James Franklin identifies camp progress, key newcomers as season nears: Transcript

Penn State head coach James Franklin met with reporters on Tuesday evening for the third time during the program’s preseason camp. For the occasion, he didn’t hold back.

Within his short session with the media, the Nittany Lions’ leader identified strong performers from the true freshman class, what has separated the program’s transfer receiver additions, and much more. Take a look at everything Franklin said, with paraphrased topics, here.

The transcript is lightly edited for clarity.

Penn State head coach James Franklin post-practice video

James Franklin post-practice transcript

On the green dot helmet candidates on defense:

Franklin: “The three most experienced inside guys – obviously, Rojas, DeLuca, and Amare – are the three most experienced guys. So we’ll see how that goes, but we’re working towards it.”

On transfer linebacker Amare Campbell being included in that group:

Franklin: “Not really. When I say not really, it’s not really a short run up for him, because in my mind, he did it at North Carolina. We got a new defense. They’re all learning a new defense. So it’s about the same for everybody, right?”

On true freshmen inching toward green lights:

Franklin: “I think the guys that probably jump out the most right now are Kemajou, Daryus Dixson, and then the third one is Chaz. Those are probably the three guys right now that we’re talking about the most, but we’ll see. It hasn’t been decided yet for those guys, and then some other guys. But those guys, I think, there’s been a lot of discussions about and a lot of positive buzz about them. So we’ll see.”

On All-American receiver Allen Robinson being at practice:

Franklin: “Tremendous career here, and then in the NFL. A guy that just was unbelievable in terms of high pointing the ball, specifically in traffic. But yeah, whenever we can have those guys back, it’s great. Obviously, you know they’re very close with Deion and they’re very close with Drop. I think, yesterday they were out seeing Bill Belton, so almost a complete Supa Six, if I remember it correctly. So really cool. They were at, I think, Bill Belton’s practice yesterday, and then came over here today. And it’s great having those guys back. Obviously, both played a long time in the NFL and had great careers here. Obviously, my time crossed over with Donovan, but just missed Allen. I wish I would have got a year with Allen. But great having those guys back. And it’s probably cool for them to see some of their teammates, even Nelly in sports science, a lot of guys they played with that are back involved with the program. So it’s one of the things that makes Penn State so special.”

On Syracuse transfer receiver Trebor Pena’s showing through camp:

Franklin: “He’s more explosive. He’s 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, a very good route runner, sudden and quick. So a lot of the 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. He doesn’t say a whole lot. Very mature, has fit in really well culturally, and we’re very pleased with him.”

On Drew Allar’s maturity and its impact on the offense:

Franklin: “Experience counts, right? And specifically at the quarterback position. He’s played a lot of football here. He’s seen a lot. He knows how to prepare. Being in the same system now for multiple years, there’s value in that for him. So yeah, just all the things that you talk about when you talk about high level quarterbacks, and the ones that have done it now for multiple years. He’s a proven commodity. There’s not many of them in college football. And he’s done some really, really good things. And there’s areas that he needed to improve on and he’s worked hard in those areas this offseason. I think he’s going to do what he’s done every year since he stepped on campus – he has gotten better every single year. Last year, most people had him projected as a first-round draft choice and he decides to come back to school. I think he’s going to take another significant step this year, just like he has every year.”

On Southern Cal transfer receiver Kyron Hudson:

Franklin: “Very similar to Pena. I think a kind of important point there is they were both captains at their last schools. So, very mature, very consistent. Totally different body type. Big, strong, physical, contested catch guy. You saw that on film. We’ve seen that all camp. He’s more sudden than I thought he was going to be as a route runner. And just a savvy vet that we’re very, very glad we have him. He’s wearing the number one. He’s earned that. And I think they’re really good complementary pieces, if you think about it. Pena’s body type and his skill set, and then Hudson’s body type and his skill set, really nice, complementary pieces. But more than anything, two veteran, experienced guys with production that we expect to have big years for us.”

On true freshman DE Chaz Coleman:

Franklin: “I think we’re all surprised. I mean, we knew he was a talent. Tall, long, athletic, high level basketball player, quarterback. His senior year, he moves to defensive end, blows up, gets some offers. We offer, he commits. Everybody else still comes after him. Got a great family, and they held true. And we still didn’t know what we were going to get, because he only played one year of defensive end. It’s a long way from the quarterback position. But his physicality and his explosiveness and his motor has been impressive. Everybody’s talking about him. It’s early, but he’s flashed, and there’s a lot of excitement about his abilities. He’s gotten up to 250 pounds in a very, very short period of time. He’s gained like 25 pounds since being on campus, and he’s still skinny, which is the exciting thing. But he’s flashed. And he is an awesome kid. Awesome kid. We take a lot of pride in the locker room and how we leave the facility. And he’s in there the other night. Everybody’s out of the locker room, and he’s picking up towels and putting things away. He’s a Yes sir, no sir. Extremely humble. I went around and asked all the freshmen, which I do every year, how they see themselves as red, yellows, or greens in terms of redshirting or playing right away. And he said he was a yellow when everybody in the room is kind of looking at him like, ‘Dude, you ain’t a yellow.’ But that’s just the type of guy he is. He’s been raised well, and he’s got really good genetics, so he’s an exciting one.”

On the installs to this point in camp:

Franklin: “We got pretty much everything in now, and it’s a lot. Because what happens is, you got the installs on defense, but then you got to deal with… you got that one defense, but then against the two-by-two formation, against a three-by-one formation, against empty, against motions and shifts. It magnifies everything. And that’s the same thing on both sides of the ball. There’s not a whole lot more we’ll be putting in, so we can refine things. We got to play cleaner. I like what we’re doing, but there’s just too many missed assignments and things like that. Bad football will get you beat long before good football will win you games. And we’ve done a good job of that, but we got to get those things cleaned up right now and start refining. The other thing, as you guys know, is when you get into a game week, you’re gonna have a smaller package of what you do, and you’re gonna have a smaller package of what you’re expecting to see. So that helps, too. But it allows us to go back during the season and say, ‘Okay, we did this during training camp. Remember? We’re going to use that this week in our package.'”

On the RB3 competition:

Franklin: “Yeah, I think it’s still wide open. We’ve had some inconsistency there in terms of who’s practicing, who’s not, guys getting dinged up and things like that. So that thing is still wide open.”

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