Penn State football head coach James Franklin ready to do ‘whatever possible’ to elevate program

James Franklin acknowledged that he had been kicking the can down the road in recent weeks when it came to discussing his future and Penn State’s investment in his football program. He told his team prior to its game against Rutgers last Saturday that a deal would get done to keep him with the program and had conveyed the same to his coaches and recruits.

Wednesday night after his team’s practice, the Penn State head coach was finally in a space where he felt like he could speak on the subjects publicly with a new 10-year contract finalized that could tie him to Penn State until 2031.

“I’d like to talk about Michigan State,” Franklin said. “But I get it. I’ve been putting this off for a while.”

Franklin’s commitment to the university wasn’t about him or what he wanted in a new deal, rather, he said it was about the program. He’s frequently mentioned the need for Penn State to compete “365 days per year,” but declined to go into detail on what exactly he meant by that.

Wednesday night he said that ability to compete year-round was at the core of his desire to sign a new contract in the first place.

“The reason (the contract negotiation) was nine weeks is because it wasn’t really about me,” Franklin said. “That was kind of the first conversation, about me. The conversation kind of led into, ‘these are all of the things that we need to discuss.’”

His contract, which will pay him $7 million per year in guaranteed money, did not outline any specifics for improvement, but Franklin cited a roadmap being laid out that would allow for the team to compete in those off-the-field areas all year.

Those issues have been a point of contention for Franklin, who has harped on the need for improvements off the field, and he’s said the university needed to be aligned in how it approached the issue.

“It’s about alignment and truly competing with the people that we expect to compete with,” he said.

That alignment will be required to make the type of multimillion dollar investments into facilities, student housing and other areas around the program that Franklin is pointing to. The funding required could be secured through university funding or via donations from the program’s biggest donors.

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour laid out a facilities master plan in 2017 that would take 20 years to execute. That plan included improvements to the football program, including a new plan for the future of Beaver Stadium.

Despite not speaking to the media following the announcement of Franklin’s new contract, Barbour spoke with the program’s in-house communications department for a live video following the head coach’s weekly post-practice press conference Wednesday evening. She said this is the best step forward for the program.

“This is about Penn State and what we have to do to be successful and chase that national championship that we all want,” Barbour said in the video.

While those aspects of the contract are important, according to Franklin, there’s a human element that often goes unaccounted for when discussing coaching opportunities.

Franklin said that played a role for him in deciding to make an added commitment to being at Penn State.

“This is home,” he said. “... I had an opportunity to come back home, which is very unusual. But I’ll be honest with you, for me it’s about people. I’m committed to these kids and the staff and the people that I’ve gotten to know in the community. I’m very fortunate and blessed, I’m one of the few guys in this profession, that my children have a chance to go to the same school from the time they’re in elementary school all the way through high school and possibly college. ... I’m more than just a football coach. I wanna be a good dad, too.”

Franklin’s hopes for his family are of importance to him, but the on-field development will always rule the day when the time comes down the road to determine whether the contract was beneficial for Penn State or not.

He has won a Big Ten title, he’s led the program to a couple New Year’s Six bowls and he’s generally found success in his eight years coaching the Nittany Lions.

However, he’s struggled to take the program to the next level, which is ultimately the pinnacle of the sport in the College Football Playoff. He said Wednesday he’s committed to doing whatever it takes toward making that final leap.

“I think we’ve done some good things,” Franklin said. “But obviously there’s a next plateau that we have to get to and I recognize that. And I’m committed to doing whatever possible to help us get there, with the help of a lot of other people that it takes.”