James Franklin explains how he has evolved as a coach

Recently Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin sat down with one of his former players Adam Breneman, host of Up Next. The former Penn State tight end had several questions for his former head coach, but one of the more thought-provoking ones for Franklin was directed at the headman’s evolution as a coach since Breneman left the program.

“I think a number of things. I think probably the biggest thing is I’m still very passionate; I’m still very emotional, but I’ll probably now take a deep breath before going off,” said Franklin. “Probably even more so with Vanderbilt than coming here. Because I really felt like when I came here because of all the rules and the sanctions and players being able to leave at any point, if you coach them too hard, they’d just bounce.

“So I felt like when I was first getting here, how do I navigate, not just Penn State, but how do I navigate these rules? I just feel like over time, you just gain some perspective, and you gain some experience. And although my emotions are important to me and my passion is important to me, I think the older you get, you just say, ‘Okay, I’m going to take a deep breath before doing it before making a decision.”

Franklin was brought in as the Nittany Lions’ head coach in 2014 after serving three years heading the Vanderbilt Commodores program. He replaced Bill O’Brien, who the Houston Texans had hired for their head coaching position. Both of them are the two figureheads responsible for helping to rebuild the Nittany Lions football program after the child sex abuse scandal in 2011.

Along with more emotional control, Franklin believes he has grown as a communicator in his time as Penn State’s head coach. But not just in the communication department of delivering a message, but as the individual receiving one too. And he uses the perspective of those individuals he talks with daily to lead the program effectively.

“Then I think the other thing is I’ve always been a communicator, but every decision I make, major decision, I wanna hear from the players, I wanna hear from the staff, I wanna hear from the coaches. For me to make the best decisions, from the AD the president; for me to make the best decisions for the overall organization, I must hear all these perspectives. And that kind of goes back to diversity.

“Why is diversity important? Because I need to hear all these different perspectives so I don’t have any blind spots. So that, ultimately, I can make the best decisions for Penn State. And I’ve always been comfortable with that, but I’m more comfortable than ever. There’s sometimes, I may not agree with you right now, but I sleep on it the next morning go, you know what, you’re right. You’re right; that’s the better way to do this.”

Franklin has consistently kept Penn State in contention for the Big Ten title. He even led the Nittany Lions to the conference championship in 2016, earning Dave McClain Coach of the Year in the Big Ten honors in the process.

As Franklin has grown, so has the Penn State program. And that growth has helped millions recover from one of the darker periods in the program’s history.