James Franklin explains why Penn State will not cancel spring game

As more than 20 Power Four college football programs opt out of holding an intrasquad Spring scrimmage to cap their team’s 15 allotted practices, including Big Ten foes Nebraska and Ohio State, Penn State head coach James Franklin is bucking the trend and leaning into the tradition.

During a Tuesday press conference before the Nittany Lions open Spring practice slate this week, Franklin opined on all the reasons Penn State will continue to put on its annual Spring games as long as he’s at the helm.

“First thing I’m going to say is, I’ve been at Penn State now long enough to understand the impact Penn State football has on this entire community. And … a successful Penn State football program helps everybody out — the bars, the restaurants, the hotels,” Franklin said Tuesday. “So for me to at any point to say we’re not going to have a Spring game, I don’t think that’ll make sense for a ton of reasons. The university schedules a ton of fundraising events around the Spring game, a lot of people are in town, it’s like a homecoming in the Spring. So that’s going to factor in always into our decision-making process.”

Franklin did suggest future Spring games could be shorter, including doing away with the halftime period to avoid fans leaving the stadium early to tailgate, and they won’t be televised to avoid providing rivals further opportunities to scout and potentially entice Nittany Lion players to transfer.

But in a day-and-age when college football coaches are more concerned about the potential for tampering and devastating injuries that could negatively impact next season’s roster, Franklin’s concern for the Penn State fanbase and surrounding Happy Valley community at large is refreshing.

James Franklin on Spring games, practices: ‘All 15 of those days are like gold’

Because, for Franklin, the Nittany Lions’ Spring game is ultimately for the those that reside outside the Penn State locker room — like the diehard fans and local media.

“I know we have some real, real football people in our fanbase that want to watch and evaluate our roster, and get excited and have discussions at the barbershop, or at the water jug in discussing what Penn State football is going to look like next year,” Franklin continued. “I also think it’s valuable for (the media). So for all those reasons we’ll still do it, but it will probably be a little less plays and it’ll probably be a little shorter amount of time. It also probably won’t all be live, it’ll be a mixture of some live and some thud.”

And as an added bonus, this year’s Spring game will be the first with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who is still getting adjusted to a return to his homestate and can use all the opportunities he can get to become comfortable calling plays inside Beaver Stadium before next season officially kicks off.

“I want it to be enough that you guys feel like it was worth it, and our fans feel like ‘Hey, I’ve got a pretty good feel for what Penn State is going to look like,'” Franklin concluded. “And I also think that … Jim (Knowles) being in the stadium for the first time and calling from the booth, those things are important to get those reps and for him to evaluate our staff and for him to evaluate our roster. All 15 of those days are like gold.”