James Franklin began his first season as Penn State’s football coach without many expectations. The program was under NCAA sanctions, he was its third head coach in four years, and he was still trying to figure out his future.
Two years later, Franklin upped the pace of expectations by leading Penn State to an unexpected Big Ten title. What college football pundits called a decade-long rebuild, Franklin accomplished in his third season at Penn State. Embracing expectations became his motto.
“When you’re at a place like Penn State, you accept the expectations,” Franklin said before Penn State’s Peach Bowl appearance against Ole Miss. “That’s why you came here. It’s for our players, it’s for the coaches and it’s for me. We accept the high expectations.”
Now, those expectations come with increasing pressure. According to Pro Football Focus, Penn State is one of five programs “under pressure” in 2024. The Nittany Lions have won 10 regular-season games in back-to-back seasons and three times in the past five years. They played in three New Year’s Six bowls in that span. They’ve had a total of 22 players selected in the past three NFL Drafts. And yet, they don’t have a College Football Playoff appearance to show for it. Penn State’s crowning moment was a win over Utah in the 2023 Rose Bowl.
As a result, PFF suggests it’s time for Penn State to reach a new level.
“Reaching the College Football Playoff will be an easier task in 2024 with 12 teams participating, meaning there are no excuses for James Franklin and Penn State not to qualify in what looks like a make-or-break year for the program.” PFF’s Mitch Kaiser writes.
Penn State opens the 2024 season at West Virginia on Aug. 31 with a new set of coordinators, many of its top offensive players returning and several loaded position groups on defense. But similar questions haunt the team.
Can a once-explosive offense regain its magic on the field? Can quarterback Drew Allar and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki click to unlock their potential? Can defensive coordinator Tom Allen build on the strengths of the Nittany Lions’ defensive line and secondary in his system?
“We know how good the defense can be, and if Allar can improve, the offense could be what puts Penn State over the top this season,” PFF writes. “If not, big changes could be in store.”
Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, since (as noted) Franklin replaced all three coordinators this offseason, including the former offensive coordinator (Mike Yurcich) he personally courted for two years. Meanwhile, Franklin’s 2024 buyout is $56 million — a costly move for an athletic department that’s building a $700 million Beaver Stadium and divvying up athlete revenue in its future budgets.
This year is crucial for Penn State, though, which needs to make the 12-team College Football Playoff round to give the program momentum. Franklin, of course, knows that. While acknowledging his pride in the “consistency” his teams have shown, Franklin embraced the pressure to perform well.
“We’re very proud of the consistency and how we’ve been able to play for most of our time at Penn State, and I think sometimes people take that for granted and don’t realize how much we’ve done.”
“It’s a huge challenge in college football today,” Franklin said. “For us, it’s appreciating and recognizing what we’ve done well, but also digging deep and being very, very transparent and saying where we need to grow, how we can get better and how we can attack.”
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AllPennState is the home for Penn State news, opinions and perspectives on the SI.com network. Editor Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, following three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.