James Franklin was asked to describe the achievements of this year’s Penn State team from the podium after winning the Big Ten championship Saturday in Indianapolis.
He didn’t give the expected answer.
“For me, it’s not just the season,” he said. “It’s all the hard work and all the positive steps we’ve been taking for three years. It didn’t always seem that way maybe to others, but we felt that way. It wasn’t easy. Those steps weren’t downhill. Those steps were up Mount Nittany. That’s kind of how I look at it.”
It wasn’t easy this season. Penn State started 2-2 with losses to Pittsburgh and Michigan, and that’s when that climb started.
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The Nittany Lions won nine straight games, took the Big Ten East Division and beat Wisconsin 38-31 in the Big Ten championship. That 11-2 season, which almost ended in a College Football Playoff berth, is why Franklin is the 2016 Sporting News Coach of the Year.
There were other deserving candidates, notably Washington’s Chris Petersen and Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre, but Franklin’s efforts stood out a little more. Franklin had dubbed this “Year 1” for the program after finally coming out of the NCAA sanctions resulting from the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the end of the Joe Paterno era in Happy Valley.
The signature win happened Oct. 22, when Grant Haley returned a blocked field-goal attempt for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for a 24-21 win over No. 2 Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. It was the classic “White Out,” and Franklin was compelled to put that into words on the spot.
It was the perfect answer.
"I'm just happy for our kids,” he said on the ABC telecast. “The former players, the lettermen, this town has been through a lot. So, this is the start of our healing process tonight. I couldn’t be prouder.”
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From there, Penn State’s season took off. The Nittany Lions won out to take the division, and rallied from a 28-7 deficit to beat the Badgers at Lucas Oil Stadium behind a red-hot Trace McSorley. Penn State will represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl against USC.
That wasn’t the expected answer, either.
In a division where Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh have dominated the headlines for the past two seasons, it was Franklin who re-established another blue blood within the division. Penn State is back, and the Nittany Lions are going to be a factor in the Big Ten for years to come.
That’s how far they’ve come in Year 1. That’s why Franklin was the choice.
“This is a foundation,” he said. “The fortunate thing is we get to continue building on that foundation this year. So I’m just a very appreciative guy. I’m a very blessed guy.”
