Franklin and his staff are multitasking ahead of bowl

When James Franklin began his college football coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kutztown University, one of his responsibilities was replenishing the soda machines inside Keystone Hall.

If Franklin thought that such menial tasks pulled him away from actual coaching duties, he would have been surprised to learn what he would be doing 27 years later as the head coach at Penn State.

Since the Nittany Lions ended their regular season Nov. 26 with a win over Michigan State, Franklin has recruited current players to keep the roster intact; talked to those on the fence about opting out of the Rose Bowl and declaring for the NFL Draft; recruited the transfer portal; put the finishing touches on the current recruiting class; looked ahead to recruiting the class of 2024; and, oh, yeah, prepared to play Utah on Jan. 2 in Pasadena, California.

That’s multitasking at its peak. Like every other coaching staff in the sport, Franklin and his 10 fulltime assistants are traveling across the country this week working on several of those jobs.

“I think balance is a good word,” Franklin said Sunday night from an airport in Kansas. “We’re trying to split our time between finishing this traditional recruiting class and having an awareness of what’s going on in the transfer portal, which is about to hit hot and heavy here pretty soon.”

That was Monday when the transfer window officially opened, or re-opened. According to reports, as many as 700 Division I football players entered their names in the portal on Monday alone.

Quarterback Christian Veilleux, who announced his intentions last month, was among the Penn State players who did so Monday, along with cornerback Jeffrey Davis Jr., offensive tackle Maleek McNeil and defensive end Rodney McGraw, all reserves.

Running back Devyn Ford announced he would transfer in midseason with the emergence of freshmen Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Franklin and his assistants appear to be targeting wide receivers since Arizona’s Dorian Singer and Kent State’s Dante Cephas said they’ve received Penn State offers.

As for keeping the roster intact, only cornerback Joey Porter Jr., who’s projected to be a first-round draft pick, has opted out of the Rose Bowl. Such players as center Juice Scruggs, defensive tackle PJ Mustipher and safety Ji’Ayir Brown have yet to announce their intentions.

Last year, six Penn State starters opted out of the Outback Bowl against Arkansas: wide receiver Jahan Dotson, safety Jaquan Brisker, linebackers Ellis Brooks and Brandon Smith, defensive end Arnold Ebiketie and defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo.

Perhaps the Rose Bowl and a matchup against No. 8 Utah might be attractive enough to limit the Lions’ opt-outs to a minimum.

“Whether you’re a coach, a fan or a player, the Rose Bowl holds a special place in a lot of people’s perspectives,” Franklin said. “I think obviously playing in that type of game on that type of stage and against an opponent like Utah, I think it helps.

“We expect that almost the entirety of our team will play and compete, but that is a challenge in general for college football right now.”

December has become even more hectic than it was for college football staffs, especially since the NCAA moved up National Signing Day to this month. It’s on Dec. 21 this year.

Then there are the 15 bowl practices, which Penn State has already begun.

“Practices right now are more of a spring ball-type of practice,” Franklin said. “Then as we continue to break down Utah and start game-planning, we’ll get into more specific-Utah practices.

“We’re trying to get the guys that we think are going to have big roles for us next year, trying to get them a little bit more involved than maybe they had been.”

Even that’s somewhat of a guessing game. Who will leave? Who will stay? Who will Penn State add from the portal? It’s hard to keep track of it all.

And somewhere buried among the constant recruiting, the transfer portal, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collectives, fund-raising and improving facilities are academics and football players earning degrees.

“The more coaches I talk to and the more people I see, academics is less and less a part of some of these decision-making processes,” Franklin said. “It’s strictly about football. I do think there’s still a balancing act that needs to happen and can happen, where a kid can reach all of his goals from an academic perspective and still chase his football dreams.”

Unfortunately, that balance appears to be less and less realistic.