Five Things We Learned from James Franklin's Fox Sports Interview

Penn State coach James Franklin joined Fox's offseason edition of the Big Noon Kickoff for a broad conversation that touched many topics.

In it, Franklin discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, how his team addressed the nationwide conversation on social injustice and what's next for quarterback Sean Clifford.

Here are five things we learned from the interview. Check out the complete segment below.

Franklin's family is staying in Florida

Franklin previously noted that his wife Fumi and daughters Shola and Addison would live apart from him this season to protect Addison, who has Sickle cell disease, from being exposed to the novel coronavirus.

During the interview, which he conducted from his office with family photos behind him, Franklin said that he doesn't expect to see them until January or February "unless things change."

"It was hard for me coming back, knowing that we're going to be apart for such a long period of time," Franklin said.

The coach is proud of the team's discussions on social issues

Penn State has had several team-wide meetings about "a lot of the social issues we're dealing with [and] some of the tragedies in our country," Franklin said. The team also met with Penn State President Eric Barron and Board of Trustees chair Mark Dambly.

During some of the early meetings, Franklin said, "the only people that were talking were the Black coaches and the Black players." Then, others began joining the conversation, which Franklin called important.

"For us to make the progress we want to make, not only in our country but also in our communities, it's going to take people that don't look like me to speak up and have uncomfortable conversations," Franklin said.

Quarterback Sean Clifford is ready

Franklin said he doesn't see "any glaring weaknesses" in Clifford's game, adding that the quarterback is looking to improve his completion percentage on normal downs and his third-down conversion rate.

"He was able to make plays [last season] with his feet, able to make plays with his mind and able to make plays with his arm," Franklin said. "In today's college football, you'd better be able to do that."

Franklin's an 'overcommunicator'

Clearly, integrating four new assistants onto the staff without spring drills has been difficult. It further didn't help that the coaches couldn't visit recruits or meet them during spring Saturdays, which Franklin called key recruiting times.

But they compensated with an abundance of staff meetings, prompting Franklin to call himself an "overcommunicator."

"They've probably had enough of me," Franklin said.

Speaking of having enough of something

Zoom calls. They've been great, Franklin said, and will be an important lifeline to his family.

But, Franklin added, "I have a little of a love/hate relationship with Zoom right now, because I'm on it all day long."

Check out the full interview below.

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Big Noon Kickoff continues with another special guest this week: @coachjfranklin!
The @PennStateFball coach joins @coachurbanmeyer, @joelklatt, @mattleinartqb and @robstoneonfox to discuss the Nittany Lions' expectations this season https://t.co/YHJtXoa9a0
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) June 24, 2020

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