Penn State coach James Franklin has always emphasized that bye weeks aren’t off weeks, and he and the coaching staff use that time to emphasize recruiting.
This week, Franklin has emphasized Western PA, visiting WPIAL commits Khalil Taylor (Pine-Richland), Kemon Spell (McKeesport) and Matt Sieg (Fort Cherry).
Penn State also offered Hopewell star quarterback James Armstrong, so, yeah, they mean business.
Talking with reporters after practice Tuesday, Franklin laid out Penn State’s entire bye week.
WHAT JAMES SAID
“We’ll watch the film tonight, do some recruiting calls. Tomorrow, obviously, we practice again. I think tomorrow night, I go out, then I’ll be out all day. Thursday, we’ll have a coordinator’s practice like we’ve had in the past on Thursday, and any of the coaches that are not on the road. Friday, we’ll all be out recruiting. The players will, after their academic responsibilities, be off. Recruit all day Friday, go to some games Friday night and then do the same thing Saturday, and then the players will be off all day Saturday, and then we’ll get back sometime Saturday night. Then, Sunday’s game week. Sunday, we’ll be a little bit ahead since we won’t have the last game for us to grade. We will still have to break their film down and add that to our cutups and things like that. But that’s essentially the week.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.
A HEAD START ON OREGON
Penn State fans might wanna pay attention to the last line of Franklin’s quote.
Oregon doesn’t have a bye that week. Penn State does. Therefore, while Oregon must analyze the previous game Saturday, Penn State will be able to focus strictly on Oregon.
Maybe it’s an advantage. Maybe it isn’t. But it’s something worth keeping an eye on.
Penn State plays Oregon Saturday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 on NBC.
