Family Separation Weighs on James Franklin This Season
Penn State coach James Franklin leans hard on his positive-attitude core value, extending that to polite pleasantries with reporters during his weekly press conferences. That changed Tuesday.
Separated from his family this season, a hardship he acknowledged frankly, and with an 0-3 team, Franklin interrupted a question after being asked "How are you?" to amend his answer of "good."
"I shouldn't have said that," Franklin corrected. "I wouldn't necessarily say I'm good. All things considered, again, blessed and good. But that's probably not an honest answer. But I appreciate you asking."
Franklin revealed a different side Tuesday, four days before the Lions attempt to end their three-game losing streak at Nebraska. While his team seeks to answer questions about its first-half lethargy, its offensive inconsistencies and its big-play lapses on defense, Franklin explained a personal strain he has faced. That of coaching this season without his family at home.
Because his daughter Addison has Sickle cell disease, which compromises immune systems, Franklin's wife and two daughters are living at a family home in the South this season. Franklin said that likely will remain the case until a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available.
"One of the things I have not done a great job of handling personally, that I have to be honest with myself and honest with the team about, is I have not done a great job of managing my family being gone. I have not," Franklin said. "They're my fuel. I go home, they're able to pour into me, and I've not done a great job of that. At the end of the day, I have to. I have to manage those things."
Franklin and his wife Fumi took significant virus-prevention measures regarding their daughters this year, from sequestering in Colorado when the shutdowns began in March to spending most of the spring away from State College.
Franklin returned to Penn State in June, when the team began voluntary workouts, planning to coach apart from his family this season. In August, when the Big Ten initially announced plans to postpone the season, Franklin drove overnight to visit his family. He did so almost immediately after testing negative for COVID-19.
Franklin said he doesn't expect the situation to change until "we come up with some type of vaccine or I'm working in a way where I'm not interacting with so many people every day. But I don't know when that will change."
Franklin's daughters, Shola and Addison, usually are daily fixtures around the football building. They often attend practice and last year accompanied several seniors on their last walk around Beaver Stadium following the team's final home game.
This season, they're represented at Beaver Stadium among the fan cutouts in the South end zone.
Following Penn State's loss to Maryland, Franklin said he had a "really good conversation" with his wife. He also addressed the issue with players and coaches.
"I've been trying to kind of insulate her from it, feeling like if I went to her with it that I would be putting that on her plate and my family's plate," Franklin said. "But I'm not the best actor. So it wasn't really working. So we had a really good conversation that helped me.
"... Fortunately we have some great people my wife can rely on medically, specifically with the Sickle cell. These are the things they recommended, and we're fortunate enough to be able to do it. I also understand there's tremendous plusses [to the situation], and I have so much to be thankful for."
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