Penn State Football: What James Franklin’s new deal means for Nittany Lions

What does the future hold for Penn State?

The short-term future looks good. Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class currently ranks fifth in the country and first in the Big Ten per 247Sports. Several of the top recruits were tweeting about Franklin’s new deal, including top quarterback Drew Allar.

https://twitter.com/AllarDrew/status/1463259896242180107?s=20

If Franklin would have left, many of those guys would have left with him. With Franklin locked up long-term, there should be no surprises with early signing day approaching in about three weeks which is great.

The new deal is really about a commitment from the school. Franklin’s statement mentions that he and university leadership have a roadmap of the resources the program needs. This includes academic support, NIL, facility improvements, and student housing among others.

This is exactly what Franklin has been discussing recently with the beat writers. The extension is less about the money for him. Saturdays are important but only a small part of it. It is a total commitment year-round to put Penn State in the best position to compete. The Nittany Lions were well behind the top programs when Franklin arrived eight years ago and while they have improved, there is a long way to go playing catch up.

So on paper, this looks great. Now the school needs to deliver. The school has already broken ground on a 48 million dollar renovation to the Lasch Football Building. A good start and the fans should look forward to hearing more about future improvements.

In addition to Franklin staying, there also needs to be a commitment to keeping his assistants which likely is in the deal but not mentioned. He has good coordinators in Brent Pry and Mike Yurcich. Along with them, it would be nice to see the whole staff sticking together for at least another season. Continuity and stability go a long way in college football.

This is a two-way street. Now that the school seems committed to the long-term health of the program, Franklin needs to deliver as well. With the great 2022 class intact and a good start to the 2023 class, Franklin needs to win and stop stringing together losses. In the CFP era, you can lose one game but two or more losses has always been a death knell.

As mentioned previously, Franklin is not the best Xs and Os guy, particularly in-game management. But more buy-in from the school can help him get better “Jimmys and Joes”, masking his deficiencies and taking the program to the next level. This is how you beat the Ohio States of the world.

Overall this is a great deal for Penn State and Franklin. Now that we can put all the speculation to rest, let’s see what direction the Nittany Lions head over the next few seasons.