Speaking of recruiting news, when your coach is James Franklin, it's never hard to find! Since I posted Brian's piece the Nittany Lions already picked up 4-star RB Andre Robinson out of Harrisburg. That makes 7 commits for the 2015 class, 4 of whom are 4-star recruits and 5 of whom are from Pennsylvania! Looks likes Coach Franklin is coming through on those recruiting promises he made. And he didn't stop there. After Robinson's commitment, the staff offered 3-star DE Jonathan Holland and made some exciting progress with 4-star OT Sterling Jenkins (who, at 6' 8" would become the tallest player on the roster if he committed). Now some of you may be wondering exactly how Coach Franklin and his staff are managing to put such a stranglehold on PA recruits. Well, Ben Jones from StateCollege.com breaks down their strategy here.
Still, none of this is particularly surprising given Franklin's recruiting success at Vanderbilt. In fact, after he convinced a number of his former Vanderbilt recruits to switch over to Penn State, new Vandy head coach, Derek Mason had a message for the head Lion: "anytime, anywhere." Well, it would appear that James Franklin isn't afraid of that challenge and would actually welcome the Commodores with open arms... provided them come to Beaver Stadium that is.
Meanwhile, the countdown has begun to the Blue/White Game on April 12; and to think, Bill O'Brien actually considered cancelling this because of injury concerns. Thankfully, only Pitt was stupid enough to actually go through with that idea and instead, we'll get our first glimpse of a James Franklin coached squad. Mike Poorman sat down with the coach to discuss the game and some of the numbers behind winter workouts.
And if recruiting, interviews, and starting blood feuds isn't enough, the details for this year's rendition of the Coaches Caravan Tour, starring none other than James Franklin, were released today! Last year's tour seemed to really take a toll on the more reserved Bill O'Brien. But I have a feeling that the media-savvy Franklin is going to put on an extravaganza! I'll be sure to check out at least one of the dates and let you all know how awesome it was.
Finally, in weird news, it looks like freshman QB Michael O'Connor (1 of the 5 early enrollees back in January) wasted no time showing off his Irish heritage by partaking in the student-drinking holiday known as State Patty's Day. Come on Mike, you've only been there a month! Hopefully the matter is handled appropriately, he learns his lesson, and we never hear of this again.
Well that's all for now. Keep it here on the blog all offseason and be sure to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus for all the latest Penn State football news and notes. And as always, go State!
No comments:
Post a Comment