Penn State head coach James Franklin sets timeline, traits for next defensive coordinator
James Franklin doesn’t know quite yet who will replace Brent Pry as defensive coordinator but he does know exactly what he’s replacing.
“I would say I’m kind of split on (Pry leaving),” Franklin said Sunday night after Penn State was selected to play in the Outback Bowl. “I’m super excited and happy and proud for Brent and his family. I think he’s a great fit at Virginia Tech. ... On the other hand of it, you talk about a significant loss personally and professionally. Brent is one of my closest friends. We’ve been together for 12 years, been through a lot together. That’s going to be difficult to replace.”
Pry left Franklin’s staff after coaching together since 2011, when the pair was at Vanderbilt. He took the head coach position at Virginia Tech in late November after six seasons as Penn State’s defensive play caller.
The former coordinator helped put together multiple elite defenses for the Nittany Lions in that span, including the No. 6 defense in the country this season according to ESPN’s SP+, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency created by Bill Connelly.
It should be no surprise then, that Franklin hopes to keep a similar scheme intact moving forward.
“One of the things that I do wanna do is make sure that we stay with a similar scheme,” he said. “I think that’s important to our current players and our current roster, to make sure that they feel like they’re a fit. We recruited for this fit with our current roster and then also the guys coming in. ... The person coming in is gonna be able to put their stamp on it but from a structure standpoint we’ll be similar.”
Outside of that, the Penn State head coach is hoping to hire someone who can take control of that side of the ball.
Franklin, whose background is on the offensive side of the ball, had that for years under Pry.
“(I want) somebody that is going to be the head coach of the defense and be able to handle that side of the ball and (someone) who’s also gonna be a resource for me that we can collaborate together,” he said. “And continue to build the defense to put us in the best position to win at the highest level.”
When Pry originally took the job he did it after years of tutelage under Franklin and several years of previous play calling.
Pry was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for three years from 2011-13 at Vanderbilt, and held that same role in his first two years at Penn State in 2014 and 2015, learning under former Vanderbilt and Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. Prior to learning under Shoop, he led his own defenses at two different stops. Pry was the defensive coordinator at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2002-06 and held the same position at Georgia Southern in 2010.
Shoop also boasted experience as a defensive coordinator and play caller, doing so in 1997 with Villanova and William & Mary from 2007-10.
Despite going with coordinators who had play calling experience the first two times around at Penn State, Franklin said that’s not necessarily mandatory when making the next hire.
“Previous play calling experience is obviously helpful,” Franklin said. “You really want to be able to study a track record of success. Guys that have done it before, it makes it easy to go back and study all the metrics. ... That helps, it’s not the final deciding point, but obviously it helps.”
There are plenty of qualities the head coach is chasing and prioritizing, but he’s hopeful the process will come to a head in the not too distant future.
Franklin, who was in between in-home recruiting visits on the road when he spoke to the media Sunday, said he’d also spent time on the phone with potential hires and references for potential hires.
“I’d like to try to get it done as soon as possible,” Franklin said. “But I want to make sure that we also get the right person. That takes time.”
Regardless of when the final decision is made, Franklin’s hire will be a crucial one. He’s replacing one of his closest confidants and longest tenured staff members who just happened to lead the strongest unit the team has had in recent years.
The next hire may not dictate how high the team’s ceiling is, but it could very well determine how stable its floor is. Despite offensive inconsistencies since former offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead left following the 2017 season, the Nittany Lions have generally remained competitive on the back of a defense led by Pry. Now it’ll have to do it on the back of a potential unknown.
This story was originally published December 5, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
