James Franklin talks recruiting window, thanks Dabo Swinney for help

It’s a hectic time year for many college football coaches across the nation, as many are juggling preparing for a bowl game and recruiting both high school and transfer portal prospects. Penn State head coach James Franklin is one of those coaches, and he recently addressed the challenges within the current times in the college football landscape.

“I think the next class will become more of a priority after this first signing day because we’ll have more time at that point to focus on next class, to focus a little bit more on the transfer portal and go from there,” Franklin said. “But balance is kind of the key word, you’re running in a thousand different directions, making sure our guys are finishing strong academically, obviously making sure we’re doing everything we can for bowl prep, God forbid you go buy a Christmas present, you know all those types of things.”

If it wasn’t already busy enough for Franklin, he also had his hands full in extracurricular activities, as the Nittany Lions had one of their all-time great players recognized with a major honor recently.

“Just running in a thousand different directions making sure our guys are in a good place here, making sure our staff is flying all over the country, and safe, and doing what they need to do, and then finishing in recruiting. There’s literally not enough hours in the day, last week was a grind because then we also had LaVar Arrington being inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame which was awesome,” Franklin said.

Franklin pulled back the curtain on just how busy his schedule was last week, explaining his hectic travel arrangements and a fortunate encounter with another one of college football’s premier coaches in the country.

“What wasn’t awesome is the two days before flying out there to be there for LaVar’s induction, which I thought was really important, my flight was at 5:10, the next day the flight was at 5:10, and then after LaVar’s deal I had to fly from there to Florida so my flight was at 4:10, a.m. I wish it was p.m,” Franklin explained. “And then I got to the airport and the plane had broke down, so I sat there till nine and luckily my old buddy Dabo Swinney came in and he was going to the Orange Bowl press conference in Fort Lauderdale.”

Thankfully for Franklin, Swinney offered him a helping hand in his travels, helping him maintain the balancing act that is the month of December for a college football head coach.

“So I said, ‘Dabo can I please jump on this plane with you’. So me and him flew out to Florida which allowed me to get out there, so Dabo and Clemson, thank you very much, appreciate you guys. Dabo I think will rub this in and hold it over my head for the next 20 years, but I think balance is the right word. It’s a crazy, crazy time and it’s gotten crazier with everything that’s going on in college football,” Franklin said.