Aug. 6, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" A crowd of more than 150 media members filled the Beaver Stadium media room on Thursday for the 2015 version of Penn State football media day.
Head coach James Franklin kicked off the festivities with a 30-minute press conference. Coordinators John Donovan, Charles Huff and Bob Shoop, along with quarterback Christian Hackenberg, followed Franklin on the dais before the team arrived at the stadium for nearly 60 minutes of open media on the immaculate sod in Beaver Stadium.
"Everybody is really excited to get going," Franklin said. "I'm excited to get going on football. Football. Talking football, coaching football, being out on the field and smelling the fresh cut grass, you know, looking at that beautiful blue and white sky and Mount Nittany in the background. Not talking about recruiting, not talking about fundraising and facilities, not talking about the NFL and where people are going to get drafted, to talk football. And I think our team is, as well."
Franklin is thrilled with the way the team handled itself in the classroom coming off two very strong academic semesters, including a spring where 51 student-athletes earned a GPA of 3.0 or better. Additionally, the team accounted for more than 2,000 hours of community service during the 2014-15 year.
On the field, the team enters pre-season practice with the mindset that it has something to prove.
"I think at lot of us have a chip on our shoulder," Franklin said. "We've got a lot of work to do, and I think everybody is ready. You guys have heard me say in the offseason, I think I have a much better understanding of Penn State now. I have a much better understanding of the Big Ten and most importantly I have a much better understanding of our players, and I think it's the same way in the other direction. I think our players understand our coaching staff better. Our entire staff is back, so there's going to be no learning curve in terms of scheme or drills or things like that. There's always going to be new wrinkles, but I'm excited."
Penn State took the field at approximately 5 p.m. on Monday afternoon to officially begin preparations for the 2015 season. The Nittany Lions are allotted 29 practices before the season-opener at Temple in Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 5. Under NCAA rules, the Lions must wait five practices before putting the pads on during the middle of next week.
"I think there are so many positive things falling into place for Penn State right now, and we've got momentum, and we have to capitalize on that momentum," said Franklin. "I don't think there's any doubt. You think about, again, last year there were so many unknowns sitting in this press conference talking to you guys. We weren't able to go to a bowl game last year when the season started. We got that opportunity back. We weren't able to have a full 85 scholarships. I think we were limited to 65. We have the opportunity now to get as close to 85 as we can. You know, we go and play in the bowl game, we play well. We retain our entire staff. We go out and battle in recruiting and do some good things there. We have a great off season in terms of academics, community service, and development. So yeah, there are just a lot of positive things."
Franklin said that there would be a point in two weeks or so into camp that the team will flip a switch into game preparation mode for Temple. For now, though, the Nittany Lions will work to maximize each day to improve in all phases of the game.
"I think you just spend so much in the off season focused on areas that you think you should be stronger in and areas that you need to improve that I think it just kind of it gnaws at you after a while, and then there comes a point you just want to get out on the field and start playing, and after a couple weeks at camp we'll get to the point where we're ready to play an opponent," said Franklin.
The Nittany Lions will practice in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday. The season kicks off at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) on Sept. 5.
Notes: - Coach Franklin opened his press conference with a brief statement on longtime voice of Penn State Football Fran Fisher, who has been a regular at press conferences for years. Fisher passed away on May 14 at age 91.
"I'm sad to see my man is not in the back of the room, but it's great to see the rest of the family; miss your dad."
- Coach Franklin on the growth of Akeel Lynch and running back depth of the Nittany Lions:
"Akeel Lynch, you know, I'd love for him from day one until the end of the season to make it clearly obvious that we've got one big time back that we're going to be able to hang our hat on while we're developing those other guys, and according to Coach Galt and his staff and according to our players, Akeel has done that. He's been a tremendous leader with the young running backs and the young players. He's probably been as consistent and as hard working as anybody in our program, and just done a great job. He's been patient and kind of waited for his time, and he's prepared that when that time comes, he's going to be ready."
- Franklin on the offensive line and taking ownership of the task at hand:
"Their approach this off season, taking ownership of their position and their responsibility and their role, taking ownership of the success of the offense, having a chip on their shoulder. You know, the guys that redshirted now truly being able to compete for jobs, the new freshmen just showing up on campus as well as having Paris as a transfer and being able to have a spring ball experience, and now having an opportunity to compete."
- Penn State practiced in helmets, shorts and practice jerseys on day one of training camp.
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