James Franklin didn\u2019t arrive at Big Ten Media Days to celebrate predictions or entertain hype. With Penn State entering the 2025 season under a national spotlight, the 12th-year head coach used his time at the podium to reset the conversation. Last Word on College Football was on-site for Franklin\u2019s remarks, which centered not on rankings, but on depth, leadership, and the grind ahead. The message? Rankings don\u2019t win championships. Work does.<\/p>\n
Expectations for Penn State in 2025 are as high as they\u2019ve been in decades. With most major outlets placing the Nittany Lions at or near the top of preseason rankings, Franklin<\/a> took the podium at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas with one clear message: rankings don\u2019t matter. The work does. \u201cIt\u2019s a great conversation, but who really cares about preseason rankings? They mean nothing,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cThe only rankings that matter are the ones that happen at the end of the season. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re concerned about. The only way we\u2019ll do that is by handling our business today.\u201d<\/p>\n Franklin acknowledged the outside attention but reminded reporters that Penn State holds itself to a high standard regardless. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people that are excited on a national level talking about us,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality is, when it comes to the Lasch Football Building or when it comes to local, these are always the expectations at Penn State, and it hasn\u2019t changed internally in our program.\u201d The message was clear: focus on today, not the headlines.<\/p>\n Entering his 12th season, Franklin said this year\u2019s group might be the most complete of his tenure. \u201cThis is the best combined personnel that I think we\u2019ve had at Penn State,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom a depth, from a talent standpoint, and from an experience standpoint.\u201d He credited the offseason additions of veteran coaches Jim Knowles<\/a> and Stan Drayton<\/a> as impactful, and noted that 19 former Penn State lettermen now serve in various roles on staff. The coach also pointed to development as a cornerstone of the program\u2019s identity. \u201cWe expect to have anywhere between 10 and 12 guys drafted this year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve averaged over five draft picks per year in my 12 years at Penn State, a stat that we\u2019re very, very proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n While Penn State doesn\u2019t rely heavily on the portal, Franklin explained that it remains a useful tool. \u201cWe added eight guys from the portal this year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not a big portal team. We’ll go out and make some moves and make some adjustments to fill maybe a gap that we have in our program.\u201d<\/p>\n He compared it to the old JUCO model, a method for filling specific gaps, not rebuilding the roster. \u201cWe embrace that. But we will go out and make moves in the portal where we need to,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Replacing tight end Tyler Warren<\/a> won\u2019t fall on one player. Instead, Franklin pointed to several names ready to step into larger roles. \u201cTyler was a special player, right? It\u2019s interesting because two years ago, I sat in a meeting room with our tight ends. Theo Johnson<\/a> decides to declare, ends up being a second-round draft choice. Tyler comes back and obviously has an unbelievably memorable season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This year, the rotation will be led by Khalil Dinkins<\/a> and Luke Reynolds, with Andrew Rappleyea also expected to contribute. \u201cOur tight end room has been as good as anybody in the country the last five years,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n Penn State received a major boost when both Nick Singleton<\/a> and Kaytron Allen<\/a> opted to return. \u201cI thought one of those guys would decide to declare for the NFL, and the other one would come back. They both decided to come back,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n The duo has been splitting carries for two seasons, yet both are now positioned to climb into the top two all-time in rushing yards in school history. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to me that both Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have a chance to be the all-time leading rushers in Penn State history, 1 and 2,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cAnd they\u2019ve been sharing carries their entire career.\u201d<\/p>\n Wide receiver was a key point of offseason emphasis. Franklin acted decisively in the portal. \u201cWe went out into the transfer portal and brought in three really productive players,\u201d he said. \u201cTrebor Pena<\/a> from Syracuse, who was a captain; Kyron Hudson<\/a> from USC, who was a captain; and then Devonte<\/a> Ross, who made a bunch of big plays and had a ton of production at Troy.\u201d Each player brings experience and leadership, helping stabilize a group that lacked consistency last fall. \u201cIn a lot of ways, I think it makes us more difficult to defend when there\u2019s more guys on the field that we think can impact the game at any moment,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n The schedule won\u2019t offer much margin for error. The Lions open the season against Nevada, where oddsmakers installed them as 44.5-point favorites, one of the largest lines in school history. But the real tests arrive in conference play. Oregon visits Beaver Stadium for a White Out on Sept. 27. On Nov. 1, Penn State travels to Ohio State. That last one carries extra weight. Franklin is 1-10 against the Buckeyes and has dropped three straight to Michigan. His record against top-five opponents is 1-15 at Penn State and 1-18, including his time at Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n Franklin didn\u2019t dodge those questions. He leaned into them. \u201cWe were a game away from playing for the National Championship, and you could actually make the argument a drive away,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it didn\u2019t feel that way, right? Because the expectations at Penn State are really high.\u201d He continued, \u201cWe embrace that. I came to Penn State understanding that and knowing that. Our players did as well.\u201d<\/p>\n That mindset is echoed across the program. The staff believes this team is capable of breaking through and finally converting potential into titles. \u201cThe only way we\u2019ll do that is by handling our business today.\u201d<\/p>\n Main Image: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" James Franklin didn\u2019t arrive at Big Ten Media Days to celebrate predictions or entertain hype. With Penn State entering the 2025 season under a national spotlight, the 12th-year head coach used his time at the podium to reset the conversation. Last Word on College Football was on-site for Franklin\u2019s remarks, which centered not on rankings, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5544,"featured_media":75620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,17,35610],"tags":[35339,7983,35340,309],"class_list":["post-75599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","category-news","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-andrew-rappleyea","tag-big-ten-football","tag-luke-reynolds","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5544"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75599"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75621,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75599\/revisions\/75621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Franklin: \u201cBest Personnel We\u2019ve Had\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Transfer Portal Used for Targeted Needs<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Tight End Room Reloads, Not Rebuilds<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Running Backs Return to Make History<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Receiver Room Overhauled via Portal<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Big Games Await, Questions Linger<\/strong><\/h3>\n
High Stakes, But Franklin Isn\u2019t Flinching<\/strong><\/h3>\n