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Penn State coach James Franklin shares interesting approach to transfer portal
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Penn State coach James Franklin just wrapped up his 2021 recruiting class on Wednesday, and he has some thoughts about the transfer portal.
Franklin said in an interview with the Big Ten Network that he views the portal as a complimentary feature for the recruiting process.
“Obviously, the transfer portal has changed college football, and you could make arguments both ways,” Franklin said on the Big Ten Network, via 247Sports. “For us, it’ll be a complementary part of our recruiting progress. We will solve problems there, probably pretty similar to how programs have used junior colleges in the past.
“We’ll look at if we have an immediate need, or, say you have a guy you lost to the NFL early who you weren’t expecting or another guy enters the transfer portal. Or maybe there was a year where you missed at a certain position and you have a hole on the roster that you want to fill. That’s how we’re looking at it and presenting it.”
That seems to be a sound way to approach the portal — not necessarily Plan A, but it is routinely a place where talent can be had. Three of the last four Heisman Trophy winners were transfers.
There’s already been a good example of this type of situation at Penn State this offseason. After Shaka Toney and Jayson Oweh declared for the NFL draft, Franklin went out and got Duke transfer defensive end Derrick Tangelo.
More broadly, Penn State only signed 16 players in the 2021 class which gave the Nittany Lions the flexibility to add Tangelo and four other transfers so far.
In terms of this year’s recruiting class, Penn State is finishing up the 2021 cycle with another top-25 class. According to 247Sports Composite rankings, Penn State has the No. 21 class in the country and the No. 6 class in the Big Ten.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.