Everything Penn State coach James Franklin said at his first summer news conference

Penn State coach James Franklin held his first news conference of the summer on Thursday afternoon in State College. He covered plenty of ground, including some key injury updates. The first focused on three players who missed spring ball: Linebacker Tony Rojas, offensive tackle Anthony Donkoh, and tight end Andrew Rappleyea.

“We expect all three to be fully cleared, not just for camp, but really for the majority of the summer as well. I don’t think all three of them right now are totally clear,” Franklin said. “They would have some limitations right now. I would say, if you guys came to a workout or watching, you wouldn’t know, if that makes sense. But there’s some modifications, either in the weight room or restrictions on the field. But all of them, we anticipate being full go from day one of training camp.”

The second health conversation focused on second-year defensive end Max Granville, who is out with a new long-term injury. The nature of it was not revealed.

Trimmings: Who does Max Granville’s injury impact the most for Penn State?

“Max is out with a with a long-term injury,” Franklin said. “He got hurt over break at home, working out. So obviously not an ideal situation. And my heart breaks for the kid and the family, and obviously not what we wanted or needed either. The guy that played last year, we were depending on taking that next step this year. So other guys are going to have to step up now. So we’ll see how that all plays out. Kind of early to say at this stage. But between obviously, Dani and Fisher, and [Jaylen] Harvey and Mason Robinson and [Mylachi] Williams and [Enai] White and [Yvan] Kemajou and there’s some guys in that room, [Dayshaun] Burnett, that was here in the spring, and then some guys that just showed up as well.

“There’ll be competition in that room. He was a young player, but by losing him, we just got a little bit younger too, right? But it is what it is at this point. In some ways, the earlier you find out, the better. So you get going on trying to speed up the maturation process of the other guys.”

Read everything else Franklin had to say and watch video of his full news conference below.

On Ryan Day saying the Big Ten should get four automatic Playoff qualifiers in an expanding postseason tournament

“It’s an interesting discussion with a lot of different perspectives and a lot of people that have very, very strong feelings in terms of what’s in the best interest of college football, what’s in the best interest of fans, what’s in the best interest of the sport,” Franklin said. “And I get all of it. I think the challenge that we have, and why I think we need a commissioner, and why I think a lot of people probably agree with that, and I’ve stated this before, the majority of people that have strong opinions have an agenda and are biased based on what’s good for them, right? And that’s where my role sitting on the AFCA board, even that’s challenging. Like we’re supposed to sit in that room and take your hat off and represent football. That’s hard to do for all of us, right? There’s a competitive aspect of all of these things for all of us.

“I think the reason that the Big Ten and the SEC feel like there’s an argument for more is because of a lot of the things that I’ve also brought up in the past. Of the discrepancies or things that are not even or balanced in the sport. When you have some conferences playing nine games, some conferences playing a conference championship, some teams not in a conference, it makes it really difficult. And then the other issue you’ve had in the past, every conference, and every team, or every AD, would have the same vote. Well, if we have more teams in our conference now, and have a greater level of competition week in and week out, why should it be balanced, I think is the discussion everybody’s kind of having, if that makes sense.

“Again, depending on what seat you’re sitting in, that’s the challenge. And that’s where, to me, the most important thing that can happen is all the commissioners get getting together, or a commissioner of college football getting everybody together and say, ‘Look, everybody’s going to be the same. We’re all going to play the same number of conference games, we’re all going to play the same number of games. We’re all going to play a conference championship game or not. Then I think that would help. That would help the Playoff committee at the end of the year make decisions. Like somebody I think said today, ‘well, let’s just choose the best 16.’ Well, how do you choose the best 16? How do you choose the best 16 if you’re trying to project who they are. I think that the people’s frustration is.

“I think Illinois is a good example. I think people feel like Illinois is a good example from our conference, that you can make the argument deserved to be in, and there’s arguments from other conferences, especially after how things played out the way they did. So I guess, to answer your question, I don’t have as strong of an opinion of how it should be on the back end. I think the more important conversation is, what can we do on the front end to make it easier for all these decisions on the back end? If not, it’s going to be a constant struggle. And I think I guess my point is, that’s why I think the Big Ten and the SEC are saying we should get more AQS, because it’s not the same right now.” 

Does Franklin agree with Day?

“I guess what I’m saying is, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about that,” Franklin said. “I agree with the argument based off all the things that I just said. It’s not even. So, why should it be even on the back end who gets in when it’s not even on the front end? Like our conferences are built differently. Everybody shouldn’t get the same vote. Every conference shouldn’t get the same vote. A Penn State vote shouldn’t be the same vote as a school X. I won’t mention a school X because I don’t want to disrespect anybody. But they’re not the same. And the way it worked in the old NCAA structure is, everybody got the same vote. All the conferences got the same vote. And I guess what I’m saying is, I agree with it the way it sits right now, because it’s not even. But let’s spend as much time as we possibly can on trying to get it consistent across the board, to help with all these issues on the back end.”

On being transformational, not transactional, with relationships

“I think the majority of people got into coaching college football, my generation, to be transformational on young people’s lives, right? None of us, my age or older, got into this business because of money. It was about because you love the game of football and you wanted to help young people grow and mature. I worry a little bit now that, because of how the sport has changed, there’s people being attracted to the sport for the wrong reasons,” Franklin said.

“And, the way the sport has changed from a transfer portal perspective and from an NIL perspective, I think there’s also young people and families that are making decisions based on a transactional experience rather than a transformational experience. So for us, we’re one of a handful of programs that are still holding on to, we want it to be as transformational of an experience as possible. I think that aligns with Penn State and what our values are and how we want this program to be run. That’s something that was always very important to me.

“But it was also very obvious to me coming to Penn State that that was something that’s very important to our alumni and very important to this community and very important to our Lettermen. So we are fighting, scratching, clawing to balance those two things. There’s an aspect that you have to embrace the evolution of college football. But you don’t have to abort what your values are and and how you still want it to go. And I think there’s a way that you can really blend the both, so that the kid, the family, the program, the university, you can still really provide a similar experience than we always have.”

Should a committee or formula decide the CFP entries?

“It’s funny, because I think there’s all these complaints about the BCS, right? But then we go to this, and I think it goes back to really my answer,” Franklin said. “The problem is, everybody voting and everybody involved in the process, whether you want to be biased or not, we all are biased, right? So I think in a lot of ways, you could make the argument a formula could be better. But we didn’t love the formula. So we went to this other system. But there’s a lot of challenges, right? You got East Coast people voting on this, and they haven’t watched enough of the West Coast games based on the time. All the different rankings that are out there.

“So there’s just, in my mind, a formula makes the most sense because it takes the bias out that we all have. But I also thinkmaybe there’s a way to kind of do both. And I guess you could make the argument they are doing both right now, because I think the committee uses some formulas to come up with it, which I think makes a ton of sense. So I think at the end today, there’s not going to be a perfect system. But again, I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here. But I just feel like there’s never going to be a perfect system on the back end, so let’s try to make it as perfect as we can on the front end, so at least everybody has the ability to compare an apple to an apple.”

On how important having longevity with Andy Frank, Kevin Threlkel, and Terry Smith on the Penn State staff has helped

“Consistency within the staff is extremely valuable, and less common in today’s college football than probably it was 20 years ago,” Franklin said. “So having a guy like Andy Frank, who’s been with me for at least 15 years now, Terry’s been with me 12 years, because he was the first hire that we made here at Penn State. Was not with me at Vanderbilt. And then Kevin Threlkel, I think, has been with me maybe 18 years. Kevin’s been with me since he was a student at Kansas State. So that stability is important. It helps with a lot of different things, probably efficiency being at the top of the list. Because there’s things that me and Andy have to talk about every day, but there’s probably more things that we don’t have to talk about because I know Andy, and Andy knows me, and I know how he’s going to handle things, and he knows how I want things done. So there’s ton of value in that.

“There’s just things that can go unspoken, that can’t go unspoken with a new staff member or a relatively, I use the word young, but not necessarily in age, but time together. So those guys are really valuable, and they’re all experts in college football. They’re all experts in their specific areas. They’re also all really, really intelligent, and their strengths and weaknesses and really different personalities. I mean, you would never just find Andy, Frank, Terry Smith and Kevin Threlkel all sitting at a bar downtown if there wasn’t Penn State football associated with it.

“And that’s one of the things that I love about being the head football coach at Penn State, and really just being a head football coach, is the diversity of the personalities and backgrounds and experiences that we can put together to provide the best staff in college football and the resources for me and for Pat Kraft and for our players.”

On Penn State adding transfer receiver Trebor Pena

“So I think the first thing is, right away you notice the production. As soon as you hear he’s going into the portal, you see the production, and production matters. I think also the fact he’s a sixth year guy, and I look at college football a little bit like college basketball, maybe a few years back, where I think part of a winning formula, or a championship formula, is also being a mature team. And there’s a lot of value that comes from that.

“We got a chance to get to know him, his mom, who was awesome, and his girlfriend, and they just seemed like great fits here at Penn State. Also from the footprint, which helps. Not the end all, be all. But that helps. And then I’m also glad, because a lot of the stuff that was put out publicly, none of it was true you know, about how his transfer took place and why it took place, and a lot of the, you know, financial descriptions of how that played out, none of those things were true as it relates to Penn State, at least based on our experience. They were non-factors.

“So it just worked out really well. And then since him being here, our veteran players like him. [Kyron] Hudson has come here and has really been a good fit, and the guys really like him. I think it’s also very interesting, right? A lot of the guys that we got were captains. Hudson was a captain, Pena was a captain, at their previous schools. I think that’s very telling, right, of how they viewed them, teammates and coaches. So that’s been really good. And I guess I probably shouldn’t have said none of those things were true. They weren’t true based on our experience and what we dealt with in terms of what his deciding factors about coming to Penn State were.”

On Lions transfer linebacker addition Amare Campbell

“Well, I think the first thing is, I hated to lose the player we lost [Ta’Mere Robinson to USC],” Franklin said. “Like, I think you guys know, we are committed to our current roster, and the retention of our current roster. That is priority number one for us. We know those guys the best, we know their families, the best. One of the challenges that I realized is, these guys that come in with injuries, it’s hard. Because it throws off the timeline in their head, and frustration can set in. Probably, in some way, unrealistically, right? You’re already behind a year coming back off injuries and things like that. So I think the first thing is that.

“We’re investing in our roster, and we hate to lose guys. But once that happens, you got to move on and then you got to find the next best option for Penn State. And again, you’re talking about production. We’re out of the business; we’ve tried a few times where you get a guy who was maybe highly regarded but hasn’t proven it yet at the college level. Kind of out of that business. I think at the end of the day, if you’re going to go into the transfer portal, you need to be going to transfer portal for production, not projection. High school is always going to be a little bit of projection. So when we were able to see his production, watch the film, talked to the family, and then again, people that I trust pounded the table for him.

“Tony Rojas, you guys saw it on social media, was doing it. Tony felt strongly about him being a really good fit for us. Mack Brown, who’s a good friend, felt like he’d be a good fit for us once, once he went into the portal. Geoff Collins. Guys that we trust that vouched for him. So all those things kind of helped and, so far so good. Sometimes it’s hard to kind of evaluate a linebacker without pads on. It’s a little bit maybe easier to evaluate a wide receiver or something like that. So, we’ll see. But based on first impressions, it’s been good.”

On Daniel Jennings reclassifying to 2025 instead of being in the Class of 2026

“It really had nothing to do with us,” Franklin said. “He wanted to reclass[ify]. Wanted to see if it could work from a Penn State’s perspective, if we had room to make it work. He was working back at home with his high school. Part of it, I think, is he lost his high school coach. High school coach left, and basically felt like, in some ways, he was ready. I think he was the Player of the Year in West Virginia. I think he was the number one ranked player in the state in West Virginia. They moved him up the year before and re-ranked him, and he was the number one player as a junior in the state.

“So once they wanted to do that, then it was ‘Ok, is there a way to make this work, to fulfill your responsibilities for graduation of high school from an NCAA perspective and from a Penn State perspective?’ And then once we realized we could check all those boxes, we said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ And I think for them, it’s like, what’s more valuable? Even worst case scenario, playing a senior year or worst case scenario, redshirting at Penn State, although he’s going to have the opportunity to come in and compete, I think they felt like, we’re going to base this decision off worst case scenario. And him being here and being in our weight program and nutrition program and getting an extra year of school started ahead of time, I just think they felt like the value of it.

“I think the other thing is, he’s not like a 205-pound defensive end. We’ve taken some kids that were 205 pounds and they had to grow into it. He’s already over 250 pounds. So I think those things played a factor into it as well. But it wasn’t us. It was something he wanted to do.” 

On Zuriah Fisher

“I think internally, within our program, I think there’s a lot of confidence that Fish has got a chance to have a big year. He’s like one of those guys that I don’t think anybody’s talking about right now, outside of the program, based on just not seeing him recently. But there’s a lot of excitement internally, with out players, with our staff. I think those things are really apparent. And again, you’re talking about another older, mature guy that’s had some adversity that he’s had to overcome,  both from a football perspective, as well as some personal stuff as well. I think he’s got a really bright future. I think he’s going to have a chance to have a really, really big year cap it off. I think technically, I think he has two years left, so we’ll see how all that plays out. But, we’re excited about what he’s going to be able to do for our defense this year and for our team.

“He is big, he is long, he’s athletic,he’s another one of these guys that’s like a skinny 260 pounds with super long arms, so we feel really good about Dani and Fish being two veteran guys. Obviously Dani with a little bit more playing experience, but I think Fish is going to surprise some people. I could see by the midpoint of next year, there being a significant buzz about him.”