Since the NCAA ruling that penalized the Penn State University’s football program, due to former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s child abuse case, PSU now has another new head coach. This scenario resulted in the firing of the late, and beloved, Joe Paterno, along with the many NCAA sanctions that practically destroyed the university and the surrounding community.
The new coach is James Franklin, who is Bill O’Brien’s replacement. O’Brien, in a brief two year stint at PSU, despite the sanctions, had some success in his challenge to rebuild the legendary accomplishments of Paterno.
O’Brien’s success at PSU created an opportunity for him to move into the NFL as the new head coach of the Houston Texans.
Franklin, a 1995 graduate of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, established many records as quarterback at his alma mater. In recent years, he was the head coach at Vanderbilt University, where he led Vandy to unprecedented success during his three-year tenure.
Coach Franklin was named the coach at Vanderbilt in 2010 after three years as the assistant coach and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the University of Maryland, and previously with Kansas State (2006-2007) and the Greenbay Packers in 2005. With his impressive credentials, he is excited to be able to live his dream to coach football at PSU.
Just recently Franklin was the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremonies of his alma mater. He encouraged the graduates to wake up each morning ready to attack the day with everything they had.
“Most people, when I ask them how they’re doing, they say, ‘Alright,’ and that’s exactly how their day will go.” He went on to say, “I’ve been living the dream every day since I graduated from East Stroudsburg, and I will continue to live the dream for the rest of my life.”
Before leaving the commencement, he left the graduates with the four core values that make up his focus as a coach and mentor: have a positive attitude, an unrivaled work ethic, a desire to compete and a willingness to sacrifice.
“I believe you can be unbelievably challenging and hard on kids if you love them hard as well,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing right now at Penn State.”
Here is a man who wears his philosophy on his sleeve. He has the determination, with his troops of the gridiron, to bring the dream back to Penn State—a dream that was the design of the legendary Paterno.
Paterno was a man who was the “Pied Piper” of football coaches. He could sell kids on the idea that success comes with hard work. He was a believer in the kinsmanship through friendship and loyalty, only to have his trust in a friend pull the rug out from under his feet.
I believe that the Sandusky story caused the ill health, and eventually the death, of a Penn State hero!
I think, in time, the new football coach for PSU will shine a new light on the Paterno legacy. No matter what you think or what your opinion might be concerning the dark times of the Paterno debacle, I am of the opinion that he was as great as the ink from the media described him to be. He was also a victim, but in a different way than the poor young men who were sexually abused by Sandusky. Paterno was guilty by association with a monster and his loyalty to a friend, who betrayed his trust and sadly resulted in his ruin.
Franklin, philosophically, has the perspective that Coach “Joe Pa” had in his heydays.
Franklin’s vision could be a return to the Nittany Lions fame of yesteryear, maybe even with some guidance from a “Coach” from above. I wish him well, and if you’re going to establish a reputation as a college football coach, I think that James Franklin is in the right place!
