Blue White Illustrated

Coaching staff has put itself in an enviable position T here's no simple formula for success in Division I recruiting. But if we've all learned one thing during the past few months, it's that James Franklin and his staff seem to have found a winning equation. Because of the nationally recognized success they enjoyed on the recruiting trail during their first few months on the job – the Class of 2015 is already roughly three-quarters complete – the Nittany Lion coaches found themselves in a unique situation throughout the spring evaluation period, one that most coach- ing staffs across the nation absolutely envy. While the majority of Penn State's ri- vals were hitting the road in hope of finding that under-the-radar 2015 prospect who will give a boost to their present class, Franklin and his assis- tants were already turning an eye to- ward the future. Of course, they still stopped in to see 2015 prospects such as offensive lineman Grant Newsome of Lawrenceville, N.J., and defensive tackle Tim Settle of Manassas, Va. But the staff appears to have spent the ma- jority of the evaluation period focusing on next year's crop of prospects, well aware that now is the perfect time to begin building relationships with rising juniors who may not have originally considered the Nittany Lions a serious option. These days, nearly every high school player with Division I potential follows the major recruiting websites. So most of the prospects Penn State is pursuing are fully aware that its 2015 recruiting class is considered one of the nation's best. As any smart staff would do, Franklin and his assistants have been using the rankings to their advantage, selling their agenda to next year's prospects. What's different is that the new staff is using a national approach that has never been seen at Penn State. Even during the best of times under Joe Paterno, the Lions weren't this deter- mined to venture far outside of their customary recruiting territory. As of this writing, the Rivals.com database showed 28 prospects in the Class of 2016 who are claiming verbal offers from Penn State. Most of those offers have been extended in the past month. Of those players, 16 are from the school's traditional recruiting grounds – Ohio to New Jersey and south to Vir- ginia – with the other 12 residing in the heart of Southeastern Conference terri- tory. Some of those Southern prospects first became acquainted with Franklin and his staff when they were still coach- ing at Vanderbilt. But regardless of how long the coaches have been monitoring these players, one thing is clear: All of them are bona fide blue-chippers, play- ers who should collect more than 20 scholarship offers apiece before it's all said and done. While it certainly won't be easy for Penn State to keep up this pace, the staff has put itself in a very strong posi- tion. If the coaches are able to approxi- mate this year's strong performance in the coming years, they will have an op- portunity to maintain their head start. That's extremely important when you're going after the nation's best high school players, some of whom would pay little attention to Penn State if not for the presence of Franklin and his staff. I'm no math wiz, but the formula for success seems pretty simple: The quicker you land prospects in your cur- rent class, the sooner you can begin working on the next crop of recruits. Programs such as Alabama have been in this pattern for years now. The results speak for themselves. ■ ethic. A lot of teens aren't business owners, so I'm very proud of what we've accom- plished. "It means a lot to me and it's taught me so much about the trials and tribulations of the business world. Being able to deal with that when you're younger, I feel like that's only going to help me be successful down the road. We plan to keep doing it, too. We want to branch out and try to push it on a larger scale." Like Holland, Monroe is mature beyond his years, but it's his physical skills that catch most people's attention. In Feb- ruary, the 6-1, 195-pound safety from St. John's College High in Washington, D.C., shined at the Nike Football SPARQ combine in Waldwick, N.J. With 700 prospects in attendance, Monroe's SPARQ score of 103.68 was the highest of the competition. Attendees were extremely impressed with his 4.45-second 40-yard dash. Now that he's committed, Monroe is

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