In one sense, Penn State’s recruiting class was typical for coach James Franklin.
“One of the things that I’ve been proud of since we’ve been here, really throughout my career, we’ve have very little drama on signing day, how we go about the process,” Franklin said during a video conference with media on Wednesday.
“The guys that are supposed to sign have typically signed, we usually have them all in by 7:30 (a.m.). That’s been good, and I think that’s been based on transparency and really good conversations with the families and our coaching staff. And a lot of them have been committed to us for a long time.”
But it’s 2020. Relatively little is typical, even recruiting in college football.
The lack of on-campus visits for potential players due to the coronavirus pandemic made the task difficult for Franklin and staff, who put together the 28th-best class in the country in the Rivals rankings.
“We had a number of guys that committed to us without ever seeing the place,” Franklin said. “Like we’ve talked about before, this is a place where you really have to have a specific plan to come see because it’s not really on the way to anything. So it’s got to be a very, very specific plan.
“Typically, spring games are huge for us from a recruiting perspective. ‘White out’ games (where fans are requested to wear white) are huge for us from a recruiting perspective. Obviously, this year, not having either of those factored in.”
Beyond logistics, another factor that weighed heavily in Penn State’s recruiting class was geography.
“We also maybe went to some non-traditional places for us to get some guys, to find some guys,” Franklin said. “I thought that went well.”
Franklin cited the recruitment of wide receiver Harrison Wallace of Alabama as well as linebackers Jamari Buddin and Kobe King and defensive backs Kalen King and Jaylen Reed of Michigan.
“I felt like the staff did a really good job of being flexible and creative and going to some places … that we haven’t typically gone to,” Franklin said. “Going to a place like Alabama and getting a guy late in the process that had never seen the place that we think very, very highly of, those things are important. We’re able to be very successful in Michigan this year. That helped us as well.”
Penn State’s numbers in Pennsylvania dipped. Of the 15 players who signed Wednesday, four are from the commonwealth. Last year, they had five.
“If you study Pennsylvania over the last 30 years, the numbers continue to decrease,” Franklin said. “We have not offered a large number of players in the state of Pennsylvania over the last five or six years. The number continues to go down. So that makes the guys that we do offer critical that we get. When you don’t get them, it magnifies it. There’s no doubt about it.
”I know (assistant head coach, cornerbacks coach and defensive recruiting coordinator) Terry Smith has shown me some very specific articles and studies that have been done in Western Pennsylvania, specifically to the WPIAL.”
Franklin’s work is not finished.
“I’m pleased with how it played out, but we also have this second signing day to go with so there’s still some prospects that we’re involved with,” Franklin said. “We’re also going to be involved in (seeking players to transfer). When you talk about transfers, we’re going to be looking at defensive ends, we’re going to be looking at defensive backs. Those are areas that we’re going to be focused on.
“Those positions as maybe some others are going to be very, very important for us moving forward. You’ll see some more activity in the second recruiting period as well as the transfer market, which is just really part of 2020 and where football is at and where football is headed.”
