James Franklin admits expectations at Penn State are ‘a blessing and a curse’

When James Franklin took the head coaching job at Penn State in 2014, he understood the expectations that came with that.

Coming in from Vanderbilt , a team that historically hasn’t had much success in the SEC, Franklin hasn’t skipped a beat and turned Penn State into an 11-win team by his third season with the program . Still, it feels like it isn’t enough as both Ohio State and Michigan have gone on to win national championships during his tenure.

“It is a blessing and a curse,” Franklin told On3’s Andy Staples during Big Ten Media Days . “To be able to coach at a place that has really high expectations or standards — I don’t even know that somebody said today over 11 years we’ve averaged nine wins. A lot of programs in the country with die for that, right And I think on top of that, we’ve been so close so many times.

“But again, this is a place that’s got really high expectations and standards. We embrace that. We talk about that with recruits. Every coach we hire knows that, so that comes with the territory. That also comes with 107,000 seat stadium — you don’t fill up 107,000 seat stadium with people that aren’t passionate about what we do. It is a blessing and a curse and we embrace both sides.”

Penn State has rattled off 10 or more wins under Franklin during his 10 years with the program. That includes a 21-5 record over the past two seasons with appearances in both the Peach Bowl and the Rose Bowl.

Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, this strong stretch came at the same time as Michigan’s rise as a national championship contender. Penn State fell to Michigan in State College 24-15 this past season, but was still able to find themselves ranked No. 10 overall in the final College Football Playoff rankings. In 2024 — that would have been good enough to put the Nittany Lions into the field.

Penn State is certainly a name to watch out for in the CFP race this upcoming season. With Jim Harbaugh away to the NFL , Ohio State looks as though they’re the team to beat for the Nittany Lions this fall. The two Big Ten rivals will meet on Nov. 2 in Happy Valley.

Before that, however, Penn State will be looking solely at their Week 1 opponent on Aug. 31 — a matchup against West Virginia in Morgantown.

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