James Franklin praises Manny Diaz progress: Radio Recap
Penn State’s James Franklin met with fans Thursday evening at The Field restaurant in State College for his weekly radio show. Coming off a 41-12 win at Auburn last Saturday, and set to host Central Michigan this weekend at Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions’ head coach tackled a variety of topics big and small as game prep is nearly complete.
Here is a look at some of the news and notes to emerge from Franklin’s weekly radio show.
James Franklin radio show recap
Strong praise for Manny Diaz
Asked about the departure of longtime defensive coordinator Brent Pry to Virginia Tech over the offseason, and the introduction of Manny Diaz into the role, Franklin offered his strongest commendation yet for his new DC.
While Brent Pry had been an assistant in whom he’d always seen head coaching qualities, Franklin added that Diaz already has that experience and brings those traits into the job now.
“He’s got a tremendous presence, not only in front of our defense but really in front of our team and with our staff. He’s been really good,” Franklin said. “I think as you see each game, he’s really making progress. And on top of that, he’s making adjustments at halftime that he’s getting more and more comfortable with who our defensive identity and who our personnel is.”
Program investment remains paramount
In a conversation that started with NIL talk, specifically in the form of a fan rejecting it outright, saying its introduction and that of the NCAA transfer portal were ruining college football, Franklin and host Steve Jones eventually turned toward program investment.
To no surprise, Franklin remains committed to identifying the comparative deficiencies that Penn State has an opportunity to improve.
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“The margin of error in college football, with where we’re trying to go, is very small. And you’re scratching and clawing for all these little areas where you can either maximize your ability or maybe gain an advantage or differentiate yourself. And it’s harder than ever to differentiate yourself,” Franklin said. “So, you better be scratching and clawing for every inch, every yard you possibly can on the field. And the reality is, the more wins that we get in the offseason, it puts us in the best position to be successful on Saturdays.”
Depth development
Already facing down a daunting task of two challenging road games in the first three games of Penn State’s 2022 schedule, Franklin acknowledged the remarkable reality that the Nittany Lions haven’t just emerged unscathed.
Having tallied back-to-back blowout wins, the opportunities to inject young talent into games has been valuable. And, maybe more importantly, it’s a scenario he’s hoping to see duplicated against Central Michigan.
“Our backup quarterback, who’s a true freshman, he’s played in all three games. Auburn, Purdue which I don’t know if I would have necessarily said that coming into the season,” Franklin said. “So that’s been a huge benefit, not just for the quarterback position, but our entire roster. And hopefully Saturday we’ll have an opportunity to play a bunch of guys as well.”
