Penn State’s James Franklin wants players to remember what it felt like to win, amid 0-5 season
Despite the variety of ways that Penn State football has lost games en route to the program’s first-ever 0-5 start — on blowouts, comebacks that have fallen short and straight-up heartbreaking finishes — James Franklin doesn’t feel like he’s lost his team.
The seventh-year head coach points to the way his team has fought to the finish in some contests as evidence of that.
“I look how we have played late in games,” Franklin told reporters Tuesday on a Zoom conference call. “We’ve given ourselves a chance to win some games in the second half by how we’ve battled and competed.”
Still, Franklin knows the impact a historically disastrous season like this one could have on the program’s future — even with him having led the Nittany Lions to 11-win seasons and New Year’s Six bowls three of the past four years.
Penn State’s 2021 recruiting class is ranked No. 23, which is the worst-ranked recruiting class the Nittany Lions have had since 2014. And if the NCAA passes its proposed one-time transfer rule in January, allowing players to transfer and be granted immediate eligibility, it could open the door for players to leave Happy Valley without consequence.
When Franklin arrived at Penn State in 2014, he helped restore a college football powerhouse after two 7-6 seasons his first two years at the helm. But it’s seasons like the one the Nittany Lions are having now that can quickly erode a winning culture.
So, Franklin realizes his work is cut out for him moving forward.
“We’ve got a challenge right now and we’ve got adversity, and life is about handling adversity and sports is about handling adversity,” Franklin said. “And that’s what we’re gonna have to do. There’s no other option than to find a way to get better today and find a way to get back on track — (and) our track was very well thought of.”
After Saturday’s loss to Iowa, Franklin recalled how his program had to “learn how to handle success” as his teams knocked on the door of College Football Playoff berths in some of the past few seasons.
Everything that went into being on the cusp of college football greatness is now more apparent than ever to Franklin and his players.
“I think what happens is all the things that you know are important, this magnifies it,” Franklin said. “It makes it very, very clear to everybody that those details and that those lessons and that those things that you pride yourself on are more important than ever.”
Penn State has several young players stepping into key roles this year, especially at running back, wide receiver and tight end. But the Nittany Lions also have 57 players on the roster who are in their third, fourth or fifth years in the program. Franklin wants those players to remember what it felt like to win.
That’s the most important way the 48-year-old head coach can help ensure that this 2020 campaign is just a blip on the radar for Penn State rather than a sign of what’s to come.
“I want to make sure Saturday night after games, no matter what the result … that these guys know how much I love them and how much I care about them and they don’t forget all the success that we’ve had together,” Franklin said.
“And for us to get back to that, we’re gonna have to do it the same way — together.”
