Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/861263
TEACHABLE MOMENTS There's more to building a successful program than just amassing victories e's already got several Coach of the Year honors under his belt, and this year James Franklin is a preseason candidate for many more. A year ago, he was on lists of coaches who were on the proverbial "hot seat." Now he's on lists that rank America's best. Winning 11 games in a season, staking claim to a Big Ten title and leading the charge in one of the greatest Rose Bowls of all time – all that will do that for you. But what really earns someone staying power, what garners lasting respect from a fan base like Penn State's, isn't just how many games have been won under the coach's watch or how many champi- onship trophies are sitting in the lobby of the football complex or how many awards are inscribed with his name. Re- spect also derives from his handling of the less-glamorous parts of the job, the parts that have little to do with Satur- day's game plan. "It's [a matter of] every single day [being] willing to fight and battle all the things you have to fight to keep the pro- gram going," Franklin said. "You lose a battle here, you lose a battle here and you lose a battle here, and then five years from now you look back and all those things added up." And that's what he's attempting to avoid as he enters his fourth season in charge of the Nittany Lions. He's able to bask in the glory that Penn State earned with its accomplishments last season, but amid the successes, Franklin has also had to grit his teeth while tackling the more difficult aspects of running a col- lege athletics program. Case in point: the suspension of Manny Bowen and Saeed Blacknall for the Rose Bowl. Franklin's job is not just to win games; it's to help boys mature into men, and that's an ongoing task. When Bowen and Blacknall slipped up last winter, Franklin and his coaching staff didn't hesitate to sit two of their starters just as the team was set to take its place on one of college football's grandest stages. But the Rose Bowl is now a memory, and the questions concerning those two players have to do with how they re- spond. Blacknall said he is "completely bought in" as he begins his final season under Franklin, and Bowen, a junior, echoed that sentiment. "I'm getting real comfortable now," Bowen said. "In my first year, my fresh- man year, it was more of a special teams year for me. Sophomore year was just getting my feet wet, and this year I ex- pect a lot of myself out here, so I'm ready to give that to everybody." JUDGMENT CALL H