It hasn’t been an easy season for James Franklin as a coach, dad, or husband. Nevertheless, he feels he’s learned plenty through unprecedented experiences.

“I have probably learned more about myself this year, personally and professionally, than at any point in my 48 years on this planet,” Franklin said Tuesday.

It’s not hard to imagine that the head coach has learned plenty while facing several obstacles. On the football field, the Nittany Lions opened the season with a program-first 0-5 start while he helped several players face extremely difficult challenges bigger than the game itself.

To name a few, Journey Brown’s football career was cut short due to a heart condition, Pat Freiermuth’s season ended due to shoulder surgery, and Noah Cain suffered a season-ending injury on the first drive of Penn State’s season.

Franklin needed to face all of those hurdles without his family by his side for months, as his wife and two daughters are currently living in Florida. His youngest daughter, Addison, has sickle cell anemia and is immunocompromised to the coronavirus.

The head coach has discussed at length throughout this season how hard it’s been to manage through it all without those three.

“I’ve had professional challenges before in my career. I’ve had personal challenges before in my life. Never really both at the same time,” Franklin said. “I really believe in the core values that we talk about all the time: positive attitude, great work ethic, compete in everything you do, and you must be willing to sacrifice. Those things were kind of an anchor for me this year. I could lean on those things when I needed to.”

After all of the learning experiences and pills Penn State has been forced to swallow this season, things are finally turning around a bit. The Nittany Lions have won three straight games, most recently a win over Michigan State on Senior Day. That was Penn State’s first win at Beaver Stadium this season, and it was clear to see the entire team, especially the seniors, enjoyed it immensely — even without any fans in attendance.

While it hasn’t been the perfect season and the Nittany Lions remain two games under .500, Franklin, his players, and his staff deserve credit for handling the coronavirus extremely well. The team has had a handful of positive cases throughout the season but has avoided outbreaks that could’ve canceled games. That’s something that can’t be said for several Big Ten teams and other programs across the country.

Penn State now has a final date with Illinois on the horizon Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, and the Nittany Lions are focused on what they’ll need to do to beat the Illini. If Penn State manages to win that game, it’ll likely have a chance at a bowl game and an impressive .500 finish after starting 0-5.

Along with that exciting prospect, Franklin remains focused on staying healthy, winning games, and reuniting with his family as soon as possible.

“For me this week and the rest of the season, my goal is to continue to keep everybody healthy,” Franklin said. “We’ve done a really good job of that, knock on wood, it’s not over…For the most part, all that anybody is focused on is the wins, but I’m very proud of that and we have to continue to finish this thing the right way.”