James Franklin, the 'Nag' of Penn State Football
Penn State coach James Franklin told a story Wednesday about screaming fits and foggy glasses that ended with him declaring, "I look like an idiot." But if the Lions manage to avoid COVID-19 and finish the season healthy, Franklin will accept the look.
Just over a week from the season-opener at Indiana, Penn State is in a favorable position regarding its virus-prevention protocols, with just three positive tests of athletes among more than 1,300 tests administered last week.
Still, the Lions haven't played a contact game with anyone outside their State College semi-bubble, haven't traveled together since the Cotton Bowl and, perhaps just as important, haven't left behind players on the non-travel squad to their own honor system.
All of that concerns Franklin, who called himself the "nag" of Penn State football. From constant pleas to wear face masks properly, to calling the parents of players who don't, Franklin has been outspoken, both publicly and at practice, about adhering to team protocols.
But with virus concerns causing some issues in the SEC, where two weekend games have been postponed and Alabama coach Nick Saban said he has tested positive but is asymptomatic, Franklin and Penn State are trying to gather as much data, positive and negative, to inform the beginning of their season.
"We’re just trying to do the best we possibly can to make this thing work," Franklin said after practice Wednesday. "Not only how we play on the field and how we scheme and how we coach but the discipline of how we conduct ourselves away from the Lasch Football Building and Beaver Stadium is going to impact what we do on it."
The Big Ten instituted its daily antigen testing for football players Sept. 30, a move Franklin called important but one that also carried a potential risk of false security. Franklin has heard from colleagues in the NFL that some players thought daily testing would allow them to relax their attention to other virus-prevention protocols.
Franklin has implored players, in meetings and practices, not to fall victim to that. Penn State's positive-case rate among all athletes was .23 percent last week. The Big Ten requires football teams to test positive at a rate of 5 percent or lower, on a rolling seven-day average, to remain eligible.
"I said to them [Wednesday] after practice, 'Guys, please, we can’t get complacent with this,'" Franklin said. "We can’t get casual with this. Because as soon as you do, it gets you."
Players and coaches have described Franklin as insistent about following prevention protocols, to the point that the head coach said he "drives everybody crazy" and wearily asks other team personnel for help.
Now, Franklin has another worry: What happens with the players who don't travel to Indiana next week? How will they respond to being disappointed at not going and having some distance to the coach's reminders?
"We heard that been a problem at other schools, and I can understand why," Franklin said.
Just this week, Franklin said he grew a bit animated at practice, "lost my stuff" and went on a tirade. Problem was, Franklin couldn't see the target of his ire because his mask, of course, had fogged his glasses. "And I look like an idiot," he said.
Ultimately, though, Franklin said that Penn State has conducted a mostly normal training camp, one he said might be more productive than normal because of the expanded meeting and individual instruction time. Franklin even used the word "routine," though the situation is far from it.
"I’m encouraged by the leadership and positivity that’s going on," defensive coordinator Brent Pry said recently. "There’s a lot of crazy stories right now across college football and how people are dealing with this, and of course we have a few of our own. But for the most part, we’re doing what we need to do to put ourselves in a position that, when we play again, we'll be ready."
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