NSD 2020: James Franklin Signing Day press conference news & notes

According to James Franklin, Penn State’s Class of 2020 signing day was effectively finished by 7:45 Wednesday morning.

Bringing in 27 members, the Nittany Lions had “almost all of” the paperwork arranged and signed by that time, leaving the program to simply celebrate its future with its newest members, their friends, and their families.

This, of course, was by design.

“I take a lot of pride in the fact that really over nine years, we've had very little drama,” Franklin told reporters. “The older I get, the more I want to avoid drama at all costs.”

And so the Nittany Lions did, effectively turning the second Wednesday in December into a formality without any defections and, in spite of some late intimations to the contrary, no unexpected additions, either.

Rounding up his perspective on the haul, one that saw Penn State finish the day ranked No. 14 as a program by Rivals.com with 13 four-stars and 14 three-stars, Franklin noted his satisfaction and optimism for its future.

“I think overall we were able to really sign a complete class,” he said. “We like to sign a player at each position every single year so you don't get out of whack in terms of your scholarship numbers and your distribution by position as well as by year. I think we did a good job of that. I think you guys all know I've been scarred in my past about O-line and D-line depth, and we've continued to make that a focus, and we're in a pretty healthy spot right now after when we first got here and the situation we walked into. So I'm pleased with that.”

Per tradition, Franklin didn’t linger on the day’s successes for long. Before wrapping up his opening statement at a press conference at Beaver Stadium Wednesday afternoon, the head coach wrapping his sixth season at the helm at Penn State turned his attention to the future.

“Overall, I'm pleased. As you guys know, we're already started on the next class, and that was a part of today as well,” Franklin said. “We've got practice tomorrow, so that's kind of unusual. That's not usually the situation you're in, but with the early signing period and the dead period and the bowl game we're going to play in, we'll get going with practice tomorrow now that we're getting through this exam period.”

With signing day in the books, let’s take a look at some of the major news and notes items to emerge from Franklin’s press conference Wednesday afternoon:

1) The first point Franklin stressed in his opening remarks, then was asked about soon after, regarded Penn State’s 11 early enrollees for the Class of 2020 that will arrive on campus shortly into the new year.

Franklin described it as a spike, saying that the program has typically welcomed between four and six players each January, but this year that number will bump to 11 and it’s a trend that is only likely to continue. Noting the benefits for the program, that it can create opportunities for competition - not so much in the spring but in preseason camp once the acclimation period has taken place - Franklin added that he was excited about that potential.

It does not, however, mean that Penn State is pushing it.

“I think a lot of schools now, from what I'm being told from high school coaches, they're really pushing it. In some cases, they're not going to take a guy unless he's a mid-semester grad. That's not really the case with us,” Franklin said. “I'm a big believer that, in some situations, it's ideal, but it's a major transition. You go from being a high school student to a college student within three days. So it's very little time to transition, and guys have to be ready for that. Guys have to want to be in that situation. I don't think it's something that you can push or pressure.”

Franklin added that there are logistical challenges that come from bringing in so many as part of the mid-semester enrollee class, as well.

Needing to secure enough dorm rooms while balancing the end of the careers of other Nittany Lions that won’t be out of their living situations, the program more and more is working to address new circumstances that are arising in conjunction with the trend.

“But overall, I think for the guys who are doing it there's a real advantage, and obviously for us as a program, there's a real advantage too,” Franklin said.

Part of that advantage, he revealed later in the press conference, is that he thinks a “fairly high percentage” of the 11 mid-semester enrollees will factor into the equation for the Nittany Lions next season.

On the offensive side, Penn State will welcome running back Caziah Holmes and offensive lineman Nick Dawkins, as well as two wide receivers: Jaden Dottin and KeAndre Lambert. The Nittany Lions will also welcome three defensive linemen; Cole Brevard, Fatorma Mulbah and Bryce Mostella, two defensive backs; Enzo Jennings and Joseph Johnson, as well as linebacker Tyler Elsdon. Theo Johnson will also enroll early.

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2) Whether talking about linebackers, running backs or just about any other position on the field, Franklin boiled down Penn State’s recruiting philosophy and how it aligns with what the scholarship roster already looks like across the board.

Effectively, for as many good players already exist on the Nittany Lions’ roster, the staff is actively recruiting players who won’t shy away from the competition, understanding that whether their impact is immediate or eventually, they’re embracing all of it.

“What I love is we're in a situation where we're healthy as a program and guys are really committing to come in and compete,” Franklin said. “We're not a program that offers and tells guys that you're going to play as a true freshman. We tell them we're going to come in and compete for jobs. If you're good enough, you'll play, and if you're not, you won't, where I think some programs are making promises and things like that. We don't do that.

“These guys are committing to come in and compete at Penn State. They're coming in to compete in the classroom. They're coming in here to really grow as individuals and help our program grow.”

3) Franklin did not address the offensive coordinator situation or any progress made toward replacing Ricky Rahne, choosing to hold off on statements not related to recruiting until Friday’s bowl media day.

Still, in what he described as another indicator of the program’s health, he did note that the fact that there were no hiccups following Rahne’s departure was important.

“That's one of the things I'm pretty proud of is we're to a point now where we have some changes like that, obviously, losing an offensive coordinator in Ricky Rahne. Couldn't be happier for him, but really no one flinched,” Franklin said. “We communicated on the front end when the interview process was going on. I communicated it with all of the recruits and their parents, or our staff did. When guys came up on visits, I talked about it and was very transparent about it.

“So I think it's a really good sign of a healthy program. Guys are leaving for really good opportunities, and for us being transparent and open with the recruits, and no one flinched. So I think it's a really good sign, a really good sign of respect. We're going to go out and hire a really good guy to come in and continue us climbing and growing to where we want to go. So I think that's been great.”

4) Is Penn State topping out at 27 new players for its Class of 2019?

Franklin explained that he doesn’t know, and the challenge of grasping exactly what the numbers are going to look like is becoming more of an issue every year given the NFL and transfer portal elements that have grown in recent seasons.

“That's the hardest part. It's probably the hardest it's ever been of trying to project where your numbers are going to be because you've got not only the NFL aspect but you've got the transfer portal aspect of it. So it's different than it's ever been,” Franklin said.

Because of those changes, Franklin added that the total number of players that a program is eligible to bring in through recruiting is likely to see some shifts from an NCAA rules perspective.

“I do think you're going to see some changes probably sooner than later in terms of the hard cap and in terms of transfer because you've got a bunch of programs all over the United States that have no chance of getting back to 85 with a recruiting class. I think everybody identifies that's going to be problematic and that's going to be challenging,” Franklin said. “So I think you're going to see some rule changes probably sooner rather than later in some flexibility with the transfer portal and being able to take transfers and maybe not count as initials and against your hard cap. So we'll see how that plays out.”

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