Interesting article on recruiting....
Penn State Football: Franklin’s Recruiting Game Plan Similar to Paterno’s … For Now
by Mike Poorman on February 05, 2017 10:00 PM
Link: http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/penn-state-football-franklins-recruiting-game-plan-similar-to-paternos-for-now,1471028/
James Franklin in Penn State’s Lasch Building during Signing Day on Wednesday. Photo by GoPSUSports.com
So far, 101 signed and verbal commitments into the James Franklin Era, this much is clear:
James and Joe hunt(ed) for their Jimmys and Joes in basically the same places.
In Franklin’s first five recruiting seasons — No. 5 is still in progress for the next year or so — and Joe Paterno’s last 10, roughly 70% of the coaches’ scholarship players came from five states and a 300-mile drive from State College:
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio.
What was true then is true now – again. And for now.
“One of our great advantages of being at Penn State,” Andy Frank, the Nittany Lions’ player of player personnel, said on Signing Day last week, “is that if you look at Pittsburgh up to Maine and down to Virginia, we are the premiere football program. That allows us to recruit at a very high level for a large population. Hopefully we can get a bunch of those kids.”
But, Franklin wants more – more players from around the nation.
The Penn State head coach used the bully pulpit of his Signing Day press conference in Beaver Stadium last Wednesday to (not-so) subtly campaign for some internal changes that could impact Penn State’s external recruiting strategies.
But, as we’ll see in a few paragraphs, those plans are up in the air. Literally.
COMMONWEALTH COMMONALITIES
For the time being, though, the pull from the Pennsylvania pool of players has been remarkably similar, when comparing Franklin’s 2014-2018 classes and Paterno’s 2002-(partial) 2012 classes.
Thus far, counting verbal commits to the Class of 2018, 30 of Franklin’s 101 scholarship players and verbals have been from Pennsylvania. Over Paterno’s final 10 Signing Days – 2002 through 2011, plus the dozen in the Class of 2012 who committed to PSU before Paterno was fired – he had 209 signees. Of that group, 72 were from Pennsylvania. That’s 34% compared to the 30% for Franklin, who promised on Day One that he would dominate the state. Which he has.
“I think you will always see Pennsylvania first, region second and then nationally will be icing on top,” Frank said. “I think it goes back to the concept of being more balanced and being able to take the best player available. That allows you to be more selective in the region. Control the state and handle the guys you want in your state, and if they can play for you, you take them.”
A BREAKDOWN
Here’s how the two Penn State head coaches handed out their scholarships for the time blocks noted. The numbers break fairly even enough so that Franklin’s 101 are roughly half of Paterno’s 209 over his last decade of recruiting:
PENNSYLVANIA – Franklin 30 (30%), Paterno 72 (34%).
NEW JERSEY – Franklin 14 (14%), Paterno 21 (10%).
MARYLAND – Franklin 11 (11%), Paterno 23 (11%).
VIRGINIA – Franklin 10 (10%), Paterno 16 (7.6%).
OHIO – Franklin 6 (6%), Paterno 11 (5%).
PA, NJ, MD, VA, OHIO – Franklin 71 (70%), Paterno 143 (68%)
Franklin, who spent eight seasons at the University of Maryland, has made a concerted effort to mine the DMV – D.C., Maryland, Virginia – region, which is where Penn State, with Larry Johnson Sr. leading the way, also did well.
Franklin, in large part because of his connections made while at Vanderbilt, has made inroads into Georgia, getting six players while in his final decade Paterno got two from the Peach State. Franklin has also pulled three players from Massachusetts, while Paterno got none in his final decade.
Likewise, Paterno tapped heavily into New York, where he got 16 signees in his final decade while Franklin has had just two. Paterno also counted on Michigan (10 to just one for Franklin) and Connecticut (seven to only one for Franklin).
Neither Paterno nor Franklin has looked to any large extent nationally (i.e., California and Florida), at least not to the extent that Franklin’s toughest counterparts in the Big Ten’s East division have done recently.
ELSEWHERE IN THE BIG TEN EAST
At Michigan, Jim Harbaugh’s current roster has 11 players from Florida and six from California, plus nine from New Jersey, three from Virginia and two each from Maryland, New York, Alabama, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Georgia. At Ohio State, Urban Meyer’s current roster has seven players from Florida and one from California, four from the Carolinas, three each from Texas and Maryland, five from Virginia and four from New Jersey.
At Penn State, Franklin’s current roster has one scholarship player each from California (Koa Farmer) and Florida (Amani Oruwariye). And the Nittany Lions do have a 2018 commit from Texas in three-star defensive back Isaiah Humphries. But Frank doesn’t think that Penn State will ever head nationally in a big way – perhaps in part due to some constraints Franklin hinted at last Wednesday.
First, Frank: “Once you fill your needs you can wait a little longer on kids who are more national. Kids who are closer to you are going to decide sooner. The further away they are the longer they are going to take to decide. The higher-level player – not that they’re better locally – but you can just wait longer on them now compared to the past.
“You hope that the national kids take off the bottom portion of the kids you are otherwise signing in your region. That kind of elevates your overall class. I don’t think the number is going to grow to some huge number. You’re not going to see a scenario where we’re signing 75% of our class from outside our region. That’s not who we are.”
NATIONAL ANTHEM
For his part, the only hint of frustration Franklin seemed to have on Signing Day was the travel complications and implications Penn State faces if it looks to recruit on a more national basis.
“I think we’ve made progress,” Franklin said on Wednesday. “I still think we got a long ways to go in studying what other programs around the country are doing. This is a challenge for us -- we don’t have an international airport. This isn’t an easy place to get to. When you’re trying to be efficient with your time during the season to get out of here -- but also do a great job of coaching the team we have, making sure they’re prepared – that’s challenging.
“How can you get to places and still do a great job where you’re at? So those things are difficult. Even during the recruiting period when a season ends, not only getting me around, but all the assistant coaches around.”
Franklin continued – and here’s where we really get to the part about more of a national recruiting emphasis:
“So it’s a challenge,” he added. “It’s something that we’ve got to continue working at and find the best solution for Penn State that’s going to allow us to continue to not only recruit regionally within six hours of campus, but nationally, and be able to give those students on the other side of the country or in the south or in the west, whatever it may be, similar attention that the local prospects get.
“That’s challenging. It’s one of our challenges here at Penn State.”
Penn State Football: Franklin’s Recruiting Game Plan Similar to Paterno’s … For Now
by Mike Poorman on February 05, 2017 10:00 PM
Link: http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/penn-state-football-franklins-recruiting-game-plan-similar-to-paternos-for-now,1471028/
James Franklin in Penn State’s Lasch Building during Signing Day on Wednesday. Photo by GoPSUSports.com
So far, 101 signed and verbal commitments into the James Franklin Era, this much is clear:
James and Joe hunt(ed) for their Jimmys and Joes in basically the same places.
In Franklin’s first five recruiting seasons — No. 5 is still in progress for the next year or so — and Joe Paterno’s last 10, roughly 70% of the coaches’ scholarship players came from five states and a 300-mile drive from State College:
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio.
What was true then is true now – again. And for now.
“One of our great advantages of being at Penn State,” Andy Frank, the Nittany Lions’ player of player personnel, said on Signing Day last week, “is that if you look at Pittsburgh up to Maine and down to Virginia, we are the premiere football program. That allows us to recruit at a very high level for a large population. Hopefully we can get a bunch of those kids.”
But, Franklin wants more – more players from around the nation.
The Penn State head coach used the bully pulpit of his Signing Day press conference in Beaver Stadium last Wednesday to (not-so) subtly campaign for some internal changes that could impact Penn State’s external recruiting strategies.
But, as we’ll see in a few paragraphs, those plans are up in the air. Literally.
COMMONWEALTH COMMONALITIES
For the time being, though, the pull from the Pennsylvania pool of players has been remarkably similar, when comparing Franklin’s 2014-2018 classes and Paterno’s 2002-(partial) 2012 classes.
Thus far, counting verbal commits to the Class of 2018, 30 of Franklin’s 101 scholarship players and verbals have been from Pennsylvania. Over Paterno’s final 10 Signing Days – 2002 through 2011, plus the dozen in the Class of 2012 who committed to PSU before Paterno was fired – he had 209 signees. Of that group, 72 were from Pennsylvania. That’s 34% compared to the 30% for Franklin, who promised on Day One that he would dominate the state. Which he has.
“I think you will always see Pennsylvania first, region second and then nationally will be icing on top,” Frank said. “I think it goes back to the concept of being more balanced and being able to take the best player available. That allows you to be more selective in the region. Control the state and handle the guys you want in your state, and if they can play for you, you take them.”
A BREAKDOWN
Here’s how the two Penn State head coaches handed out their scholarships for the time blocks noted. The numbers break fairly even enough so that Franklin’s 101 are roughly half of Paterno’s 209 over his last decade of recruiting:
PENNSYLVANIA – Franklin 30 (30%), Paterno 72 (34%).
NEW JERSEY – Franklin 14 (14%), Paterno 21 (10%).
MARYLAND – Franklin 11 (11%), Paterno 23 (11%).
VIRGINIA – Franklin 10 (10%), Paterno 16 (7.6%).
OHIO – Franklin 6 (6%), Paterno 11 (5%).
PA, NJ, MD, VA, OHIO – Franklin 71 (70%), Paterno 143 (68%)
Franklin, who spent eight seasons at the University of Maryland, has made a concerted effort to mine the DMV – D.C., Maryland, Virginia – region, which is where Penn State, with Larry Johnson Sr. leading the way, also did well.
Franklin, in large part because of his connections made while at Vanderbilt, has made inroads into Georgia, getting six players while in his final decade Paterno got two from the Peach State. Franklin has also pulled three players from Massachusetts, while Paterno got none in his final decade.
Likewise, Paterno tapped heavily into New York, where he got 16 signees in his final decade while Franklin has had just two. Paterno also counted on Michigan (10 to just one for Franklin) and Connecticut (seven to only one for Franklin).
Neither Paterno nor Franklin has looked to any large extent nationally (i.e., California and Florida), at least not to the extent that Franklin’s toughest counterparts in the Big Ten’s East division have done recently.
ELSEWHERE IN THE BIG TEN EAST
At Michigan, Jim Harbaugh’s current roster has 11 players from Florida and six from California, plus nine from New Jersey, three from Virginia and two each from Maryland, New York, Alabama, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Georgia. At Ohio State, Urban Meyer’s current roster has seven players from Florida and one from California, four from the Carolinas, three each from Texas and Maryland, five from Virginia and four from New Jersey.
At Penn State, Franklin’s current roster has one scholarship player each from California (Koa Farmer) and Florida (Amani Oruwariye). And the Nittany Lions do have a 2018 commit from Texas in three-star defensive back Isaiah Humphries. But Frank doesn’t think that Penn State will ever head nationally in a big way – perhaps in part due to some constraints Franklin hinted at last Wednesday.
First, Frank: “Once you fill your needs you can wait a little longer on kids who are more national. Kids who are closer to you are going to decide sooner. The further away they are the longer they are going to take to decide. The higher-level player – not that they’re better locally – but you can just wait longer on them now compared to the past.
“You hope that the national kids take off the bottom portion of the kids you are otherwise signing in your region. That kind of elevates your overall class. I don’t think the number is going to grow to some huge number. You’re not going to see a scenario where we’re signing 75% of our class from outside our region. That’s not who we are.”
NATIONAL ANTHEM
For his part, the only hint of frustration Franklin seemed to have on Signing Day was the travel complications and implications Penn State faces if it looks to recruit on a more national basis.
“I think we’ve made progress,” Franklin said on Wednesday. “I still think we got a long ways to go in studying what other programs around the country are doing. This is a challenge for us -- we don’t have an international airport. This isn’t an easy place to get to. When you’re trying to be efficient with your time during the season to get out of here -- but also do a great job of coaching the team we have, making sure they’re prepared – that’s challenging.
“How can you get to places and still do a great job where you’re at? So those things are difficult. Even during the recruiting period when a season ends, not only getting me around, but all the assistant coaches around.”
Franklin continued – and here’s where we really get to the part about more of a national recruiting emphasis:
“So it’s a challenge,” he added. “It’s something that we’ve got to continue working at and find the best solution for Penn State that’s going to allow us to continue to not only recruit regionally within six hours of campus, but nationally, and be able to give those students on the other side of the country or in the south or in the west, whatever it may be, similar attention that the local prospects get.
“That’s challenging. It’s one of our challenges here at Penn State.”
