James Franklin details how he finds motivational buttons to push for Michigan game

This weekend, head coach James Franklin is going to lead Penn State into a massive game against the Michigan Wolverines. With everyone’s eyes on the game, keeping the Nittany Lions focused and motivated for the game is going to be a challenge.

Ahead of the game, Franklin explained that motivating a team is something that varies by the season and it’s most important to stay consistent.

“I think it’s interesting because, as you can imagine, over nine years I’ve tried about everything, right,” James Franklin said. “Trying to keep the approach as consistent and steady as we can. After wins, coaching the guys really hard so there’s no complacency kind of seeping into the program. Try to keep things as consistent as possible. But then there’s different kinds of methods and models that we’ve used over nine years, and trying to kind of figure out the best way to do it.”

Under James Franklin, Penn State has found tons of success, going 86-37, winning the Big Ten in 2016, and finishing in the top 10 in four different seasons. However, he has struggled in big games, particularly against Ohio State and Michigan, with only a 4-14 record against those opponents.

“And then the other challenge is every team is different. So, something maybe you’ve done two years ago, maybe that wasn’t the right thing for that team, but maybe it is for this team. So, just trying to kind of understand the temperament of the team, and that’s where the leadership council comes in or the captains come in, to kind of get a feel of where they’re at with things.”

-this is a big week, and Franklin has been working to get everyone ready

“I met with the captains on, I think it was, Tuesday before practice. Theo [Johnson] kind of had some comments on the offense as well. Keaton Ellis had some comments on the defense I thought were good messages overall. But that’s constantly what I’m trying to do. What I stay up late thinking about or early in the morning, thinking about discussions,” Franklin said.

“I went in with the defensive staff and kind of talked about some things from a strategy standpoint this morning with Manny [Diaz] and the defensive staff. Just trying to find any little advantage we can that’s going to give us a chance to win on Saturday. So, that’s what the entire week is about.”

James Franklin addresses Chop Robinson’s status for Michigan game

Penn State suffered a huge loss on the defensive side of the ball against Ohio State when Chop Robinson went down with an injury. Now, James Franklin shared an update on his status ahead of the Michigan game.

“Yeah, I think I said that to you guys on Monday that we’re hopeful that he’ll be ready to go,” Franklin said, explaining he’s looked good in practice.

“Good. I spend most of the time on the offensive side of the field. So, I gotta watch tape on him. But he looked good on Sunday and looked at on Monday.”