Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/491635
P R E V I E W giving them the skill sets to be success- ful in life and also to have a tremendous experience on the 1eld. Our fans deserve that, and our alumni deserve that." So, sad to say, it looks as though we'll all be making our own balloon animals from here on out. But his desire to ingratiate himself with Penn State fans, while characteristically gonzo, was entirely understandable, be- cause that mass of people – students, graduates and subway alumni alike – have played and will continue to play a signi1cant role in the program's success. Since arriving at Penn State, Franklin has talked frequently about his desire to turn all of the team's games, even the ones that don't count, into spectacles. He did it again at the start of spring practice in March, mentioning the team's fans on a checklist of people whose support will be necessary if the Nittany Lions are to regain their place as a national power. "For us to get this program back to where everybody wants it to be, it's go- ing to take the players, it's going to take the coaches, administration, alumni, former players, community, it's going to take the fans," he said. "That's the way to di2erentiate our- selves." Franklin has talked frequently about that, too: how to distinguish Penn State from all those other high-pro1le schools that are chasing Rivals250 prospects. That's not as simple as it might some- times seem to those of us who've been following the Lions for decades and have a permanent mental image of the program as a part of the sport's ruling hierarchy. Yes, the Lions have a proud football tradition. But their greatest achieve- ments – the national championships, the undefeated seasons, that lone Heisman Trophy – occurred years, and in some cases decades, before the play- ers atop Franklin's recruiting board were born. To the Class of 2016, Daryll Clark and Sean Lee are hazy childhood memories, while Kerry Collins and Ki- Jana Carter are faces from the media guide. Curt Warner and D.J. Dozier might as well have been wearing leather helmets. Yes, the Nittany Lions have the facili- ties they need to compete at a high level. But neither the Lasch Building nor Hol-