Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/523134
hen he looks back on Penn State's 2014 season – his first as the Nittany Lions' head coach – James Franklin thinks about much more than the numbers seven and six. In their purest form, those numbers represent Penn State's performance on the football field. Seven wins, six losses. But for Franklin to properly reflect on his first season in Happy Valley, one simple measure of success doesn't begin to tell the story. Doesn't even come close, really. There were four wins to start the sea- son, then a disheartening string of four losses, then a split card on the final four followed by a thrilling 31-30 overtime win against Boston College in the Pin- stripe Bowl. Those are the basic facts that explain how the numbers seven and six came to be. But for a program that is still very much in flux on the heels of the NCAA sanctions and yet another coaching transition, two big considera- tions need to be taken into account. Stepping into the job 17 months ago, Franklin and his staff were met by a team that had struggled to a 7-5 record the year before, one that had been de- pleted during the off-season by injury and graduation and had seen its head coach, Bill O'Brien, leave abruptly. For all the heartwarming talk of "overcom- ing the odds," the situation was not par- ticularly good and was certain to get worse as the sanctions continued to take their toll. "I think from what we took over, I feel really good," Franklin said, ticking off the list of challenges – to put it diplo- matically – that Penn State faced upon entering the 2014 season. "The lack of scholarships, the lack of depth, the amount of turnover that there's been in leadership not just in the head coaching position, but in the AD position and president's position, all the turmoil that we've been through – all of those things play a role." In ways that were both obvious and subtle, the aforementioned challenges MAGICAL REALISM Franklin tries to balance high aspirations with an understanding of PSU's challenges W J U D G M E N T CA L L LOOKING AHEAD Franklin has vowed to "never be satisfied" re- gardless of the Lions' future suc- cess. Photo by Steve Manuel