James Franklin expresses ‘love’ for departed Penn State football player

Penn State football lost a long-time member of its defensive front Friday when reports surfaced that redshirt senior Hakeem Beamon had left the Nittany Lions program. On Monday, James Franklin confirmed those reports and discussed his near decade-long relationship with the veteran defensive lineman.

“He’s no longer a part of the program,” Franklin said. “I love Hakeem. Love his mom. It’s been probably over seven years from the high school recruiting process, and ups and downs, and twists and turns, and smiles and tears, and everything in between. Graduating from Penn State – we’re very, very proud of that for him.

“He did a bunch of good things on the field. But he’s no longer a part of the team.”

Beamon took his first recruiting visit to Penn State in September 2017, with an offer following in January 2018. He was the No. 4 prospect from Virginia and the No. 164 recruit overall in the class of 2019, according to 247Sports.

After 45 games, Beamon’s Penn State football career ends with 40 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and one sack. He appeared in all eight games before his departure but saw his role diminish as the season progressed.

Penn State football looking to veteran defensive linemen to close out season

© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Only six total tackles came from the defensive tackle position in Saturday night’s win over Washington. But beyond the stat sheet, Penn State had the opportunity to rotate in several younger Nittany Lions for playing time.

“In terms of the room, I thought guys stepped up,” James Franklin continued. “It was really cool to see some guys in there, whether it was [Joseph] Mupoyi or Kaleb Artis, was really cool to see those guys be able to get in there and get some work, guys that have worked really hard.”

But after losing one of their more seasoned defensive linemen, the Nittany Lions will now lean even more on its core group of veterans in the room.

“I think Alonzo’s [Ford Jr.] impact, a guy that we weren’t exactly sure what we had, but continues to trend in the right direction as he’s getting more and more healthy and playing himself back into shape,” Franklin said. “I think at one point he was about 325 pounds. I want to say he’s about 305 right now and moving really well.

“I think obviously Dvon [J-Thomas] and Zane [Durant] kind of lead us in there. Coziah [Izzard] is a guy we didn’t have last week, which magnified it. Coziah was out last week. We expect to have him back. But that magnified it.

“So, they are three veteran players that have played a ton of football for us. We are going to need them to continue to play well as these other guys continue to grow. But I would also view Alonzo as a veteran player for us.”

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