James Franklin evaluates leadership styles of Penn State captains

James Franklin is happy with his team leaders. After Penn State announced its team captains earlier this month, Franklin gave his thoughts on the selections.

“We voted on three captains, it may have been at the end of spring, to go into the summer with,” Franklin said. “Then, we held out all summer and really mostly through training camp to see who developed into that next role and to kind of leave that out there for competition over the summer.”

Evidently, Franklin’s strategy worked. Safety Keaton Ellis, linebacker Dominic DeLuca, offensive lineman Olu Fashanu, wide receiver Malick Meiga, defensive end Adisa Isaac and tight end Theo Johnson emerged as the team captains just weeks before Penn State’s season opener.

While the group is wildly different from 2022’s leaders, Franklin is confident in the captains.

“We’ve got a strong group of veterans,” Franklin said. “The coaches and the players and the staff all kind of see it the same way. I think we probably have a decent number of them that are more lead by example than verbal, like we had last year. But, I think it’s a really good group and when they do speak, everybody listens because I wouldn’t say they’re outgoing type of guys in the first place.”

If the leaders want to lead by example, it must be a good one. The Nittany Lions finished last season at No. 7 in the nation. Franklin and Co. proved worthy of their position in a convincing 35-21 victory over No. 10 Utah in the Rose Bowl.

Now, Penn State is picking up where it left off last season. AP ranked the program No. 7 in its AP Top 25. Franklin believes this year’s captains could be even better than last season’s crew.

“We talked about the leadership looking different this year than it did last year. That doesn’t mean it can’t be just as good, or even better,” Franklin said. “But, it is going to be different. Rather than four or five guys who were very vocal and demonstrative from the leadership perspective, to maybe more of a group that do it through actions.

“I’m pleased with the overall group. I wasn’t sure if we’d have six. I thought we may have two on offense, two on defense and one on special teams. But, Malick Meiga got a ton of votes on special teams, as well, so I feel really good about him and really all six of those captains.”

Penn State’s captains will lead Penn State into its first battle of 2023 on Sept. 2 against West Virginia.