James Franklin has yet to coach a football game at Penn State, but it’s safe to say he already has a winning record at Penn State. Franklin stopped by THON Sunday afternoon to speak to the packed BJC, giving the crowd a short, simple, precise message.

“What’s up, Penn State?” Franklin opened, to loud applause and cheers from the crowd. “Everybody thinks what makes us special is the IST building, is the football stadium, the basketball arena…but that has nothing to do with what makes us special. It’s about all of you that are here today doing something that is great for this community, something that is great for four diamonds.”

“I can’t tell you how proud we are to be a part of this community…trust me, we’re going to graduate a ton of players, we’re going to win a lot of football games, but more importantly we’re going to make a positive difference in this community!”

It’s clear that Franklin understands the sentiment behind THON, even if he doesn’t yet understand all the details. Maybe he didn’t know he was standing in the basketball arena, or that most students never step foot inside the IST Building. But as Franklin has said all along, the most important thing is just showing up, and all of us at THON were certainly grateful for that.