Blue White Illustrated

everything you do and that's still where we need to go. We'll probably be search- ing for that goal probably the rest of our lives, but I still think we can get closer to it. What were your general thoughts about the linebackers this spring, and how important is it to have Jason Cabinda take over that group as a leader? Jason has already taken over that group. He really has been voted a cap- tain. He plays and he conducts himself the way you think a Penn State line- backer would. For us, the standard we talk about is Mike Hull. Mike Hull brought an unbelievable standard that he set for the defense and that he set for that room. Jason talks about it all the time: "Mike Hull, Mike Hull, Mike Hull." It's kind of what I was just talking about, the upperclassmen teaching players how to be a Penn State player, how to be a pro, and how to approach things the right way. Jason has done that, and I think Koa Farmer has been a real pleasant surprise for us this spring. We knew he had it in him, so it was just [a question of] when that light was going to go on for him, and it has come on. I think he has a very bright future for us. B. Smith, we know what we've got with him. That guy is a warrior. Manny [Bowen] has played a lot of foot- ball for us, and now Cam is coming along. We are really starting to create some really good depth there. Obvi- ously, we have some more guys coming in. It's a really good situation. Jarvis Miller is a guy who will continue to grow, but we're starting to create some depth there like we are in a lot of our positions. Jason Cabinda, Koa Farmer, Manny Bowen and Brandon Smith, we really look at those guys as four starters for us in a lot of ways. Cam is starting to work himself into that conversation as well. You have been spoiled at wide re- ceiver with a couple of guys who could just go up and get the ball and then adjust with the ball. Do you nec- essarily need a guy like that, or can you get by with guys who can catch on the outside and get down the field? You need a guy who's going to be a playmaker, and there are a lot of differ- ent ways to do it. We've had guys like [Allen Robinson and Chris Godwin] who have been able to go high point to ball and who have been able to go get it in traffic. But you can have other guys who can just blow the top off the cover- age and who can go 80 or just make people miss. You need somebody to step up in that role. We have a lot of guys like DaeSean Hamilton who have played a lot of football and have a lot of experi- ence. Obviously, Saeed Blacknall has shown flashes that he can be that guy. Juwan Johnson has been a guy who has really come on. He is 6 foot, 4 inches, 230 pounds and has made a bunch of plays. [Brandon] Polk showed some good things today. We have some guys, but there needs to be someone that steps up and says, "I'm the guy when the game is on the line. Come to me and I'll make the play." I would also put Mike Gesicki in that role as well because of the way we use our tight ends. Going into the season as a top-10 or top-15 team is unfamiliar territory for this team. How do you deal with those expectations? How have your players dealt with them? To be honesty with you, no different from last year. We are not going to talk about preseason rankings. Preseason rankings mean nothing. Look at our preseason ranking last year. We are not approaching anything differently. We are going to treat this team, coaches and our players as if we have not accom- plished anything. Our workouts will be that way; our meetings will be that way. We will install formations like they've never heard them before. We will install plays as if they have never heard them before. We will challenge them, and we will have very high expectations. This 2017 team has not accomplished any- thing yet, so we are not going to talk about these things. We will talk about them like we did last year. Those guys want to talk about what they want their goals to be for the season, and we'll talk about it once and never talk about it again. ABer that, we will get back to fo- cusing on making each day our master- piece and making that day the best we possibly can. My belief is that the more days you put together like that, life takes care of itself. The Saturdays will take care of them- selves and the exams on Friday will take care of themselves. We are not chang- ing. That is going to be our approach. A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 9 Franklin talks to the media following the Blue-White Game. The Nit- tany Lions' fourth-year coach said he was pleased with the progress he saw from the team during its off-season drills. Photo by Nate Bauer E X C E R P T S F R O M J A M E S F R A N K L I N ' S P O S T G A M E P R E S S E R

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