Penn State coach James Franklin sets opt-out expectations, more: Notes

Penn State head coach James Franklin joined reporters Sunday evening to discuss his Nittany Lions’ Rose Bowl berth. Twice.

First appearing on a joint Zoom with Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, Franklin shared questions and responses with his Jan. 2 counterpart. Immediately after, he again took questions, this time with Penn State-specific reporters.

Here is a look at some of the immediate news and notes items to emerge from the sessions:

The Penn State plan

As acknowledged by Franklin, the very announcement being discussed was a small part of his Sunday. Rather, on the road recruiting, the head coach said he was sitting at an airport in Kansas (as reported by Ryan Snyder earlier Sunday) and still had more travel to come.

Asked to describe the plan for the coming days and weeks as Penn State looks to retain its roster spots, close up its Class of 2023 recruiting effort, and prepare for the Rose Bowl, Franklin said all facets would be attended to.

“I think balance is a good word,” Franklin said. “We’re trying to split our time between finishing up this traditional recruiting class. Obviously, we have an awareness of what’s going on in the transfer portal, which is about to hit hot and heavy here pretty soon. Making sure that we met with all of our current players before we left and making sure our guys finished strong academically. And then, we’ll continue to practice. 

“The practices right now, we’ve already had a couple. But the practices right now are more of a spring ball type of practice. Then as we continue to break our opponent down, the University of Utah, and then start game planning, we’ll get into more specific-Utah, game-plan specific practices.”

Until then, Franklin continued, they’ll focus on program development with underclassmen poised for feature roles next season getting the bulk of the work.

Olu Fashanu’s next steps

Asked about the Nittany Lions’ starting left tackle and his decision to return for an extra year in 2023, Franklin maintained what he’d said previously.

Olu Fashanu, though missing the final four games of the season after a late-game injury against Ohio State, could still potentially return for the Rose Bowl.

“We’ll see how this whole thing plays out,” Franklin said. “Medical will play the biggest factor in all these things. But we’ll see how it plays out.”

Commenting for the first time about the bigger news, that the centerpiece of Penn State’s improved offensive line this season would be back for 2023, Franklin acknowledged the obvious. 

“Olu deciding, him and his family deciding, to come back was something as a program that we’re really excited about,” Franklin said. “But also making sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to support Olu and all his academic plans and goals he has for himself, as well as playing even better next year and getting drafted as high as possible.”

Noting the responsibility involved in that equation, Franklin said it was very much on his mind right now. Reading between the lines, that includes providing the support for Fashanu to reach his academic aspirations. It also includes providing as much financial support via NIL channels as possible.

Circling back, though, Franklin nodded to the big things still to come for Fashanu.

“We’re excited. I’ve got a great relationship with Olu and his family and it was exciting news,” Franklin said. “But I want to make sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to support Olu as well. We’ll see how this bowl game plays out, you know, with his timeline.”

Opt-out expectations

Joey Porter Jr. announced last week that he’d be pursuing an NFL career and would sit out of the bowl. 

Asked about Porter specifically, Franklin said how proud he was of the standout cornerback. And, he said that the program was fully supportive of him, and would remain so, every step of the way. 

But, when also asked about potential opt-outs for this game, in light of the rash of players deciding to sit for last season’s Outback Bowl, Franklin pointed to the anomaly of that situation. 

“For Penn State specifically, obviously, in my 12 years as a head coach, I’ve never had an opt-out

until last year,” Franklin said. “I think that’s a challenge across college football right now. I think that’s why there are a lot of conversations going on about expansion and things like that.

“Whether you’re a coach or whether you’re a fan or whether you’re a player, the Rose Bowl holds a special place in a lot of people’s perspectives. Playing in that type of game on that type of stage and against an opponent like Utah, I think it helps.”

Back to the issue at hand, though, Franklin set his expectation for Penn State’s participation in the game.

“We expect that almost the entirety of our team will play and compete,” he said. “But that is a challenge in general for college football right now.”