Blue White Illustrated

ames Franklin likes to refer to him- self as the "ultimate optimist." Over the past 10 months, no doubt that's rung true. Steadfast enthusiasm, all the time. Since his hire, you can almost see the positive energy filling up the Lasch Building and seeping out toward the practice fields and onto the rest of cam- pus. Even though Penn State has yet to fill Beaver Stadium to capacity this year, af- ter pushing throughout the off-season for sellouts every game, Franklin is un- fazed. "We're going to keep talking about having 107,000 fans there," he said. "What a statement that is." He's relentless with his positive out- look, and even when things aren't going his way – a rough practice here, a tough call there – he maintains. At least pub- licly, his players and assistants seem to have bought into it, and – gasp! – sometimes you can even see it rubbing off on the media. Take for instance his weekly press conference. Prior to the start of each re- porter's question, Franklin asks, How are you? The head coach won't begin answer- ing the proposed question until the re- porter answers his. If someone is calling in through a fuzzy telephone line and maybe doesn't hear Franklin's saluta- tion, the coach will continue to press – How are you? How are you? How are you? – until he gets a reply. At first, he'd get something quick in return, something simple along the lines of "I'm pretty good" or "I'm OK." Not good enough. Now the responses have evolved into "Fabulous," "Awesome" or "Living the dream." That brings a smile to his face. But all of Franklin's positive energy, that unwavering sticktoitiveness, is being tested halfway through the sea- son. During his introduction in January, when asked about philosophies for of- fense, defense and special teams, Franklin said that he'd play to the team's "strengths and hide [its] weaknesses." He added that the Lions would be "ag- gressive in everything we do. When we get off the bus, we'll be aggressive." That for-sure approach – along with immediate success on the recruiting trail – served as a double-edged sword of sorts. It had some fans putting wins in the column before the season even started. The future seemed to be glow- ing, but that dang lack of scholarship numbers was always the dark shadow lingering. So while some were eagerly anticipat- ing that the coaching staff's energy would turn into immediate on-field production, they've been hit with a heavy dose of reality during the first six games. Sure, the Nittany Lions have gutted through a couple victories, thanks to a never-say-die attitude, a re- flection of their head coach's mindset. But – and this isn't pessimism – there are obvious shortcomings. Perhaps there are a few too many weaknesses to hide, not enough of a sol- id foundation in order to be aggressive in every phase of the game. Tough to do that, when on special teams everyone is a freshman or walk-on, when the offen- sive line is a patchwork. And after practice one night during the bye week, as the Nittany Lions were still licking their wounds – physically and emotionally – from the Northwest- ern loss, and dealing with an onslaught of criticism about the lack of a rushing attack, Franklin laid it out there – as op- timistically as possible. He wasn't necessarily tempering ex- pectations for the rest of the season; rather, he was reminding the public that, hey, with what Penn State is deal- ing with, 4-1 wasn't a bad start. "I was talking to some people this week and they said we've gotta do a better job of educating the public and the media of where we're at as a pro- gram," Franklin said. "There's a fine line to that, because I think if you talk about it too much, then it becomes an excuse. It becomes an excuse for the players, it becomes an excuse for the program." He's not looking for that. He's just trying to find the proper harmony. "It's a fine line, and I don't know what the balance is," Franklin continued. "I do know there are great expectations at Penn State, and everybody talked about some of our issues before the season started, but once the season gets going, no one cares about that anymore. You've just gotta go out and find a way to win. So that's something that I haven't figured out, because I like to stay as positive and optimistic as possi- ble. "And I believe in our guys and I have a lot of confidence in our guys, but there's no doubt – and we all know – that there are some challenges and issues that we have to overcome." Many of those complications simply need time in order to work themselves out. Unless his name is Miles Dieffen- bach, Penn State isn't adding any expe- rienced offensive linemen this season; all those freshmen, they're not gaining experience overnight. Until then, Franklin is sticking with his tried and true. "We're just going to stay positive," he said. "And we're going to continue to en- courage these guys and continue to talk about what we're building and where we're going. I think they understand that and I think they see that." ■ LAST WORD T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M J Keeping it real

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