James Franklin shares how Penn State has grown in his tenure

The Penn State Nittany Lions have been under the stewardship of James Franklin for a little less than a decade with more than half a dozen 7+ win seasons to show for it. On Tuesday, the long-tenured head coach opened up about how he believes the program has grown throughout his time at State College.

“Obviously, you kind of put it into different categories,” Franklin said. “When we first got here, it was under very different times and very challenging times. There’s been a ton of changes.

“Penn State’s a place that isn’t used to a whole lot of changes like we’ve had the last 10 years but I’m looking forward to the direction we’re going and what we’ve done. When you look at the entire picture, I’m pretty proud. Obviously, there are some things that we need to do better and I need to do better. But the overall body of work, I’m pretty proud of.”

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Although they’ve won the Big Ten title just once in the Franklin era, the former Vanderbilt head coach has provided stability and consistency to the once-embroiled program.

The Nittany Lions are third in the Big Ten this season with an 8-2 record heading into the penultimate weekend of the regular season. If they can close out the season with wins versus Rutgers and Michigan State, it’s likely that they will end up in one of the premier post-season bowl games.

Franklin provides latest on Joey Porter

The Penn State Nittany Lions had no problems with the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday night. They dominated the game from start to finish and they did it without one of their best corners, Joey Porter, Jr. Franklin provided an update on Porter’s situation as he looks ahead to Week 12 versus Rutgers.

He felt the need to share the specific details after “some misreporting” following the game on Saturday.

“One other thing that I did wanted to mention, and every situation is a little bit unique when it comes to injuries, and I just kind of want to clear these things up,” Franklin said on Tuesday. “Like I mentioned last week, Joey Porter had a non-football-specific injury.

“Joey had appendicitis, and that’s what happened. Obviously, I wouldn’t release any medical information without clearing it with the family first. But I don’t like the fact that there’s been some misreporting out there. I don’t really understand how that happens. But it did. So I wanted to clear it up.”

Porter has racked up 11 pass breakups already during the 2022 season, tying him for fifth in the country in that category. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound corner also has 21 tackles.

Despite appendicitis, Franklin is expecting Porter back before the end of the season.

“I don’t like to get into what the specific injuries are because then people pull up their medical books and research how long would that guy be out,” Franklin said. “That’s typically why I don’t get into these types of things. But yeah, we’re expecting him back.”