James Franklin explains challenges of losing recruits to Big Ten schools

Recruiting is an unforgiving game in college football, Penn State’s James Franklin knows all too well. The longtime collegiate head coach has experienced his fair share of wins and loss on the recruiting trail and has simply had to learn to cope with losing out on guys he badly wanted. Which is tough in the Big Ten, where many of the talented players who reject you wind up at a rival school in the same division. Just the nature of the beast with how regional recruiting is.

Plus, imagine for a school like Penn State, with such history and prestige in the Big Ten, when they lose recruits. Really, the only two bigger sharks in the sea are Ohio State and Michigan in the conference. Consequently, the Nittany Lions’ biggest barriers to getting to the College Football Playoff. And many a former PSU target has ended up in Columbus or Ann Arbor.

So how has James Franklin developed a way to handle the losses and not get too swept up into where players that don’t commit to his school end up? In a way, it’s hard. But with al l the responsibilities of being a head coach, it’s easy not to get caught up in the success or failures of former targets. Unless they’re right in front of you, at other Big Ten teams.

Anyway, here was the Nittany Lion head honcho on the whole dynamic of seeing a player he once recruited now at another school.

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“Yeah, I mean let’s be honest. In this league, it happens all the time. Especially when you’re talking about regional prospects, it happens all the time. Obviously, I think it stings a little bit more when you see them [on other Big Ten teams]. If they go far away and you never play those people, it’s a little bit out of sight, out of mind. Which is also our argument on why they should stay home.

“There’s been a number of prospects that have left and gone far away and, you know, there’s a lot of times you never hear a whole lot about them after that. So I think your point is obviously if you lose is a guy and now you have to play against him for four years, it is, you know, probably more impactful. I don’t know if it necessarily is. But it feels that way, because you obviously see them.”

So, not a huge deal in Frankln’s world. Though he does admit he notices former targets when he has to play against them in conference.