James Franklin explains how Penn State will define success in 2023

James Franklin knows 2023 could be a make-or-break year for Penn State on the football field. Essentially, this fall could dictate future success and competitiveness in the Big Ten.

This is a coach that already won a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl trophy with his program, the latter coming last season. But there are College Football Playoff expectations for Penn State, despite being in the same division as Michigan and Ohio State.

Franklin joined On3’s J.D. PicKell on The Hard Count to explain his definition of success this coming fall.

“Yeah, to be honest with you that’s a question I get from time to time,” Franklin said. “And really we don’t do that. It’s not like I sit here and kind of come up with this for our program. We just want to have a great camp and put ourself in the best position to beat West Virginia on national television, 7:30 primetime game here in Beaver Stadium, and then build on that. And I think if we can build on that Week 1 and get better each week of the season to put us in the best position to compete for a Big Ten championship and get a chance to get into those plays and see where it goes from there that’s what’s important to us. 

“It’s how do we put ourselves in the best position to beat West Virginia and then build on it? So we’re excited about those opportunities and we’re excited about those challenges.”

After back-to-back seasons where Penn State did not quite meet expectations, Franklin and company won 11 games for the first time since 2019. At that time, Penn State had three 11-win seasons in four years, including the Big Ten title.

Just as coaches do, he kept it in the present and only focused on one thing at a time.

“That’s what everybody does in the offseason,” Franklin said in April. “You know, again, we finished the season well, we got a ton of talented players coming back. We still have some question marks. But that’s what the offseason is about those types of conversations. I get it.

“We’re just trying to get better today. I thought we had a good practice today.  We got to be ready to play well against West Virginia and see where it takes us.”

Penn State opens the season at home Sept. 2 against West Virginia.