James Franklin talks experience, expectations at Penn State media day
Penn State held its annual media day early Saturday afternoon, as head coach James Franklin answered several questions from reporters.
There were plenty of topics to discuss at the team’s media day, including the health of the Nittany Lions heading into the season, team depth, handling lofty expectations in the 2018 campaign, and several other things.
Franklin touched on a number of areas Saturday, but some of his comments were a little more noteworthy than others. Here are some of the notable takeaways from his press conference.
On the health and depth of the team heading into the season:
JF: Team is athletic, inexperienced, but talented.
— Donnie Collins (@psubst) August 4, 2018
JF: "This is by far the healthiest team we've had going into camp."
— Donnie Collins (@psubst) August 4, 2018
JF: Team has some "real depth." Singled out four kickers making field goals pretty consistently.
— Donnie Collins (@psubst) August 4, 2018
On the return of linebacker Manny Bowen:
"Easy thing to do would have been to transfer." But Bowen met stipulations. Franklin said he doesn't know what his role on the team will be. But plan allows him to graduate in December, which is what the program wants.
— Donnie Collins (@psubst) August 4, 2018
James Franklin says he doesn't want to make decisions based on needs or what they look like. Manny Bowen was given stipulations for joining the team, and he met them. Says he was surprised Bowen did it, when it would have been easier to transfer.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) August 4, 2018
On playing freshman with the new redshirt rule:
Franklin says in terms of playing freshman during the new four-game rule, it'll most likely be two early home games. The other two games saved in case of injury. Wishes that it allowed for slightly larger travel numbers in B1G play.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) August 4, 2018
JF makes a good point on new redshirt rule, which allows freshmen to play 4 games and still keep redshirt. NCAA should, in turn, allow size of travel roster to increase as well.
— Donnie Collins (@psubst) August 4, 2018
On running back Miles Sanders:
JF: Miles Sanders continues to be "Steady Eddie." Keeps learning. Hungry, excited, "doing all the right things off the field." Mentoring the younger backs, too.
— Donnie Collins (@psubst) August 4, 2018
On the situation at Ohio State:
JF: We obviously are very sensitive to what's happening at Ohio State…Our focus is on our program and what we need to do to educate the people in our program with these types of issues.
— Richard Scarcella (@nittanyrich) August 4, 2018
Franklin asked about Ohio State situation and somewhat predictably steers way out of the way of that one.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) August 4, 2018
