Now, with the sudden departure of Bill O'Brien, the 2013-14 Penn State football recruiting class is facing similar adversity. Keeping the recruiting class in tact is always one of the most important challenges with head coaching turnovers, especially with a class as good as the one O'Brien assembled for 2014. While some of the players have remained quiet, many of the 19 incoming players are sticking behind the school during its latest ordeal.
James Franklin is officially the 16th head football coach in Penn State history. While that means a lot of things, the most important thing, of course, is that Franklin's name and likeness are going to be put on corny t-shirts throughout Happy Valley sooner rather than later, because any time a person can be put on a t-shirt in one way or another, it's going to happen. So, as the clothing stories send their BILLieve and O'Brien's Lions shirts off to impoverished countries, it's time to get those Franklin shirts on the presses.
James Franklin grew up and went to school in Pennsylvania, and after years of coaching elsewhere, will return home as head coach of the Penn State football program.
The terms of new Penn State head football coach James Franklin's new contract will not become official until this afternoon. However, according to Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports, Franklin is about to get a huge payday to the tune of 6 years and $4.5 million annually.
Most of Penn State's new staff is likely to be made up of Franklin's assistants from Vanderbilt, with a few unpredictable outside additions as well. For now, let's take a look at the coaches that helped Franklin turn Vanderbilt from a perpetual SEC bottom feeder to a respectable 24-15 in the last three seasons, many of whom are likely to be on the Beaver Stadium sidelines next season.
Now that James Franklin is officially O'Brien's replacement at the helm of the Nittany Lions football program, there are sure to be plenty of comparisons between the two coaches over the coming year. Let's take a look at Franklin's résumé compared to his predecessor.