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some other school's pitch. He knows he needs to use all the tools available to him to catch people's attention and hold it; this is a guy, a8er all, who's been known to show up for high school football games in a helicopter. But he's also look- ing to draw some lines. "We want to be creative," he said, "not creepy." Was that a shot across Michigan's bow? It sure seemed like one. For better and for worse, Jim Harbaugh did a thorough job of keeping Michigan in the headlines in January. He jumped out of trees, arranged sleepovers and presided over a signing day event that featured a caval- cade of stars: Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Lou Holtz, Mike Shanahan and Ric Flair. On a less frivolous note, he also pulled a couple of scholarship o7ers, including one that had gone out more than two years earlier to Erik Swenson, a four-star o7ensive lineman from Downers Grove, Ill. There's some dispute over the circum- stances of Swenson's exit, with Michigan insiders claiming he regressed as a senior and the national media insinuating that he was cut loose as part of an e7ort to free up scholarships for more highly regarded prospects. Either way, the implications for Michigan's rivals are obvious. If the Wolverines are willing to cast aside lesser prospects at the end of the recruiting cy- cle to make room for more blue-chippers, those programs are going to have to re- cruit harder than ever just to keep up. The other concern for Penn State is that it may soon have to deal with an emboldened nonconference rival in Pitt. A year ago, with the Panthers' sta7 in 6ux, the Lions swooped in to sign a pair of verbally committed Pitt recruits, tight end Nick Bowers and defensive lineman Kevin Givens. This year, Pitt returned the favor by swiping athlete Aaron Mathews from Penn State's class and then signing four-star defensive back Damar Hamlin, one of the Nittany Li- ons' top in-state targets. When Penn State hired him in 2014, Franklin took on Pitt by declaring that the Nittany Lions were aiming to "dom- inate the state" in recruiting. It was a pithy slogan and it looked good on T- shirts. Franklin backed it up, too, signing seven of Pennsylvania's top 10 prospects in his 5rst full recruiting class. But a8er a mediocre 5nish last fall and a turbulent start to the 2016 o7-season, recruits are looking for more than just assurances that things are headed in the right direc- tion. They want results. As fate would have it, the Lions will have a chance to give Pennsylvania prospects a tangible indication of how their program stacks up against the Pan- thers when the two teams resume their long-dormant rivalry on Sept. 10 at Heinz Field. A victory would open some eyes, given that Penn State will have a new quarterback under center, two new coordinators in the booth and a rebuilt line anchoring its defense. A loss, how- ever, would give Pitt the ammo it needs to do battle with its longtime rival. It will be Sanders' second game as a Nittany Lion, and while it would be pre- mature to suggest that he could be a dif- ference-maker so early in his career, you'd like to think he will improve their overall outlook in 2016. That was the reason the coaching sta7 worked with Sanders and his mother to prepare for the onslaught of attention he was sure to receive. "We were prepared for that," Smith said. "We just held to that plan, and we kept re- cruiting him. There were times, like any kid, when he's going to think, 'What if?' Or, 'Man, should I go visit another school? I never got a chance to go out there.' So we kept recruiting him, kept communicating, kept giving him infor- mation about us and the program, and his mom was terri5c and was supportive the whole way through and kept his mind fo- cused on Penn State. When his fax came through, man, what a blessing for us." ■ T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 6 You have heard and will hear today that James Franklin's 2016 Signing Day class is underwhelming because of recent de-commits draining what six weeks ago had been a hyped class of verbals. In that narrow context, the disappointment is valid. What once was billed as a class possibly on par with Ohio State and Michi- gan has now descended to the recent Michigan State level, around 20th best in the country. But dolly back from that narrow focus a bit and I think what Franklin has accomplished is borderline miraculous. In his three classes now, the Nittany Lion head coach has overseen three top-20 classes in succession. How does that rank historically? I'll tell you how: It's never happened before. And Franklin has done it in the immediate aftermath of the Sandusky scandal and the NCAA sanc- tions. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM Clearly, Franklin has not had – and was not left with – enough good players, especially on the offensive line, which sets the table for the entire operation and probably cost John Donovan, the Lions' OC for Franklin's first two years here, his job. Still, if Penn State fans have been concerned with two years of question- able in-game management, Christian Hackenberg's digression and bad special teams play – three aspects that speak directly to whether a team is well- coached – not closing out players who had already verbally committed sounds another alarm. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR So as the rebuilding continues, Penn State will slowly shift from plugging holes in a sinking ship to simply taking the best players the program can get its hands on. That's a good thing. BEN JONES STATECOLLEGE.COM Franklin, of course, preferred to focus on positives and the building. He used an analogy from his new offensive coordinator, Joe Moorhead, to drive that home: "At first you kind of overcome the storm and then you become the storm, and that's what we're really trying to do," Franklin said. FRANK BODANI YORK DAILY RECORD W H A T T H E Y ' R E S A Y I N G

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