James Franklin reacts to retirement of Penn State starting OL Landon Tengwall

On Wednesday evening, we learned the unfortunate news that Penn State football OL Landon Tengwall was medically retiring from the game. In an announcement made during the Nittany Lions’ midweek practice, the Penn State starting OL wrote that he had sustained an injury that would not allow him to safely continue playing football. As head coach James Franklin took to the podium following practice, he addressed the news and previewed the future of Landon Tengwall.

James Franklin addresses medical retirement of Penn State starting OL

As Penn State football makes the final adjustments prior to Week 1 of the 2023 season, one of the emerging questions that needed to be answered was the Nittany Lions’ offensive line. Two weeks ago, it was reported that OL Landon Tengwall, who started 5 games before sustaining a season-ending injury in 2022, had experienced some “bumps and bruises” during fall camp.

Yesterday, we learned that the situation was much more serious than initially thought. In an announcement on social media, Tengwall announced that he had to make the difficult choice to medically retire. “It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing my retirement from football,” Tengwall wrote in part. “Unfortunately, I have sustained an injury that will not allow me to safely continue to play the game I love, and that has given me so much.”

During his weekly media availability following Wednesday’s practice, James Franklin made a point to affirm the program’s support for Tengwall and his family.

“I had a really good meeting with Landon and his dad earlier in the week,” Franklin said. “As you know, I’m not going to get into the specifics of it. But I think you’ll be seeing Landon around here, hopefully pretty soon. But we just talked about it as a team as well. We’re just going to be as supportive as we possibly can. This is a hard thing, obviously. You can imagine, he’s been playing football his entire life. So, I’d ask the Penn State community, and I would ask the media, to be as respectful of their process as possible.”

Franklin previews the future of Landon Tengwall at Penn State

Although the program doesn’t provide much context regarding injuries, Franklin gave us some details as to Tengwall’s future with the Penn State football program. While he noted that they’re not sure what role Tengwall will play, Franklin believes he will continue to be around the Lasch Building in some capacity.

“We’re not really at that stage yet,” Franklin said when asked if Tengwall will remain around the program. “I’m confident that he will. As you can imagine, this is a major life change. So, it’ll take some time. And then I think you’ll see him whether it’s coaching or whether it’s recruiting or whether it’s strength and conditioning. At the end of the day, he’s a part of our family; he always has been always will be. That will never change based on the circumstances.”

Penn State football opens the 2023 season Saturday night against West Virginia at 7:30 PM in Beaver Stadium.

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