Former Penn State coach James Franklin has already taken a pair of Penn State staffers with him to Blacksburg.
Blue-White Illustrated’s Sean Fitz reported late Wednesday morning– not long after Franklin’s introductory press conference at Virginia Tech concluded– that General Manager of Personnel and Recruitment Andy Frank and Chief of Staff Kevin Threlkel are going to Virginia Tech before the end of the Penn State season.
This is confirmed by neither of them being listed on Penn State’s staff directory.
Both Frank and Therkel have been with Franklin since he started his head coaching career at Vanderbilt in 2011. Therkel’s time with Franklin even predates that. He worked with Franklin at Kansas State, where Franklin was the offensive coordinator from 2006-07, and then was at Maryland, where Franklin was the associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2008-10.
Franklin spoke extensively about his relationship with Frank in the summer of 2023.
“Andy Frank is the man,” Franklin said. “Been with me for a long time, been with me for really my entire head coaching career. At Vanderbilt, he was on the staff there already. He’s been very loyal to me, very loyal to Penn State. Is a really smart guy. Sometimes I question that. He has an engineering degree from Princeton, and he went into football. But really smart.
“He also does a really good job from a compliance standpoint. Knows the rules inside and out…
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“Andy, after all these years, is like family to me. “
There are other former Penn State staff members not listed in the directory, and they are:
Assistant Director of Player Relations Brett Arnold
Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel Chris “Slim” Mahon
Assistant Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel Rashad Erby
Assistant Director of Player Advancement and Revenue Sharing Strategy Aneas Hawkins
