That’s five different decades of Penn State football in the photo you see above, and one great reminder of what’s become an annual highlight of the Coaches Caravan.
Tuesday night in Lancaster gave James Franklin another chance Continue reading
Category Archives: James Franklin
Sandy Barbour Meets the Fans
We’re back on the bus for the Penn State Coaches Caravan, the fourth year of this very cool road trip, and the second with James Franklin leading the way. And it is about the coaches, of course—this week, Franklin is joined by women’s golf coach Denise St. Pierre and men’s hockey coach Guy Gadowsky, while Russ Rose, Cael Sanderson, and Patrick Chambers are set to join in Week 2. But this year, the Caravan is a chance for one former coach to share the spotlight.
Sandy Barbour was a field hockey and lacrosse assistant Continue reading
Exclusive Q+A: James Franklin
In the midst of his second spring practice, James Franklin reflects on the progress the Nittany Lions have made since his arrival, and ponders how much farther they still have to go.
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It was an overcast day in Dublin, a few hours before kickoff, and James Franklin had the lush green surface of Croke Park almost to himself. Clad in a navy suit and royal blue tie, he walked the field inside the historic Irish stadium, soaking up the relative quiet, stopping now and again to appreciate the view. A few noisy, frantic hours later, on this very same turf, he would celebrate his first victory as Penn State head coach.
Seven wins and seven months later, Franklin is in his Lasch Building office early on a Monday morning, starting with coffee and conversation before diving into another busy day. Spring practice is underway, and Continue reading
The Marshall Plan
For Marshall Lefferts, cancer is a detour, not a roadblock. The story of the Nittany Lion football player you never got a chance to know.
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Five days a week, Marshall Lefferts repeats an offseason routine that is unique among college football players. He starts each day with a strenuous morning workout. In the afternoon, he goes for chemotherapy.
The workouts are voluntary, a statement of resilience from a young man refusing to see his dream derailed. As for the chemo, well, he doesn’t have much choice.
Lefferts is the sort of player Penn State fans would love to root for, if only they’d had the chance. Continue reading
Snapshots From Signing Day
It’s all a bit meta, this Signing Day business.
That’s James Franklin, above, seen in the reflection of a computer monitor while dialing up a FaceTime call on his phone. On the other end of the line was Garrett Taylor (seen below on Franklin’s iPhone), one of the 25 future Nittany Lions who made their college choice official on Wednesday morning. Continue reading
The Road to No. 1
You can’t miss that finger. In his five months on the job, James Franklin’s raised index finger—the universal sign for “We’re No. 1″—has become something of a trademark. Should you find yourself posing for a photo with Franklin anytime soon, the odds are good that he—and you, whether you planned on it or not—will be pointing a finger toward the sky. Continue reading
Letter Perfect
The quality of the photo—shot on an iPhone in a dimly lit hotel conference room—doesn’t do justice to the quality of the moment.
The moment came Thursday night in Pittsburgh, on the final stop of the first full week of the Penn State Coaches Caravan. Continue reading
8 Seconds Or Less
When I first heard that James Franklin had plans for a sort of photo booth on the Coaches Caravan, I imagined an actual, arcade-style photo booth. Boy, was I wrong. Continue reading
Best in the Booth
Photo by Steve Manuel
Good friends and consummate pros, Steve Jones and Jack Ham bring insight, history, and a commitment to excellence to their roles as the voices of Penn State football. By John Patishnock ’05
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Walk through an open gate on the west side of Beaver Stadium, stroll under a canopy, and step into a nearby service elevator. Push the button for the second floor, exit and take a dozen or so steps to the left. Arrive at door No. 210, marked “Penn State Sports Network.”
If you want to reach the broadcast booth that Steve Jones ’80 and Jack Ham ’71 have occupied together since 2000, this is the route you take. Continue reading
Truly Uplifting
Scott Shirley never imagined how far this thing might go. Continue reading
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