James Franklin reveals philosophy behind position battles, quarterbacks

Drew Allar and Beau Pribula are competing for Penn State‘s starting quarterback job this offseason, with many already having crowned Allar as the favorite based on his high school pedigree and the playing time he received in his true freshman season.

Penn State head coach James Franklin was recently asked if he came out of spring ball with a QB1 choice, which he hasn’t, but he did detail his process and philosophies of managing position battles in the past and present.

“I think really every year it’s the same philosophy,” Franklin said. “I think sometimes it’s assumed, which I get it, but it’s competition at every single position. A lot of things can happen between now and the season, so even when Sean Clifford was here for 14 years and left at 32 years old, he was competing for the starting job every single year. If he would get beat out that would’ve been his problem, not mine.”

Franklin’s jab at his former veteran quarterback room was a funny one, but the competition year in and year out in Happy Valley between some of the nation’s top players is always serious. Especially historically at the running back position, which Franklin used as a point of reference for his current quarterback battle.

“So we have competition at every single position every single year returning starting or not, I think that’s the right thing to do not only for our entire program, but I also think for the starter. I was just doing an interview in there talking about having a running back room with Saquon Barkley and Miles (Sanders) and I think at times there may have been some frustration with that,” Franklin said.

Sanders joined the Nittany Lions one season after Barkley rushed for over 1,000 yards as a true freshman. The two would both go on to have successful careers at the college and NFL levels, which Franklin partially attributes to the level of competition the two had to deal with amongst each other during their time at PSU.

“But I truly believe that that type of competition in college really set them up to be successful in the NFL, embracing that type of competition,” Franklin said. “Saquon always had somebody behind him trying to take reps away from him, and Miles as a young player was trying to overtake Saquon. So I think that is a healthy position to be in and we want that in every room at every position.”

There’s no doubt that Franklin’s philosophy has worked in the past, and hopefully, it can continue working for the Nittany Lions as they’ll usher in a new starting quarterback for the first time since 2018.