James Franklin dealing with lofty expectations for 2025 season
Penn State Coach James Franklin glances down at a playbook during a timeout in the Big Ten Championship Game against Oregon Saturday December 7, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
LAS VEGAS — After posting a program record for victories last season, and making it all the way to the Playoff Semifinals, Penn State is returning a plethora of contributors that want to win it all.
From the outside looking in, Coach James Franklin will be fielding his best team yet, as he approaches the 12th season in Happy Valley. The roster is loaded with four and five-star talent, plus there’s plenty of experience, leadership and production among the players. Not to mention the Nittany Lions return a jaw-dropping, 14 All-Big Ten performers. So there’s no denying that all eyes will be on Penn State this fall, and the fans believe it’s a National Title or bust campaign for Franklin.
And that’s saying a lot for a program that hasn’t won the hardware since 1986, and Frankkin’s last Big Title was in 2016. However, he welcomes all of the preseason hype, being in the national discussion and what comes with the territory of having one of the country’s best teams on paper.
“It’s a great conversation, but who really cares about preseason rankings when they mean nothing,” Franklin said. “It’s a good argument to have, and everybody has fun with it, but the only rankings that matter are the ones that happen at the end of the season, and that’s what we’re concerned about.”
With fall camp starting this week, there are a lot of positive vibes in the locker room. After all, quarterback Drew Allar is the big man on campus, who’s also 23-6 as a starter. Allar has 49 touchdown passes over the past three seasons, and could potentially shatter school records in 2025. He’s surrounded by weapons too, including two 1,000-yard rushers in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
There’s also four starters returning to an offensive line that paved the way for Penn State to lead the Big Ten in rushing, and only allowed 20 sacks through 16 games. The defense will be tenacious as usual, despite the loss of Abdul Carter, and having new leadership from Jim Knowles, who’s replacing Tom Allen. Knowles even inherits an All-Big Ten caliber defender at every level of his unit.
It’s mind-boggling how the Nittany Lions continue to reload instead of rebuild, considering they lost five players to the NFL Draft this past April. Franklin credits his strength and conditioning program for making Penn State a puppy mill for the NFL, and takes pride in helping the players reach their full potential.
“When it comes to player development, we expect to have anywhere between 10 and 12 guys drafted this year,” he said. “We’ve averaged over five draft picks per year in my 12 years at Penn State, a stat that we’re very, very proud of.”
There are some big games looming on the schedule though. Penn State hosts Oregon in late September, and has to travel to Ohio State in early November. The Nittany Lions haven’t beat the Buckeyes in nearly a decade, and lost to the Ducks in last year’s Big Ten Championship Game.
Franklin understands what’s at stake, but all he has to do is win 10 games, and Penn State should be back in the Playoffs. Which is why the Nittany Lions will have a huge bullseye on their backs being the team to beat. Franklin anticipates getting the best from every team they play because of it, and still expects to win every game.
“We appreciate that, but it hasn’t really changed close to home, and it hasn’t changed internally in our program because these are always our expectations,” the 51-year old coach said.
No doubt Penn State needs to deliver on all of the hype, but there’ll be a thin line between having a successful season and underachieving. Everyone still remembers 2020, when the Nittany Lions started the season in the top-10, but finished unranked. That’s the last thing Franklin wants to happen, so he intends to push his team hard through the month of August.
Building quality depth, establishing trust among the coaching staff, and chemistry with the players will go a long way, and Franklin is eager to see how it all plays out.
“This is the best combined personnel that I think we’ve had at Penn State, and when I talk about personnel, I’m talking about players and staff from a depth, talent, and an experience standpoint.”
