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James Franklin praises Penn State’s ‘alignment’ ahead of crucial 2025 season

Spenser Davis

By Spenser Davis

Published:

James Franklin is pleased with the ‘alignment’ at Penn State as the program prepares for a pivotal 2025 season.

This is Year 12 in Happy Valley for Franklin, but he says the alignment between him and Penn State’s administration has never been better. He specifically singled out Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi and athletic director Pat Kraft during a recent interview with On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman.

“I’m in a situation now where, for really the first time here at Penn State, we have the alignment that I’ve been pounding on the table for 12 years,’ Franklin said. “That’s from the board to our president Neeli Bendapudi, who has been phenomenal, to our athletic director Pat Kraft, who played football in the Big Ten and understands what it takes. And you’ve seen that type of commitment with some of the things we’ve been able to do.”

Franklin acknowledged the significant turnover Penn State has dealt with at the presidential and AD levels over the past decade.

“It’s kind of unusual, I’ve been here 12 years, which is unusual alone, but I’ve had 3 different ADs and 3 different presidents,” Franklin said. “And we’re in a great position right now. When you talk about alignment, we have that in a way that we’ve never had that before.”

An example of this improved alignment could be the arrival of new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Penn State hired Knowles away from Ohio State earlier this offseason and will pay him a record salary for a defensive coordinator in 2025.

Penn State also returns several key players from last year’s team that reached the CFP semifinals, including quarterback Drew Allar. Considering all these factors, Franklin and the Nittany Lions will be hoping to compete for a national title in 2025.

Here’s a clip from Franklin’s comments regarding Penn State’s improved alignment:

 

Spenser Davis

Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.