When James Franklin arrived in Happy Valley in January 2014 the talent level of the Penn State Football team was at one of its lowest points in modern program history. This was to be expected as the Nittany Lions were still dealing with some of the worst sanctions in NCAA history.
Upon Franklin’s arrival, the talent level at Penn State was nowhere near that of the Big Ten’s gold standard - the Ohio State Buckeyes. However, over the course of the past four years CJF has continued to chip away at the Buckeyes. Due to a combination of winning on both the recruiting trail and the football field, James Franklin is closing the talent gap between the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes.