James Franklin on 2025: Best combined personnel we’ve had at Penn State

Penn State football made multiple headline-worthy additions to its locker room during the 2025 offseason. Now with kickoff right around the corner, the Nittany Lions have expectations to once again be playing late into January.

James Franklin touched on the talent that has been assembled inside the Lasch Building at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday afternoon.

“This is the best combined personnel that I think we’ve had at Penn State,” he said. “And when I talk about personnel, I’m talking about players and staff – from a depth and talent standpoint and from an experience standpoint. So we’re very excited about that.”

From a coaching perspective, the Nittany Lions added two of the top assistants in the entire nation in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and running backs coach Stan Drayton.

“We’re excited about the additions that we made to our staff this season with Jim Knowles and Stan Drayton,” he said. “Two veteran coaches with head coach and championship-level experience.”

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On the field, the Blue and White return a Big Ten-leading 14 all-conference players from a roster that reached the College Football Playoff Semifinal last year. The program also added eight players from the transfer portal, including key additions at wide receiver and linebacker. 

The popular pick to win the conference this fall, it’s certainly a far cry from where the Nittany Lions were when Franklin arrived in Happy Valley in 2014.

“When it comes to player development, we expect to have anywhere between 10-12 guys drafted this year,” Franklin noted. “We’ve averaged over five draft picks per year in my 12 years at Penn State – a stat that we’re very, very proud of. And you look at the development really since we arrived: in 2016, we won the Big Ten Championship, but we only had one guy drafted that year.”

Penn State kicks off the 2025 season in 38 days against Nevada.

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