Sunday Column: Forget About “Elite” for now – Penn State Needs to get Back to Good

It wasn’t all that long ago that James Franklin bemoaned the difference between good and great and elite.

For those who don’t know what I’m referencing, a quick refresher:

In a passionate post-game speech following Penn State’s 27-26 loss to Ohio State on Sept. 29, 2018, Franklin vented frustration with a program that was “comfortable with being great” — too comfortable for the coach’s liking — and vowed to help push it to that next and final level, the land of milk and honey where only the likes of Alabama, Georgia, and, yes, Ohio State, could call home.

“It’s the little things that are going to matter,” he said.

The Nittany Lions are 27-16 since that moment, including 1-2 in bowl games, and have as many wins (11) in their last two seasons combined as they had amassed in three of the previous four seasons. After going from average to good to great, Penn State has somehow, but assuredly, slipped back to the “average” rung of the ladder, with “elite” barely in sight.

There are a number of reasons for this, of course. Some of them would qualify as big things — a lack of quality offensive line play, a surprising number of staff changes, a pandemic — and others the result of a lack of attention to or execution of the little details that Franklin spoke of after that gut-punch loss to the Buckeyes. Penn State lost to Indiana last season by less than the length of a football, after its running back scored a touchdown instead of falling down at the 1 to kill the clock. It lost to Illinois this season not because it surrendered 357 rushing yards but because, in seven cracks from the 2-yard line in the ‘Overtime from Hell’, it could only cross the goal line once. It lost at Iowa, and perhaps had its whole season shifted, not because of a lack of production at QB1 but a stunning drop-off from QB1 to QB2.

Penn State did not look elite in any of its 13 games this fall, even during encouraging and exciting early-season wins against Wisconsin and Auburn. But, for large chunks of those games, and even in significant portions of many of those six losses, it showed the flashes of greatness that Franklin and his staff and his players had, gradually, worked so hard to build coming out of the sanctions period. But consistent large-scale flaws and consistent failure to take care of the little things took this team from 5-0 and No. 4 in the nation in October to a team that couldn’t take a third-place SEC West opponent to the final possession to close the year. Yes, the Nittany Lions had several key players opt out of that game … but can you blame any of them?

So Franklin must dig his heels into the “average” rung of the ladder and start climbing again. He’s made this climb before and there are few reasons to think he can’t get Penn State back to “great” again. This time, though, he’ll have to do it without several program mainstays. In just over a month, he’s seen his most trusted assistant coach (Brent Pry) leave to take over the Virginia Tech program, and take Franklin’s longtime ops director (Michael Hazel) with him. He’s seen his longtime strength coach (Dwight Galt III) retire. Those are three lieutenants that he is assuredly thrilled for but who will leave big shoes to fill in terms of both their respective responsibilities and the level of trust that Franklin put in each.

The conference is different now, too. Ohio State is still the alpha dog, but Michigan broke out of a multi-year slumber this past season and, even with some key departures, should be a formidable opponent moving forward. Mel Tucker has done an impressive job with Michigan State. Kirk Ferentz will likely frustrate Penn State until he’s 80, Jeff Brohm has turned the boat at Purdue, and the likes of Greg Schiano and Bret Bielema are poised to make some of the Big Ten’s bottom-feeders at least more of an annual nuisance, if not legit contenders.

There are encouraging signs for both the short- and long-term futures of the program, though. The Nittany Lions’ incoming recruiting class is loaded with explosive talent, the Class of 2023 is off to a strong start, and Franklin has shown the ability to navigate the transfer portal as well as anyone. Some facility upgrades are already underway, and incoming university president Neeli Bendapudi has spoken of a need for added investment — how much of that translates to football specifically will be of great interest. The fan base, though perhaps as jaded with Franklin as they’ve ever been, remains one of the largest and most passionate in the nation, which continues to sway recruits and provide the dollars to keep the machine running.

We still don’t know if Franklin can elevate — or, depending on your perspective, return — this program to elite status. It might take a key recruit, or a decisive victory against the Buckeyes, or an offensive coordinator and quarterback combination that finally clicks. First, the Nittany Lions must ascend once more from average to good, then from good to great. And if they’re fortunate, Franklin will have learned enough from the little things and big things that precipitated the backslide to average to ensure it doesn’t happen again.