Penn State head coach James Franklin press conference: August 12

Penn State head coach James Franklin spoke with the media on Tuesday night as the team rounds into the halfway point of training camp. The team is now just over two weeks away from the start of the 2025 season with Nevada traveling to Beaver Stadium on Aug 30. Hear what Franklin had to say after the team’s weekly media practice event. You can hear his complete comments on the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel, or embedded below.

Franklin spoke for roughly ten minutes and covered the team’s camp progression, and gave updates on various players.

Penn State head coach James Franklin press conference Practice updates

Franklin was asked about his wide receiver room and transfer Trebor Pena. He was effusive in praise for the most recent transfer. 

“So he’s more explosive, done a really good job embracing our strength program, he’s gotten stronger. He’s gotten more explosive. All his numbers are up. His speed numbers are up, his quickness numbers are up, his jumping numbers are up. And then on the field, he’s just super mature, really consistent, very good route runner, sudden and quick. So a lot of things that you saw on tape from a production standpoint, we’ve seen it, but I think he’s gotten faster and more explosive. So he’s been really good. It’ll say a whole lot, very mature has fit in really well culturally, and we’re very pleased with him.”

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Be the first to know what’s going on with the Penn State Nittany Lions each week during open practice. Join Blue White Illustrated right now for just one dollar and get access to the Lions Den message board. The BWI staff provides live updates during practice to give fans a window into what we see, in real time. You can also get the full report later with our practice notebooks and photo galleries.

The Nittany Lions have one more open practice on Aug 19 before the team shifts to game preparations for Nevada on Aug 30. The Blue and White are one of the top teams in the country heading into the 2025 season. Franklin’s team finished second in the AP Top 25 poll this week. They narrowly missed out on the top spot, held by Texas. The season kicks off against Nevada on the 30th at 3:30. We will kick off the season three hours earlier with the Penn State Football Tailgate Show, produced in conjunction with Seven Mountains media at 12:30. After the game, catch our postgame coverage including Instant Analysis from the field at Beaver Stadium, James Franklin’s postgame press conference and the LaBatt Postgame show!