James Franklin shares value of having Tom Allen, Andy Kotelnicki involved with bowl prep

This season, Penn State head coach James Franklin needed to hire a new defensive and offensive coordinator in Tom Allen and Andy Kotelnicki. Those are hires that could have an impact on the upcoming Peach Bowl.

Franklin explained that because they haven’t had as long as a coordinator who has been with the team since spring, this time together is incredibly important.

“Having both Tom and Andy here, obviously you’d prefer not to have to have changes be made, but if they are made, I think there’s a ton of value in doing what we’re doing,” James Franklin said. “Tom’s ability to be around the staff. Andy’s ability to be around the staff. Staff meetings, game planning, watching film, watching the players, how we do things. So, Tom’s not out there at practice, and Andy’s not out there at practice during spring ball still trying to get a feel for how we practice and how we go about our business.”

James Franklin also emphasized that this isn’t a new thing during his time at Penn State. It’s something he has experience with in the past.

“So, I think there’s a ton of value. I think I said it in the past. Joe Moorhead did it this way. Manny Diaz did it this way. I think there’s a lot of value in doing it this way. And, I think, for more times than not, it has allowed us to springboard the day after the season ends and really hit the ground running.

Penn State will take on Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl at 12:00 p.m. EST on December 30th.

James Franklin breaks down how he decided on Tom Allen as defensive coordinator

The hire of Tom Allen got plenty of people’s attention. It’s a move that James Franklin recently explained his process in deciding.

“When he was the defensive coordinator at Indiana, they were the most improved defense in the country. And I think that’s the other thing that you have to be careful of. Say you’re trying to hire two coordinators, and you’re trying to decide between the two. We all have to recognize they’re different programs. Like, there shouldn’t be the same expectation for different programs,” Franklin said.

“So as much as you possibly can, you’re trying to compare apples to apples and oranges and oranges, which is difficult to do in college football in general, right? When some teams play nine conference games and other other conferences play eight, that’s hard to do. So what we try to do is say, ‘Okay, the things that you can control, did you control them?’ And when he was the defensive coordinator, it was the most improved defense in the country. That was telling.”