James Franklin reveals message to Penn State football following Blue-White Game

With the 15th and final practice in the books on Saturday, spring is officially in the review mirror for Penn State football. The Nittany Lions now have 125 days to prepare for the start of the 2025 campaign.

After falling painfully short of the national title game in January, the Nittany Lions have used the last three months to gear up for a championship run this fall. Overall, James Franklin feels good about where his program stands heading into the summer months. However, he recognizes there’s plenty to do between now and when Penn State welcomes the Nevada Wolfpack into Beaver Stadium on August 30.

“What I just talked to the team about in there is, I like where we’re at, but we got a ton of work to do between now and Nevada,” Franklin said of his message to the Nittany Lions following the Blue-White Game on Saturday. “And on top of that, we got to be intentional about our work. Every single one of us has got to be intentional about our work between now, training camp, and Nevada.”

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Of course, the Nittany Lions return veteran leadership at key positions across the field. Franklin and his staff have attacked the transfer portal for wide receiver talent this offseason and have signaled that they’ll do so for linebackers this summer.

“It has been good because a lot of the guys that have been significant leaders for us are back,” he said. “Nick Dawkins is as good of a leader by example and also verbally that I’ve been around in my 30 years or whatever it’s been. Obviously, when your starting quarterback is back and has been starting for three years, Drew [Allar] is taking significant steps there.

“When you’re talking about the defensive side of the ball, Zane [Durant] has been that type of leader for us for a while. Zakee [Wheatley] is stepping into that role as well. Dani [Dennis-Sutton] as well. [Dom] DeLuca has been a captain for like seven years now at Penn State.

“We did lose some significant leadership, but we have a lot of guys that have been a part of that role as well. And then there’s also some guys that are going to step up. I see Nick [Singleton] and Kaytron [Allen] taking on a bigger role with that this year. So it’s going to be important, and I’m proud of those guys, but I think we’re going to be in pretty good shape. Especially after the summer, because this summer, probably about 70% of it, it’s player driven.”

You can check out everything James Franklin had to say below.

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