Aug. 26, 2014
COACH FRANKLIN: How's everybody doing? Ready for the first game? This is better. We're getting used to this. I want to start out like always, reinforce some academics. Really, really excited about the summer (academic sessions). You guys know we had some really high goals going into the summer, and we have a few grades that are still out that we're waiting for, but we had 69 players on the football team that got over a 3.0 (Grade point average). We had 7 students get over a 4.0, and we had four guys graduate, Ryan Keiser, C.J. Olaniyan, Devin Pryor, and Deron Thompson all graduated this summer. So really excited.
There are a few grades out. According to TK, Todd Kulka who runs our academic department, our freshmen did as well as the freshmen have ever done here, way over a 3.0, so really excited about that as well.
It's game week. It's finally here. I know everybody's excited. I know we are as well. You look at some notes that we have for them. George O'Leary, I've known Coach O'Leary for a long time; very well respected, has been very, very successful. I think this first time for us traveling overseas, approximately 80 percent of our team, this will be the first time them leaving the country. Coach O'Leary's in his 11th season at Central Florida. They return 15 of their 22 starters. Six currently on offense, 9 on defense. Penn State is 2 1 all time versus Central Florida. George O'Leary is 1 0, 1 0.
The things that jump out to me that we look at every single week, if you compare where they finished up the end of last year and we finished up the end of last year from a turnover margin perspective, they have the advantage. Penalties per game, we had the advantage. Total offense, they had the advantage, total defense, they had the advantage. Scoring offense, they had the advantage, and scoring defense, they had the advantage. So obviously, this is a new season, and that's just based off last year, but we study all those things and look at it.
On defense, their defensive coordinator, Tyson Summers is in his first year as the defensive coordinator. He was the interim defensive coordinator for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, but as we know, George O'Leary is a defensive guy. I doubt that they'll do too many things different than what they've done in the past. It's his overall philosophy.
Really excited about the challenge. They've got nine starters returning (on defense). No. 41, linebacker Terrance Plummer we think is a difference maker for them. Safety, No. 26, Clayton Geathers, and quarterback No. 12 Jacoby Glenn are the guys that really jump out to us.
On offense, Charlie Taaffe, who I've known for a long time (offensive coordinator). Charlie was the offensive coordinator at the University of Maryland the whole time I was with them. He's a veteran play caller. He's been a head coach before; have tremendous respect for him. They're returning six starters. They're going to be a multiple pro style offense with more spread philosophies probably here recently.
They're starting a red shirt freshman at quarterback, Pete DiNovo, their running back, William Stanback, No. 28, was second team all conference last year, and then their big play wide receiver, No. 6, Rannell Hall, that is the position that really jumps out to us on film is their wide receivers. They have tremendous depth and talent at that position.
Then special teams, their special teams coordinator, Mike Buscemi, I hope I'm saying that correctly. That is the second year in that position, and their punt returner and kick returners, a lot of those guys are the same players that we're talking about on offense as their wide receivers. Their punter averaged 42 yards as a Ray Guy candidate, and their kicker was 21 of 23 last year; was 21 of 23 including a 50 yard field goal.
So I think it's going to be a tremendous challenge. I know our guys are really excited. You guys have heard me say this before. I'm a nervous wreck before games in terms of preparation. Sunday through basically the game. But once the game comes, I'm pretty confident because I know we've done everything we possibly can do to be prepared for the game. Now it's just an opportunity to go out and watch the kids play and have fun, and that's what I want them to do.
I want them to go out and enjoy it. I want them to play fast. I want them to play aggressive. But there is no reason to be nervous on game day as long as you've done everything you possibly can to put the kids in position to be successful, and that's what we've tried to do. Open it up to questions.
Q. Coach Shoop said the other day he was impressed with the leadership from C.J. Olaniyan, even if he isn't the most vocal guy on the team. What have you seen from C.J. during camp?
COACH FRANKLIN: C.J. is such a mature kid. He graduated, like I mentioned, this summer. He's kind of seen it all, done it all. Two years ago Deion Barnes had a huge year, and then last year C.J. kind of stepped up and got his name mentioned among some of the top defensive ends in the conference, so it will be interesting watching those two guys both have a productive year this year and complement one another. He's a mature guy, steady guy, and he's the same guy every single day, which is important to me. We talk about that as a coaching staff, coming out and being the same guys every day from an energy and enthusiasm standpoint, and that's what you want from your players as well. You don't want high days and low days. You want those guys to come out and work every single day, and C.J. is a really good example of that. I'm very, very proud of him. Got a chance to meet his fiancee and got a chance to meet his daughter, and I think that's changed his life as well, knowing that he's not just playing for himself, and not just playing for the Penn State fans and Penn State community, but also his daughter as well. I think talking to our academic people that's had a profound impact on him.
Q. Coach Donovan talked about the concept of cross training from multiple positions. It seems on the depth chart you have guys at multiple spots. How did you approach that during camp and having players practice at multiple places?
COACH FRANKLIN: It's something we're going to have to do and we're going to have to embrace it until we get in a situation where we have similar depth as other people in the country and get some of our scholarships back. We have to train guys for multiple positions. So that's going to allow you to get your best 11 guys on the field rather than saying, "OK, this guy is the starting right guard" and your right tackle has to come out of the game for a play to maybe get his ankle taped or something like that. Now you put another guy in the game. Well, we're going to put the best guys on the field constantly. So who is the 12th best player? Who is the 13th best player? Who is the 14th best player? We do that by position as well. We have to train those guys at O line, we have to train those guys at wide receiver at all the positions. It is also how we'll probably call the game. So, for example, at wide receiver, if our tight ends have more depth and more experience, then you'll probably see more tight ends on the field and so on and so forth. We rotate those guys. Typically the way we'll do practice, you have a certain amount of reps designed for the ones (first team). You have a certain amount of reps designed for the twos and for the threes. Well, the way we do it, you may have a guy that's taken some reps with the ones and the twos, or you may have a guy that's taken reps with the twos and the threes and vice versa and try to work those guys around. The closer you get to game time, you'd really like to have those things solidified, but you're still going to have to be working it to a degree all year long.
Q. You mentioned you're a nervous wreck from Sunday through kickoff. But could you discuss your special emotions this week, opening game, first game at Penn State, your dream job as you put it? I know you've had three years of head coaching experience before this, but how special is this to go out there first time running out with the Penn State team?
COACH FRANKLIN: I had that experience at the press conference and then walking into the stadium with my family for the first time. I haven't really experienced that since. I'm not a guy me and my wife talk about it all the time because she's been excited for the last couple weeks. I really don't get excited too early before games. It's more about doing the job and all the things that we have to get done to be ready to play and play the way we want to play. I do get some of that nervous anxiety right before the game in the locker room, get the butterflies and things like that. I usually sleep extremely well the night before the game, and I don't usually get a whole lot of those feelings until in the locker room right before the game before heading out. So it's hard for me to answer that at this point just because that's not emotionally kind of how I am.
Q. Coach Shoop said something I'd never heard before at media day that I thought was interesting
COACH FRANKLIN: You're making me nervous (laughter).
Q. No, this is going to be a piece of cake, I promise. He said he's never before done so much scheme wise to try and feature defensive linemen. He's featured the back end before but never defensive linemen. I'd never heard that before. How do you scheme to feature defensive linemen?
COACH FRANKLIN: I'll be more than happy to talk about this on Sunday. I'm not planning on talking about it now. I understand the question. I think a lot of it just deals with what I was talking about with the offense and the tight ends. If you have a strength, then you need to find ways to get those guys on the field. I think that's really what Bob is talking about. It's like people that run a 4-3. Well, if your four linebackers are better than your four defensive linemen, maybe you ought to play a 3-4 and get those guys on the field. So it's a similar philosophy. I think a lot of it is taking care of it on its own, just by the way we play.
I think you'll see us rotate defensive linemen in more than what they've traditionally done here in the past, and that's a philosophy that we used at our last institution because we want to make sure that we're healthy in the fourth quarter and guys are fresh in the fourth quarter. That also pays dividends late in the season as well. So we want to keep our guys as fresh and as healthy as we possibly can. So it's a combination of those two things, things that we're going to do scheme to emphasize our defensive line, and there are some things that we're going to do in terms of how we play guys and rotate them in.
Q. People talk about your energy, and I'm sure you'll say you're an energetic guy. I haven't heard you talk about what are you like in the locker room pregame and halftime? Is that an extension of your personality or what you think of yourself? Are you really bouncing off the walls? You maybe talked about it a little bit here, or are you more cerebral in those types of settings?
COACH FRANKLIN: Before the game, I'm not a big pre-game speech guy. I feel like if you have to get them fired up 15 minutes before they run on the field, you've got problems. So I do my pre-game speech Sunday through Friday. Telling them all the things we're going to need to do to be successful, areas of concentration, areas of emphasis, things like that.
Before the game for me it's basically telling them how much I care about them and how confident I am in their preparation and how excited I am to go see them play. That's really it. Coach Chaos, Coach (Sean) Spencer, sometimes he'll visit with the team, and he takes a lot of pride in that, but that's not necessarily something we'll do every week.
Now at halftime sometimes, if I feel like there is a message that needs to be presented to the team, then I'll deliver that message. Sometimes it's with emotion, and sometimes it's calm and calculated.
Then after the game, when we have success, I'm going to go in there and celebrate. I think that's one of the problems I think that happens with coaches is the losses become a lot more painful than the wins become joyous and fun, and I don't want to get like that. I want to really, really enjoy the wins and celebrate it with the guys. When we face some adversity, I'm going to address it with them and talk about why it's an opportunity for growth and to learn from it and move on. But I'm pretty matter of fact, to be honest with you, and I speak from the heart with them. I do a lot of my talks Friday night at the hotel before the game.
Q. You mentioned you did some of your (college) work at a psychiatric ward. What ultimately led you away from that into coaching?
COACH FRANKLIN: That wasn't a question I was expecting right now. No, I got my undergraduate degree in psychology. I actually started out as a bio major thinking about going to med school until I got to organic chemistry, and organic chemistry got the better of me.
So I ended up switching to psychology, really enjoyed that, had a great experience with that. Ended up thinking that's kind of what I wanted to do, make a difference in people's lives and help people, and worked in two psychiatric hospitals, an adult and adolescent, and realized that maybe necessarily wasn't what I wanted to do. In that process, I started coaching football to get my masters degree and hopefully at some point my Ph.D. paid for, and caught the coaching bug. Realized that I could have just as much impact on people and kids through the game of football as I could through psychology, offering opportunities.
I was a kid that went to college, to be honest with you, because of football. While I was there, I got an education and really matured and grew up, and the game of football did that for me. I know there are probably other kids that would be in similar situations that we could leverage football and help educate kids and give them an opportunity.
Q. Coach, the obvious thing about the trip coming up with Ireland, is it a challenge of keeping everybody football ready considering this is potentially a once in a lifetime experience?
COACH FRANKLIN: Well, a couple things. Number one, we're going to play a game and so is Central Florida. We're going to deal with all the same issues, flying to another country and the time zones and all of those things. So I think that's helpful. It's not like you're flying somewhere and playing a team in their element.
Besides that, this is not going to be a once in a lifetime experience. For us, this is a business trip to go play a football game no different than if we were playing at State College High School. We'd be excited to play Central Florida wherever the game would be, and it's not going to be a once in a lifetime experience because we're going to work really hard to make sure all of our players graduate with a meaningful degree from Penn State so they can afford to go back at some point on vacation with their family or their friends and enjoy the countryside.
But this trip is not about enjoying the countryside. This is an opportunity to take a special trip. I think it's going to be great for the fans, but we're going to play a football game. There will be some activities we have, but very little of that.
Q. Wondering how you feel about your legs, the team's legs going into an opener? Do you feel you're fresh? How much have you scaled back practice at this point? Also, was there much discussion into trying to have an open date after this game?
COACH FRANKLIN: Well, I wasn't a part of any of those discussions. Those things with this game and the contract, when the game was going to be played, that was all done way before I got here, so I wouldn't be the person to answer that question.
The legs thing, that's one of the big challenges. Dwight Galt (Director of Performance Enhancement) has been doing this for 30 years. I have tremendous respect for him and his decision making. We also listen to the coaches and how they see the team. We've probably done a little bit less running than we've done in the past to make sure that we are fresh for the game. But you also don't want to run out of gas in the fourth quarter. That is the fine line.
But, again, we have some unique challenges that I don't know if a lot of people have been prepared for in the past, with 75 scholarships and things like that. So those things factor in. So although our experience in the last three years is helpful, this is a unique situation. We feel good about it. Tim Breen, and our athletic training department as well as Dwight Galt and our coaches take all of that information, and ultimately try to make decisions that we think are in the team's best interest so we can play fast and be effective and be able to play at a high level for four quarters.
Q. As you've been around the players, do you notice them getting more excited? Do you start to see that in their eyes and just the feeling of not even just a trip, but the first game of the season?
COACH FRANKLIN: Yeah, I think it's really showing up. I do a countdown, so every team meeting we've had since we arrived, there's kind of on the end of the power point there is a countdown, 230 days, so on, and so forth. Now we've been putting up not only when the game is how many days but also when we leave. And I keep telling them, "it's going to be here before you know it. It's going to be here before you know it," and it really has.
So, I think I put that up the other day and talked about when we were leaving and how many days we had left. It was a little bit different feeling in the room. Like we've talked about before, they get to the point where they're sick of seeing us, we're sick of seeing them, we're sick of practicing against each other. They want to play a different opponent. That's part of camp. You spend so much time together. That's part of it. I think it's kind of like a rite of passage, to be honest with you.
So I think they're excited. We got a head start on Central Florida as we've talked about already as well, so I think they have a good feel of what we're trying to do and why. I know we're looking forward to practicing, and practicing well today and then get on that plane. We'll have a walk through type practice on Wednesday because it's hard to go there and have a full speed practice after flying all night.
Q. We've got the depth chart now and with Brendan Mahon and Derek Dowrey, what is that competition like and how have those guys impressed you throughout camp?
COACH FRANKLIN: Well, I think they're different guys and they're different situations. Dowrey is a guy that you've moved over from defense, hadn't done that at all, and we kind of threw him in the fire and I thought he handled it extremely well.
Mahon was a highly recruited offensive lineman that came in here. From my short period of time on campus, he's matured dramatically. He's matured dramatically off the field, on the field, in his approach, and I'm really proud of him. I'm really proud of both those guys and how they've handled it. I don't think there is one guy right now that is clear cut, that's just obvious. I think it's a legitimate battle and a legitimate competition. We've got a few more days to iron that out and see, but I think you'll see both of those guys play.
Q. Seems like the coaches have developed a lot of depth. Are you pleased with the depth they've developed on the offensive line?
COACH FRANKLIN: I think we've done the best with the situation that we're in. I do. I feel like we've got some training in our past of trying to create depth as well as develop it, so I feel good. I feel good about what we've done. I feel good about our plan. But we still have some challenges. Every program in the country has challenges, and that's what you're trying to do. You're trying to work on your challenges to make them your strengths and make sure your strengths continue to be your strengths. So that's kind of our approach, and I'm pleased with what Herb Hand and all those kids have done and how hard they've worked.
Q. I know you talk about interchangeable players and flexibility. Where do you see true freshman receiver DeAndre Thompkins fitting in? Do you see him playing multiple positions like a lot of the guys, contributing early or is he a guy that's going to be weened in later on in the season? What are your thoughts?
COACH FRANKLIN: Typically we don't ask a true freshman to play multiple positions. So we play one position, and give him an opportunity to gain some confidence at that position, and then let their role grow from there. I don't think that's a great plan to ask a guy with little experience to learn multiple positions, so we don't typically do that.
Right now he's a guy that we're holding on, that we'd like to redshirt if we could. But if we have to play him, he's going to be ready to play. I've seen him make really good strides in the last week and a half, but that's where we are with him right now is he's a guy that may have to play before the year's out, but we're not planning on playing him week one.
Q. I'm curious, it might be hard to gauge, but if had you to guess, what would be some of your expectations for what the atmosphere environment might be around State College area this weekend? Are you aware of any of the planned events or anything that's going on? How would you gauge the excitement this weekend?
COACH FRANKLIN: I have no idea. I have no idea what's going on in State College (on Saturday morning). I would hope that there's going to be a lot of people there watching the game Saturday morning, but I've been so committed to getting our guys ready and all the preparation that has to take place, I have not done a whole lot of checking into what's going on socially in State College Saturday morning or what people have planned with the game. I'm excited to see. What's the stadium hold? 85 (thousand)?
Q. For this game about 70 (thousand).
COACH FRANKLIN: 70K strong in Dublin, Ireland for the game. That's kind of my focus. I've always thought that would be cool to be a coach, but also to be downtown during an away game and see what that environment is like. I've never been able to see that. When you're playing on the road and back in town people watching the game and the excitement. I've never been able to experience that, so I've always wondered what that's like.
Q. Overall, what is the best part about playing a game in Ireland and what is the worst part?
COACH FRANKLIN: I think the best part personally is my mother (Josie) ,I think you've heard me say before, my mother is originally from England and my parents got married in Ireland. I've got family in England that I haven't seen in over 15 years that are coming to the game, so I'm going to see them on Thursday at the hotel, and I'm excited about that. I got a phone call in the staff meeting the other day, and I looked down and there were a lot of numbers, so I knew it probably wasn't one of my buddies, it was someone calling from England. So I stepped out of my staff meeting.
I'm really looking forward to that and them getting a chance to meet my wife (Fumi). They've never met my wife before, so I think that's going to be really cool. More than that it's an opportunity to go out and play with these guys, watch them play and fly around and have fun. Because I know how hard they work. Also, football is different. You get 60 to 120 games or whatever it may be (in basketball and baseball), and in football, you get 12 to 14 opportunities, so you better make every one of them special. That's why this game is important to me because it's an opportunity to go out and use all the hard work and all the training and preparation that's gone in and see the guys go out and execute and have fun and enjoy themselves.
Q. The worst part about playing in Ireland?
COACH FRANKLIN: There are no bad parts. It's awesome.
Q. Devin Pryor is in a little different situation of everyone not being from Ireland but that general area of the world. He said he might have some friends and family going out to the game. What have you seen from him so far this year, and what are the chances we'll see him out there at all on Saturday?
COACH FRANKLIN: I don't know. Devin has a unique background going to high school in London. His mom was out this summer for graduation when he walked (Commencement), which was really cool. I know that was special to him. But besides that, I'm not really sure. If he falls into a role or gets in a situation where he can help the team, then he will. I know he's been a tremendous resource for our guys in preparation and how he works every day at practice and his attitude. He's an awesome kid and very, very happy that he's part of our family and part of our program.
We'll see how this whole thing plays out, but I know it's somewhat unique for him as well. Usually you recruit a guy from New Jersey, and you're playing a team in New Jersey or Maryland or wherever it may be. It's not too often that you're going to Europe and a kid that went to high school in Europe has an opportunity to see his family as well, so it's pretty cool.
Q. How many players will dress for the game. Also, you've said you thought you could make a lot of improvement on special teams this year. How do you see that taking place? How do you feel special teams improved during the course of camp?
COACH FRANKLIN: Yeah, I always believe in dressing everybody as long as the conference rules allow you to do it. That was one of the things that was interesting in the last place I was at. The conference had a rule on how many players you could dress for home games. I felt awful about that that guys that would work hard all off season had to go sit in the stands on game day. I didn't think that was right so we were able to get that rule changed and that is our philosophy here.
These guys are part of the team. They're part of the wins, and I want them to be able to experience it. So based on conference rules, we'll dress as many people as we possibly can that are part of the program.
Q. Special teams.
COACH FRANKLIN: I've been really pleased. It starts with (Sam) Ficken. His leadership is unbelievable. He may be as consistent as any player on our team at his specific position. I think (Chris) Gulla has really fed off of his leadership and is really building confidence right now. So I think it starts with those two guys. The other thing is I think (special teams coordinator) Charles Huff has done a great job maximizing our time on the field and in meetings, and we've gotten a lot of work in.
I think a lot of it just goes to the emphasis that we're putting on it and talking to our players more so than they ever have. Even our red shirt seniors have never been a part of an emphasis on special teams like we have. I believe that with anything in life, if you emphasize it, you've got a chance to be successful, and that's what we've tried to do.
Q. UCF's quarterback, DiNovo, is it tough to prepare for a quarterback when there is not a lot of tape or information or things like that?
COACH FRANKLIN: Yeah, or a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, you're not truly knowing what to expect. You can go back and watch his high school recruiting tape and things like that. But more so than that, you're really studying the tape from last year. What are the things they've done? What are their bread and butter plays? They're going to try to do some things to help them out, quick throws, screens, get the ball out of his hand.
If they can establish the run, that's going to help a young quarterback as well, so those are the things that you factor into without being able to watch a guy play in that offense and have game tape. It makes it difficult. That's why first games of the year can be a little bit of a challenge.
Q. With Akeel Lynch being back on kick returns and Jordan Lucas on punt returns, what do you like about having those guys back there? I know you mentioned how you'd like to get that third running back involved somehow.
COACH FRANKLIN: I think when you have the running back depth that we do, you want to make sure that one of those guys is having another opportunity to get his hands on the ball. This is another way to get guys touches. Both of those guys are big, strong, fast, powerful guys that have played in games before because that is the thing that can be frustrating sometimes is everybody does their job on a kickoff return, but you just don't have the juice. You don't have somebody that has the juice to get through there and be able to take it. It's hard enough to score. So when you get an opportunity you have to punch it into the end zone. Both of those guys give us the opportunity to do that. I think it helps that they're veteran guys. I think you'll also see Grant Haley as a kickoff return guy as well.
Q. You talked about it earlier that Central Florida has nine starters returning on defense. What do you see on film that they do especially well on the defensive side of the ball?
COACH FRANKLIN: I think more than anything, they play like a veteran team. They're fast, they're aggressive, they don't give up a whole lot of big plays. George O'Leary is, I think, one of the better defensive coaches around, and it's been that way for a long time with him. So I don't expect a whole lot of new. There will be a few new wrinkles that they'll do, that game plan specific things based on our film in the past. But they're a veteran team. They're big. They're strong. They're fast.
Coming from the state of Florida always gives them an advantage because there are going to be some kids in their backyard that have come to camp and are maybe are under-recruited that are big time players. I think whenever you have 250 or 350 Division 1 prospects in your state, there are some built in advantages with that, and that's what you see across the board on their team. They have big, strong, athletic guys, and the experience allows them to play fast as well.
Q. Coach, you talked earlier about the UCF receivers being a strength of the team. Can you expand on that a little bit, and how has the second cornerback position shaken out with your team and talk about that match up?
COACH FRANKLIN: Yeah, I think this is going to be an interesting match up for the game. Basically all their wide receivers are back from last year, and put up big numbers and have made big plays. I think that's always obviously helpful when you have a young quarterback, having guys that are going to make them plays.
You look at us last year and you look at the production with Allen Robinson and all the production he made or Hack (Christian Hackenberg) needed a play, they went to him. Having a quarterback with three guys around them that have done that before is really helpful in that guy's development. Also, they're not little guys. They're big, strong, explosive players. What was your other question?
Q. How do you see the secondary?
COACH FRANKLIN: The second corner, yeah. I think Trevor Williams is a guy that's played a bunch of football. We have two corners in him and Jordan (Lucas) that give us good size and athleticism. But at both those spots you'll see multiple guys rotate in and play. We need somebody to truly take ahold of that position and be a playmaker. I think with the pressure that we're going to be able to hopefully get on quarterbacks with our defensive line and our scheme with our linebackers should create some opportunities for our secondary as well. We need somebody to jump up into that role.