Notebook: James Franklin sets tone in preseason presser
James Franklin held his annual preseason media day press conference on Sunday afternoon at Beaver Stadium. And, the Nittany Lions will be back out later in the afternoon for practice.
Before the practice availability, though, a break in the action offers an opportunity to check in on what we’ve learned already. With Blue White Illustrated’s team of reporters on hand for more than an hour of coach press conferences featuring Franklin and all three of his coordinators, plus another hour of availability with the rest of the non-freshman roster, and assistants, the information backlog is mountainous and will take time to sort through.
Still, a few early thoughts emerged worth passing along here:
1) In-depth conversation
Franklin spoke extensively about the quality unique to this team this season during his tenure with the Nittany Lions. Effectively, more than any other time, there is quality depth at seemingly every single position group.
And, with it, the Nittany Lions are better collectively for it.
So, when asked about the optimistic tone he’s set for this team’s potential this season early in the press conference, Franklin pushed back ever so slightly.
Avoiding propelling the hype train, Franklin offered an assessment of the program that distinguished between quality depth and top-line potential.
“What I have been very clear on in my opinion is I do think this is as much depth we have had,” Franklin said. “We have a three-deep at pretty much every position. And I’d probably describe it a little bit more in more detail as probably a two-and-a-half deep.”
A goal for every position in the program every season, the Nittany Lions appear to have it this year across the board. Combined with staff stability and a competitive environment that is fostered every day through the offseason, Franklin added that the duo presents an opportunity to be “successful.”
Where he stopped, however, was telling. Cautioning against getting carried away, Franklin pointed to the Nittany Lions’ opponents as a reason to pump the brakes.
“Are we excited about it? Yes.
“Do we still have a lot of work to do and a lot of questions to answer? Yes.
“Do I think we are arguably in the best conference in college football and specifically the best division? I think we are part of that argument. I think it’s hard to say that we’re not.”
Bottom line: This is a Penn State team that is “bigger, stronger, and faster” than it was last year. That was a good team. It’s also more mature, in Franklin’s words.
But, getting through a schedule that features two games against teams predicted to each be ranked in the preseason top five, in a four-game span, is going to be a challenge.
2) Belaboring the point
Asked to pick out what’s impressed him to this point in camp, Franklin offered a little more detail about how that depth has manifested itself so far.
Starting in the trenches on both sides of the ball, his take on both the offensive and defensive lines signals a strong originating point. Then he moved into the tight ends, the running backs, and the cornerbacks. His assessment of the quarterbacks was strong, shining a light not only on Drew Allar and Beau Pribula but also on true freshman Jaxson Smolik.
It’s the impact that type of environment has on the totality of the team, though, that emerged as his point.
“Having a three deep across the board allows you to develop your entire roster when you feel like you’ve got legitimate guys to put out there, both physically and mentally,” he said. “That also impacts your practice. A lot of times, you think the practice is going well with the ones and the twos. And the threes go out, and it’s just sloppy and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
“There’s less of that now. The threes are able to go out now and operate, and I think that’s been valuable.”
3) Grading the quarterbacks
We’re going to do the quarterback shuffle for the next few weeks, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Drew Allar and Beau Pribula both need to be prepared to play this season, so maximizing each competitor against one another by divvying up starting reps can only serve to strengthen the program.
But, Franklin made plain, while not signaling a preference, that both players look the part.
“They look like guys that are in year two in the same system mentally. They look like guys year two physically; hey both have gotten stronger, they have both gotten leaner, they have both gotten faster,” Franklin said. “And they have gotten more confident with their reads, their accuracy, their decision-making, those types of things. So they have been impressive. They really have.”
In that vein, Franklin nor offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich is deviating from the script. There’s nothing to announce now and no timeline for making a decision.
“It’s a competition, and we want to create competition at every position as long as possible. And I think it brings the best out in everyone,” Franklin said.
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