James Franklin limiting distraction of Big Ten expansion, other big-picture issues

It can be difficult to split your focus between actual college sports and all the change currently taking place at the collegiate level. That’s as true for coaches as it is for fans of the sport considering all that’s shifting across the landscape, whether at the program, conference, or national level.

James Franklin gave his own take on the evolutions in college football during a summer update last week. While it all leads to lots of interest, he wants to minimize the impact of it on the Nittany Lions. That’s because he’s trying to work on a team at Penn State that can compete and perform at the level he needs them to this fall.

“Yeah, it’s exciting. I think, for me, though, I’m trying to – I think a big part of my job is eliminate distractions for the staff and for the players,” said Franklin. “I think that’s why, to you guy’s frustrations sometimes, it’s just one game at a time, 1-0 mentality. There has been a ton of time now talking about, like, the House settlement, talking about revenue sharing, and all these things, which are important big picture. But, at the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure that we can play man coverage, make sure we can run inside zone, and that we can cover a kick.”

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing, which is developing these young men, putting them in the best position to be successful for them, for the fans, for the lettermen, for everybody, for the community to give us a chance to beat West Virginia,” Franklin said.

These changes and the conversations around them aren’t going away, though. There’s a new topic almost weekly that could impact the future of what college athletics may look like.

With that being the case, Franklin just wants the powers that be to keep everything aligned. Each shift impacts the other in multiple aspects, which leaves a lot for everyone to keep correct and in order.

“Is it going to be cool to play some of these opponents that we haven’t played before? Yes. Is it also going to be challenging? Yes. Do we also have to deal with travel that other conferences that we’re competing against don’t have to? Yes,” Franklin explained. “All of our decisions that we’re making long term should factor that in.”

“People are talking about roster size right now. Well, our roster size needs to take into consideration that we’re going to be traveling across the country when other conferences may not be doing that. Our conference plays nine conference games. Other conferences don’t do that,” continued Franklin. “All these things have an impact. We’ve got to make sure that all of our decisions are looking at all those different factors.”

People away from the fields of play will continue to modify college sports from what we knew it to be. Still, for the actual college teams, they have to place their attention on their actual game.

That’s now all Franklin is concerned about as he made it very clear that his mind is now on the season rather than on the questions of the offseason.

“Again, for me, I have my opinions that I give to Pat Kraft and we give to the commissioner. We had very healthy and robust meetings in California,” said Franklin. “But, at the end of the day? Inside zone, little outside zone, man coverage, little zone coverage, cover kicks, return kicks. Fundamentals, techniques. West Virginia, West Virginia, West Virginia, West Virginia, West Virginia, West Virginia, West Virginia.”