Sunday Column: Development Still Name of the Bame, But Portal Prowess Becoming More of a Priority

Back in the day, when proponents of various sub-tier bowl games (the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl was always a personal favorite) emphasized the virtues of playing in such games, one of the common themes they turned to again and again was the extra practices a team would receive leading up to the bowl game, a not-insignificant perk given the NCAA’s usual restrictions on offseason team gatherings.

The thought process went like this: Whether you win the game or not, you get a chance to get some younger players valuable practice reps and get a longer look at them, while your veteran players log some mental reps and get ready for that evening’s steak buffet/arcade tour/beach party. Collectively, players and coaches (including any just-hired coaches) get a theoretical leg up on next season.

In present day, that particular benefit seems of less value each year. Why? Because the team that is prepping for a bowl game in December will scarcely resemble the team that gathers for preseason camp the following August.

December used to be a month of recharging for college football players and staff. Instead, the transfer portal has made it the start of a long and frenetic game of musical chairs that will continue well into the spring. The task that now faces James Franklin and most other college football coaches is not program building as much as it is continuous program reshuffling. It’s not building the foundation brick-by-brick as much as it is a Tetris game, where the incoming pieces are of various shapes, only available for a short window of time, and must be quickly incorporated into the existing structure.

You could make a good case that Franklin and his staff have adapted as well to this new world order as any major program. In the last two seasons alone, the Nittany Lions have mined Arnold Ebiketie, Chop Robinson, Mitchell Tinsley, Barney Amor, Hunter Nourzad, John Dixon and Derrick Tangelo from the transfer portal (plus added a pretty damned good pair of JUCO safeties in Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown) and folded them, if not seamlessly, then smoothly into the lineup.

Just as importantly, the talent going out hasn’t exceeded the talent coming in … at least, not yet. Most of the recent departures, including the somewhat eyebrow-raising decision by Parker Washington to turn pro, have been headed to the NFL, not other programs. Davon Townley wasn’t the first intriguing young prospect to leave Penn State for other opportunities and won’t be the last, but so far State College is more transfer destination than transfer stepping stone.

The transfers have both bolstered Penn State’s depth, which is an ongoing priority for the staff, and at the same time called it into question. What does it say about the Nittany Lions’ offensive line that they need an Ivy League transfer to step in and immediately provide starter minutes? What does it say about their ability to identify and develop top-end talent at defensive end that that position has been led by a Temple recruit and a Maryland recruit the last two years?

Does it behoove Penn State — or any major program — to take a slow, measured approach with the freshmen it recruited with care and gradually build them into players when they can simply work the portal hard and come up with a fourth- or fifth-year kid who is already fully developed? The answer, of course, is yes. If Penn State is going to get where it wants to go, getting the Allars and Singletons, the Kings and the Carters, in the building as 18-year-olds and getting multiple productive seasons out of them as they become the fully formed versions of themselves is hugely important. If you rely on the portal for more than a few players, you’re in trouble.

But rounding out the starting lineup, or at least the two-deep, with quality transfers has become less optional and more mandatory each year. Having those holes to fill isn’t always an indication of failure; the growing number of players Penn State has sent to the NFL before they exhausted their eligibility is a sign that the player development machine is humming nicely … at least at most positions. And to keep pace with its competitors, Penn State needs to constantly be recruiting every position, not just in the high school ranks but in the portal. If you feel good about your two-deep in the secondary and a top-end safety wants to transfer in (and the ever-crucial but oh-so-hard-to-define “fit” is right), you find room for him. Franklin understands this and has adjusted the team’s recruiting strategy accordingly.

So while it’s good that some of the Nittany Lions’ younger players will get extended looks in bowl practices as they get ready to face Utah in Pasadena, and that they haven’t found the need to seek greener pastures, it’s important to remember that some of Penn State’s 2023 starters probably aren’t even in the program yet.