James Franklin: Penn State has ‘earned’ national pressure on 2025 season

The spotlight has been brighter than ever in State College this spring and summer. Expectations are for Penn State football to follow up its College Football Playoff run in 2024 by legitimately contending for a title this season. With those expectations comes an enhanced degree of pressure and a challenge that the Nittany Lions are welcoming with open arms.

“There’s a ton of conversations that are happening nationally. We embrace that,” James Franklin said at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday. “We’ve earned that based on what we’ve been able to do and what we’ve got coming back. There’s a lot of people that are excited on a national level talking about us.

“The reality is, when it comes to the Lasch Football Building or when it comes to local, these are always the expectations at Penn State. We had what a lot of people would consider a really good season last year. We were a game away from playing for the National Championship, and you could actually make the argument a drive away from playing for the National Championship. But it didn’t feel that way, right? Because the expectations at Penn State are really high.

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“We embrace that. I came to Penn State understanding that and knowing that. Our players did as well. So I think the conversations that you’re talking about nationally are happening, and we appreciate that, but it hasn’t really changed close to home, and it hasn’t changed internally in our program because these are always our expectations.

On the current trajectory, it will be a historic year before the Nittany Lions even kick off against Nevada on August 30. This week, the Blue and White were selected as the frontrunner to win the Big Ten for the first time in the 15-year history of the Cleveland.com preseason poll. Next month, the program could very well see its first preseason No. 1 ranking in the AP poll in over a quarter century.

But despite all the noise, inside Lasch, the Nittany Lions are keeping their focus on the field and toward their trademark “1-0” mentality.

“Let’s also be honest. It’s a great conversation, but who really cares about preseason rankings?” Franklin said. “They mean nothing. It’s a good argument to have and everybody has fun with it, but the only rankings that matter are the ones that happen at the end of the season, and that’s what we’re concerned about. The only way we’ll do that is by handling our business today.”

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