Penn State football, emboldened by success, confident in program identity

James Franklin doesn’t doubt the plan or vision he has for Penn State football. He had a framework to grow the program within and, in the past nine years, the entirety of its personnel has worked under his direction to execute its implementation. 

Those characteristics, the ones he intended to sustain and build within the Penn State football program, are strong. Monday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, the sentiment took shape as a 35-21 win over Utah.

But even before Penn State’s Rose Bowl win, and what will be a consensus top-10 finish, Franklin was signaling his certitude of the program’s strength in recent months.

“I would make the argument, you look at our staff, what we’ve been able to do over the last 12 years, we’ve been pretty consistent,” Franklin said on Dec. 16. “The last two years are not indicative of who we’ve been over the long-term. I think people felt like those were outliers (and) not really our trajectory.”

In recent weeks, Franklin has used the words “who we’ve been” to quickly elicit recognition of the program’s foundational strengths. Meant to touch on the historical identity and accomplishments of the Nittany Lions, as well as the culture that has been curated under his leadership, his point is multi-faceted.

The first is a reminder of the broad successes of the program and the identity it’d been built upon. When thinking of Penn State football, concepts of consistency, strong character, work ethic, and doing things “the right way” are prioritized. Parlayed into on-field success, its manifestation is now 31 bowl wins, fourth-most among FBS teams, repeated New Year’s Six appearances, and one of the nation’s most recognizable brands in college football.

The second is specific to the nine seasons now completed under Franklin. Grinding through two arduous campaigns hampered by sanctions, the Nittany Lions have since followed with four 11-win seasons in the past seven years. There have been two Rose Bowls, a Fiesta, and a Cotton Bowl appearance in the same seven-year stretch. And, all told, there will be five finishes in the top 20, and four in the top 10, in Penn State football’s recent past.

The last purpose is to put it all together, contrasting the 2020 and 2021 seasons against the identity Franklin believes exists within the walls of the Lasch Building and beyond. The COVID-impacted 2020 season, finishing 4-5 after an 0-4 start, and the 2021 season’s 7-6 record, after a 5-0 start, are outliers, not only in his framing of the issue but also in the minds of his current players, having experienced the disappointments firsthand.

“We knew that things were never to our standard. When things weren’t good, we’re not just like, ‘Well, this is how it’s gonna be.’ No one was willing to accept our situation or our circumstances,” said tight end Theo Johnson. “We know that we have more in store than what’s going on right now. We trusted Coach Franklin, and we trusted the coaches, and we trusted the process, and ultimately ended up having the season that we did this year.”

Franklin calls them core values – positive attitude, great work ethic, competition in everything you do, and willingness to sacrifice – but, the premise is straight from a team-building, organizational management playbook. It’s also “the process” to which Johnson is referring. 

Determined to foster a strong culture that self-perpetuates its strengths and resolves internal weaknesses without major upheaval, the central tenet is consistency. Create the culture, meticulously tend to it to ensure its strength, and then reap the rewards 

Within the Penn State locker room, it’s a perspective shared by the players who delivered the program out of the muck. And, it’s also one to which they point out Franklin’s consistency of messaging and behavior as a heavy influence to that success this season.

“Everybody wants to talk about problems, but nobody wants to come up with solutions. And he’s a guy who’s all about solutions, he’s all about getting back to work, and I think that’s the biggest solution you can have when you’re facing adversity,” said P.J. Mustipher. “Eventually the storm is gonna end, especially if you keep working. I think that’s big for him, and we just follow that. 

“He sets the blueprint each and every day with his energy, his demeanor, everything he says, everything he does. We’re just able to follow that and it shows up on the field because when stuff goes left, we make it right, right away.”

Just a year removed from disappointments that could have marked a downward trajectory from which Penn State couldn’t recover, this year’s group of Nittany Lions upended that narrative. 

Rather, with a resumption of achievement, a reset of aspiration moving forward, and optimism abounding over the personnel returning for the 2023 season, Franklin’s formula for Penn State football remains intact. Enjoying the dividends of that process, and the work that has gone into it, it’s one the Nittany Lions are eager to continue their investment into.

“Coach Franklin, his message, and how he’s coached us has never wavered. And, I think when you have a leader like that, it trickles down to the rest of the people, the rest of the position coaches, and the leadership,” said Johnson. “So, I think that him being a consistent coach and his consistent message has helped us to stay firm with our mindset going throughout the seasons.”