James Franklin says Penn State's leadership will be 'different' than in 2022
Penn State football will have some different leadership compared to 2022, according to head coach James Franklin.
Franklin made the point the 2022 team had plenty of veterans as leaders but this fall will be different. With young bucks asked to step up, the leadership will have a different look.
But he certainly seemed confident regardless.
““I think what I said is our leadership will be different this year,” Franklin said. “Last year we had veteran, strong leaders that have been around forever. We had guys that had been multiple year captains. So, it’s obviously something that we need to be aware of. But, it’s going to be different than it was last year. Instead of there being four to six really strong voices in the locker room, there may be 12 to 16 that aren’t as strong as those four to six but still have the same impact spread out.”
Franklin revealed the first three captains: Keaton Ellis, Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Dom DeLuca
“We did name three captains today,” Franklin said. “We will wait until we get through training camp and then possibly add three more on offense, defense and special teams. It gives us a really good understanding of who the team sees as leaders right now going into the summer and lean on them and still leave it open to add another offense, defense and special teams.”
At this point for Franklin, it’s all about preparation for the summer, fall camp and the season opener against West Virginia.
“The coaches and the players, we have to be very intentional about what we do between now and West Virginia,” Franklin said. “They need to have a personal plan. What do I need to get better at, what do I do well? What do I need to work on to be a more complete player? Monday and Tuesday, all day, the players will be meeting with their position coaches. They will get feedback from their position coaches, the coaches will get feedback from the players. We have them fill out a document beforehand to come in, answer some questions.”
That’s where Penn State’s leadership come into play, according to Franklin.
“That will be a grind, but we just have to be very intentional,” Franklin said. “As coaches, as players, as individual positions, as side of the ball, and grind on this stuff. We got to go through the tape from Spring and make all the cut ups so we get off the road from spring recruiting. We’ll go through the cut ups from spring ball.
“We’ll start to come up with what our identity is going to be now on offense, defense and special teams based off of what we did well this spring. Obviously, right now, the [Penn State] analysts and GAs on Monday will start working on breaking down our first four opponents as well. So, there’s a ton of work to be done.”