Kirk Herbstreit’s praise of Saquon Barkley, Penn State players ‘is one of the best compliments’ Nittany Lions could get

During an interview with Saquon Barkley last week on his ESPN podcast, college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said he wanted his sons to be like Barkley and other former Nittany Lions.

Herbstreit complimented Barkley and continued his praise of Penn State players, from the past and present.

“As far back as I can go, when I meet a Penn State player, former player, or a current player, of all the schools out there that I covered, the Penn State player is the most consistent,” Herbstreit said to Barkley. “I have four boys. If they grow up to be like you or like a Jason Cabinda or a Todd Blackledge or Bobby Engram or Ki-Jana Carter, you go down the list, Curt Warner. Go any decade you want to pick.”

When asked about the remarks during his Tuesday press conference, James Franklin said Herbstreit’s “strong statement ... about our players and our program is one of the best compliments we could get.”

Franklin mentioned that Herbstreit — the go-to analyst on “College GameDay” and color commentator for ABC’s primetime games — travels all season across the country to different programs.

In Franklin’s mind, “There’s nobody that has got a better perspective on college football than Kirk Herbstreit.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be standing in line at Starbucks or Rothrock, a Dunkin Donuts on Sunday, someone will come up to me and say, Coach, really appreciate the win on Saturday, but more importantly I appreciate how the guys were in the press conference, how the guys treated my son when they saw him this summer, my daughter, all those types of things,” Franklin said. “In this crazy game of college football that we’ve all decided to be a part of, probably now more so than ever, it has become about the wins and the wins only. I think in some ways Happy Valley and Penn State has had a little bit of a bubble over it. It’s more than that for us. It’s more than that for our fans. It’s more than that for our students.”

“Kirk Herbstreit is a graduate of another school in this conference, has been doing this for a long time, travels all over the country. I think him saying it, to me, there’s a lot of value in that. Kirk didn’t have to say that.”

Importance of 2016 Michigan loss

Penn State’s 49-10 loss to Michigan last season is seen publicly as a turning point in the program under Franklin. The 39-point drubbing — rounding out a rough 2-2 start to 2016 — was a wake-up call, and Penn State hasn’t looked back with a 15-1 mark since.

But Franklin doesn’t think that game has much bearing on Saturday’s meeting. And he doesn’t think last year’s loss was the sole reason why Penn State turned things around, either.

“It’s funny, I’ve done a bunch of interviews. Everybody wants me to say that was like the ‘aha’ moment,” Franklin said. “Don’t get me wrong, obviously I do think that was a factor. Like I say with a lot of things, there’s 25 slices in this pie. The Michigan loss last year was a factor. Development was a factor. Players taking responsibility and accountability was a factor. The coaches building relationships and chemistry with the players was a factor.

“Was that loss a factor in what happened after that loss and how we moved forward, how we approached it? Yeah. But I would say every win before, our current win streak, was factor. Every loss was a factor. We learn, we grow.”

Nordin’s return

On Saturday, Penn State fans might recognize Michigan’s placekicker Quinn Nordin, who committed to the Nittany Lions via private jet video in July 2015 before flipping to the Wolverines following a sleepover with Jim Harbaugh.

Yep, Nordin’s road to Michigan was an interesting one — and now he’s killing it for Harbaugh’s Wolverines. The redshirt freshman kicker is 14 of 16 on field goal attempts, including conversions from 50 and 55 yards out in his debut against Florida.

The former No. 1-ranked kicking prospect visited Beaver Stadium a couple times for games as a recruit and later commit. Nordin will surely experience a less welcoming atmosphere on Saturday — but Franklin complimented the Michigan native in his opening statement on Tuesday.

“Obviously a name, Quinn Nordin, that we all know is kicking the ball really well for them,” Franklin said. “I’m happy for him and his family. Doing a great job.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Kirk Herbstreit’s praise of Saquon Barkley, Penn State players ‘is one of the best compliments’ Nittany Lions could get."