As Penn State hit the football practice fields for the first spring practice of the year, head coach James Franklin spent some time in front of a microphone to answer questions from reporters about the current state of the program for the 2022 season. After two mediocre seasons, a number of departures to the NFL, and some notable changes on the staff and roster, there was no shortage of topics to discuss with the head coach of the Nittany Lions on Monday afternoon.
Franklin covered a lot of ground, including key position battles and concerns, the future of the program under a new athletics director, and how the confidence level is for a program that has struggled the past two years. Franklin also discussed the impact some of the newest additions to the program are having in workouts, whether as an early enrollee or via the transfer portal.
The following quotes from Franklin were provided by Penn State.
Adjusting to new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Going into the spring, the biggest adjustment is with Manny Diaz as our defensive coordinator. I think that’s gone extremely well. I think the adjustment has been really good.
I think the fact that we were able to spend a lot of time talking on the front end of what the expectations were, what was important to him, what was important to me, I think that’s really helped the transition. But that’s gone extremely well. Obviously, these 15 practices will be really important.
Year two with Mike Yurcich at offensive coordinator
Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP
Year two with [Mike Yurcich] and cleaning up some things that we wish we would have done better last year as well as just take the next step, in general, from an offensive perspective. I know[Sean Clifford] is pretty excited about it.
Franklin was later asked about the quarterback situation…
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