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WATCH: James Franklin speaks on minority coaches, Lovie Smith’s influence

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

James Franklin will coach against one of the men he idolized earlier in his career when Penn State travels to Illinois to take on Lovie Smith and the Illini on Friday night.

The only two African-American head coaches in the B1G will face each other this weekend in what will serve as the conference opener for both teams. During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Franklin was asked about minority coaches, and the Penn State coach couldn’t help but speak highly of Smith.

“I’d love for us to get to a point where this really isn’t even a conversation anymore,” Franklin said on the diversity of coaching. “Obviously, I don’t think we’re there yet.

“But I remember thinking back as an assistant, when Tony Dungy and Lovie (Smith) were playing against each other in the Super Bowl, ‘this is going to have an impact.’ And I think it did.”

Franklin was referring to Super Bowl XLI when Dungy and the Colts took on Smith and the Bears.

Franklin continued to praise Smith for all that he’s accomplished throughout his coaching career.

“I have so much respect for Coach and what he has done in his career,” Franklin said. “For me, I kind look at guys like Lovie, kind of coming up in this professional, as a kind of role model and mentors for me from a distance.”

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB