We want to win the whole thing: Pat Kraft offers assessment of James Franklin, Penn State football program

The 2024 season provides the opportunity that James Franklin and the Penn State football team have been waiting for. The expanded College Football Playoff is finally here going from four teams to twelve and the Nittany Lions have a chance to make history this fall. But that all depends on the results they have on the field. With tough road challenges against Wisconsin and USC and hosting Ohio State, Penn State has its work cut out for them. But that has not stopped athletic director Pat Kraft from setting his sights on a National Championship.

For the past few years, James Franklin has spoken about alignment within the football program. Now, he has the backing of Pat Kraft and the resources to maintain and recruit top talent. This season for the Penn State football team is the moment they’ve been waiting for since the College Football Playoff model was introduced: a chance to get into the big dance and make some noise.

In a recent interview with the Big Ten Network, Nittany Lion athletic director Pat Kraft expressed his expectations and his current state assessment for the Penn State football team.

“It’s like, we want to win the whole thing,” Kraft said. “James and I continue to work towards that together. I thought it was a really good year. Again, when you win ten games, and you win ten games in the Big Ten, that’s nothing to throw your nose at.

“We’re always trying to evaluate where we are and how do we get better; I try to stress that to everybody. We have to keep getting better and better in different ways and I feel like the support is there from top to bottom. So, the playoff’s coming. You get in the playoff and win some games, and eventually, [like] Michigan, that’s the prize; that’s what we all want to do. So, we’re going to work tirelessly to get to that point. That’s the barometer at Penn State, especially when it comes to football.”

Penn State football looking for new leaders in 2024

Credit: Grace Carella // Basic Blues Nation, 2023.

For the Nittany Lions to produce the results that Pat Kraft and James Franklin hope for, they will need leaders to emerge this season. More specifically, leaders at wide receiver are willing to step up and set the standard. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has recently spoken to Nate Bauer of On3 and discussed three names that he believes are taking that role.

They’re ten times ahead even from where we were in the spring, ” Allar said. “And I think it’s really been three leaders in that room: Trey [Wallace], Liam [Clifford], and [Julian] Fleming. I think they’ve taken it upon themselves to change that culture.”

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