5 questions for James Franklin as Penn State opens spring football practices

Two and a half months after playing their last down of football and with winter offseason conditioning behind them, the Penn State Nittany Lions will officially get back to work with the opening of spring football practices on Monday, March 21. And with the dawn of a new spring practice schedule comes an opportunity to officially hear from the head coach of the program, James Franklin. Franklin will meet with the media for the traditional beginning of spring practice press conference on Monday afternoon.

And given the current state of the program after floating at .500 for the past two seasons, Franklin will face some good questions about where the program is heading in 2022.

How is the mentality different this year compared to last year?

After being considered one of the top Big Ten contenders behind Ohio State in the seasons leading up to it, Penn State struggled mightily in a unique 2020 season. So the mission for the 2021 season, beginning in the spring, was to get back to playing at a high level and competing once again for a Big Ten championship. After five games last season, that looked like a very viable scenario until the season started taking some bumps and bruises beginning with a difficult road loss at Iowa.

So here we are once again, with Penn State opening another spring looking to redeem itself after a challenging season that saw Penn State perform at a mediocre level with a lack of key victories outside of their early home win against Auburn. How does Franklin deliver the message again? Is the message and tone different this season? How do the team’s leaders take it upon themselves to ensure this spring goes differently than last spring, leading into the summer and fall?

Or, simply, does anything really need to change in the theme of the spring? How Franklin reacts to that possible line of questioning should be interesting to hear.

What is the plan for the running game?

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Penn State had a very uncharacteristic season running the football in 2021. A season that started with three players appearing on the Doak Walker Award watch list for the nation’s top running back resulted in zero 100-yard rushers in a 13-game season. The blame for the running game woes can fall on the issues facing the offensive line, but the goal of improving the running game is certainly one of the items on the to-do list for the 2022 season.

The addition of the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year and Maxwell Award Offensive Player of the Year, Nicholas Singleton from Reading, certainly gives the running game’s future an optimistic outlook. But if there is no way of paving paths for him or any other running back, including Keyvone Lee, then this would be a waste of talent and potential this season.

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But the biggest question may be how the handoffs are divided up. There is much optimism about the future of Singleton and he is widely regarded as a player that could step in and have an immediate role in the offense, but Lee still has some good value to the offense as well. Will Lee and Singleton split the carries evenly? Will Lee be the primary back for now? How soon will Singleton be installed in the offense as a fixture?

Maybe it’s too early for this question, but that is the kind of attention one of the nation’s top high school player attracts once he is on campus, as Singleton is.

Continue reading: What’s the story with the defense in 2022?

Are there any changes on defense under Manny Diaz?

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When Penn State lost longtime James Franklin assistant Brent Pry to an opportunity to become the head coach at Virginia Tech, they were fortunate to see a coaching change going down at Miami. The Hurricanes cut loose Many Diaz to bring in former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal, and Franklin swooped in to bring Diaz back to his defensive coordinator roots to fill his staff vacancy.

From a defensive standpoint, not a whole lot really needs to change for Penn State. The defense was far from Penn State’s problem last season, although it seemed to have a few cracks exposed in its regular-season finale at Michigan State at the end of a long season. And despite an Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas, a game that featured a number of new starters following a handful of significant opt-outs by NFL-bound players, the defense appears to be in a pretty good spot heading into the season.

Diaz does have some work to do with the defense, but the secondary could once again be a strength despite some key departures, and the defensive line should continue to bring good pressure. We’ll get a better glimpse at Diaz’s defense once the season actually begins. For now, don’t expect a whole lot to be changing under the new defensive coordinator.

Back on offense, what does Year 2 under Mike Yurcich look like?

A year ago, Penn State took advantage of another coaching change at Texas to bring in Mike Yurcich as its offensive coordinator. The addition was widely regarded as a great move for Penn State, who needed to replace Ricky Rahne after he left to become a head coach at Old Dominion. But the offense didn’t exactly flourish the way many had hoped it would in the first year under Yurcich despite having the benefit of a full spring practice schedule compared to the previous season with no spring practices.

But with the return of Sean Clifford for a sixth season at quarterback, Yurcich will have an opportunity to really dial in on what worked on what didn’t work this spring with his returning starter. And for Clifford, he’ll have his first chance to work with the same offensive coordinator for a second straight season. The hope is that leads to some positive results in the fall. And as long as the offensive line helps out, that should be the case.

Continue reading: Is there a QB controversy?

Is there any quarterback debate in Happy Valley?

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The return of Clifford for an extra year of eligibility raises some pretty notable questions, including a big one Franklin will do his best to put to rest as often as needed. Is there a quarterback controversy brewing at Penn State?

That is because Clifford is back for a fourth season as Penn State’s starter and the Nittany Lions just added one of the top passers in the Class of 2022 with Drew Allar. Like Singleton at the running back position, fans are eager to see what the future holds for Allar at Penn State, but there is almost no chance he supplants Clifford as the starting quarterback for the 2022 season.

At least, at the start of the season.

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I have written before how much respect I have for Clifford and what he has brought to the program. But we very well may have seen everything he has to offer in the offense after three years as the starter. If Penn State hits a few bumps this season and Clifford gets banged up again, the calls fr Allar will grow loudly very quickly. Franklin is certainly not naive to that possibility, although he will not get mixed up with such conversation easily either.

Expect Franklin to back Clifford as his starter while Allar learns, is developed, and prepared for his eventual moment. That moment could come this season at any point in time. It would be unlike Franklin to throw a match on a powderkeg of a situation with a quarterback debate in the spring, summer or in the early portion of the fall. Like it or not, Clifford will be the starting quarterback for Penn State when the new season begins. And if Clifford is the team’s starting quarterback at the end of the season, that could suggest the Nittany Lions have turned in a pretty good season.

So is there a quarterback debate? Maybe for the fans and the media. But not at all for Franklin.

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