Penn State football's long-time defensive line coach Larry Johnson has decided to move on from Penn State, according to a report from PennLive's Bob Flounders. Johnson was the last remaining member of Joe Paterno's coaching staff, but after not receiving serious consideration for the head coaching position following Bill O'Brien's departure he will explore other coaching opportunities outside of Penn State.
PCAR Vice President of Public Relations Kristen Houser said in an interview with PennLive that the June 2013 incident, in which four Vanderbilt players are alleged to have raped a Vanderbilt student while she was unconscious in a dorm, should not be held against Franklin. While the players were immediately kicked off the team, a Buzzfeed article from September, which cites an anonymous source, alleges that Franklin instructed a player to delete footage of the incident from his phone — a claim Franklin denies.
James Franklin will reportedly bring a bevy of people from his staff at Vanderbilt to Happy Valley: defensive coordinator/safeties Bob Shoop, chief-of-staff Jemal Griffin, assistant coach/co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Brent Pry, director of performance enhancement Dwight Galt, offensive recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach Josh Gattis, and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Charles Bankins.
It's been less than 24 hours, and James Franklin has already started working his recruiting magic, as two members of the class of 2014 previously committed to Vanderbilt have followed the Nittany Lions' new head coach to Happy Valley.
James Franklin said this afternoon that he hopes to be the head coach of the Penn State football team for a long time. If that's the case, it looks like he will earn quite a lot of money along the way according to a Proposed Financial Term Sheet released by GoPSUSports.com today.
Everyone knew that James Franklin was charismatic. Fewer, perhaps, anticipated his captivating performance an hour in the jam-packed Beaver Stadium media room as he addressed Nittany Nation for the first time.