athletics director. What consideration did you give those facts as you made up your mind to take this job? We had great dialogue. We talked about everything. I was completely up-front and honest with all my concerns and things I was excited about. They were completely up-front and honest about all their concerns and things they were excited about. We had great dialogue on multiple occasions, not only in person but over the phone, and that was a concern. But I think with the right plan, and the right people, and the discussions we had, what I was sold on and what I believe is that Penn State has a plan and has a purpose and has a certain type of individual that they want to bring here that is going to be attracted to this institution. Hopefully, we're in a position where we're able to have these conversations for a very long time. But the plan was and the discussion was that Penn State is going to attract the best and the brightest and people with the same values. So that's what made me very, very comfortable. Were you surprised that this job opened up? Were you interested once you heard Coach O'Brien had left and how did that work between Dave Joyner and yourself as far as the circumstances? I was very interested right from the beginning when I heard about the opportunity. Obviously, there was some contact from that point on and we started to get into discussions. It's very difficult because you have a job and you have a responsibility and you have a game to play. But we try to keep our focus on that and control the things that we can control. If an opportunity presented itself to sit down and have a discussion about this job in the future once the season was over, then we were going to do that. Luckily, we were able to do that, and I'm fortunate to be sitting here today as the next football coach of Penn State University.

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