James Franklin discusses possibility of adding quarterback depth from transfer portal for Penn State

Penn State has one final game with Sean Clifford under center before the Nittany Lions hand the reins over to young superstar Drew Allar. Allar saw some playing time this year and could very well take the team to new heights. However, head coach James Franklin knows there’s a possibility Penn State would explore the NCAA transfer portal for quarterbacks.

Now, it seems like the quarterback position in the transfer portal would be utilized for depth since Allar is the future, at the moment at least. Franklin explained during Penn State’s preparation for the Rose Bowl.

“Yeah you’d prefer to have more than three (quarterbacks on the roster),” Franklin said. “There’s no doubt about it. But I think if you look across the country, whenever you’re in a situation where your starter is a sophomore or less, to your point, it’s a hard sell. It really is a hard sell. Sometimes you can convince an older player that just wants to be a part of a big time program and part of a special experience to come as more of a backup, a senior backup, a veteran backup.

“Sometimes you can find that but more times than not, the guys that you’re going to want, want to go somewhere to play and beat a guy and compete. So you know, that’s always a challenge.”

Going into Rose Bowl, Clifford played all 12 games and finished with 2,534 yards, 22 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 63.6% completion percentage. Allar meanwhile was 35-of-59 passing for 344 yards, four touchdowns, 52 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.

“You know, when you’re starting a true freshman or a redshirt freshman, and you may start a true freshman, and you have five quarterbacks on your roster,” Franklin said. “But then right after the season ends, your room’s gonna change dramatically. So we’ve had some conversations you know, early on as things started to play out, you know, does that mean we try to sign two quarterbacks in this class or whatever it may be? We try not to not ever box ourselves in.”

Franklin dove into his process of balancing a recruiting class with the ever-changing transfer portal.

“When we’re talking to recruits and their parents, I’m a big under-promise over-deliver guy,” Franklin said. “So what you try not to do is say okay, we’re going to sign three defensive ends in this class. Yes, once you say that, then you sign four and people are upset about it. So for me, I always say if we’re expecting the sign three, I’m always saying four, I’m always gonna say one more. Just try to explain, there’s gonna be some flexibility. There’s going to be some things that happen on your roster that you’re not expecting. And it’s easier to kind of address that on the front end as much as you can, but I think your point is a good one.”

Penn State takes on Utah in the Rose Bowl Jan. 2.