National recruiting interest ramps up following Lions' successful season

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – When he spoke at the front of the Beaver Stadium media room 1,220 days ago, new coach James Franklin explained his vision for Penn State footbaall and how recruiting could help get this program where he wanted it to go.

Owning the state and the region were the goals while recruiting nationally by position, which meant the staff’s recruiting budget also went to places it hadn’t been under the Joe Paterno and Bill O’Brien regimes, helped this program get back to a place it hasn’t been in at least a decade. Finding, offering and landing top-talent is one thing, while keeping and developing it is another.

This staff has found success doing both, which is why the 'good recruiter only' stigma that’s followed Franklin wherever he’s been irks him, and after taking a young team to the Rose Bowl last season and bringing Vanderbilt to life before that rightfully so.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a great recruiter, but I think our staff and our program is more than that,” he said last week.

Last year’s Big Ten title and Rose Bowl run continues impacting Penn State’s success on the recruiting trail, a place where the 2018 class is ranked second in the nation by 247Sports. Plus, the Lions are landing in the top 10, top 12 and top-15 lists for several elite prospects across the nation.

That change, highlighted by a 2018 quarterback pledge from Georgia, a tight end from Massachusetts and a pair of defensive backs from Texas, speaks to how much the Lions’ national perception has changed in the past few years.



“Guys that are top players in Texas, guys that are top players in Florida, guys that are top players all over the country that we’ve reached out to we are pretty quickly getting into their top 10s,” Franklin said last week during his coaches caravan stop in Altoona. “That doesn’t always mean you’re going to close it and get them, but there’s more players nationally that are high-profile players that I think we’re involved with than probably for a long time. … I can’t imagine it’s been in recent history where we’re involved with this many kids on a national scale.

“It’s good. It’s going to put us in some tough situations where we’re going to have to make some tough decisions at the end of the process where we may be tuning down really good players, which I think is the position you want to be in.”

The class already has 13 verbal pledges, including ones from a pair of five-star talents in quarterback Justin Fields and running back Ricky Slade.

The four classes that finished in the top-25 since Franklin’s arrival each had their own characteristics that made them notable. The 2014 class, which finished 24th in the 247Sports national rankings, will always be a bit of an outlier. That’s the group that included some O’Brien pledges, some Vanderbilt commits and players from all across the country, including Koa Farmer in California, Torrence Brown in Alabama and three defensive backs hailing from Georgia, Florida and Alabama, respectively.

“You kind of always have that first year honeymoon bump that coaches get when you take over a job and the excitement of it,” Franklin said.

The 2015 class, complete with Saquon Barkley, John Reid, Juwan Johnson and Ryan Bates, was the group that dominated the state and the region. Besides Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland, the only players outside of those regions were Tommy Stevens (Indiana), Jarvis Miller (Connecticut) and Robert Windsor (Wisconsin). That group finished 15th nationally and while nobody knew for sure just how good he would be at the time, landing a Heisman Trophy hopeful in Barkley has made all the difference.

The 2016 group, which finished 20th in the nation, was highlighted by two specialists from Georgia. Both players were in contact with the staff because of satellite camps, while Miles Sanders, Michal Menet and Connor McGovern highlighted the haul of in-state standouts who stayed in Pennsylvania.

Still though, the staff continued scouring the country for the best talents and in the 2017 class they got in early with Virginia defensive end Yetur Matos, who attended a satellite camp at Old Dominion in 2015. Penn State pushed into Ohio to land quarterback Sean Clifford, a four-star signee who was one of the top players in the 2017 cycle. The Lions also found success in Detroit, which hasn’t been easy to do. Securing pledges from wide receiver KJ Hamler, a Michigan native who spent his senior year in Florida at Bradenton’s IMG Academy, and cornerback Donovan Johnson from the talent-rich Cass Tech, could open the door for the Lions in the future.

The 2017 class finished ranked 15th in the nation by 247Sports and likely will be bested by this 2018 group that still has a ways to go, but is bringing in talent from Georgia and Texas and making the list of finalists for several undecided prospects.

“We’ve taken the same approach since we’ve been here, the difference is people being more receptive to us,” Franklin said. “I don’t think our approach has changed much, there’s just more people that’ve watched us play and gotten to know us and I’d say [that’s] in areas where we haven’t recruited as much before. From our time in the SEC, those contacts have really been pretty good since we’ve been here. Areas like Texas that we haven’t been involved in heavily I think that’s where I’ve seen the biggest difference.”

Franklin credits his time in the Big 12 as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Kansas State (2006-2007) with helping him gain some traction with the recruiting landscape in Texas. Tight ends coach Ricky Rahne also coached at Kansas State in 2006 as a graduate assistant before taking on the running backs and tight ends from 2007-2010.

Penn State verbal pledge Isaiah Humphries, who hails from Sachse, Texas, is the son of a former Lions letterman, which of course helps the staff's chances. Manvel, Texas cornerback Trent Gordon doesn't have such a connection, but his verbal pledge will continue expanding Penn State's reach into a state loaded with talent.

“When I coached at Kansas State, the majority of our team was from Texas so we have contacts and networks in all these different places,” Franklin said. “But, I think really it starts out with being able to become a finalist on somebody’s list. With these kids, it’s the kid. As it gets down to crunch time the coach is going to have an influence and the parents are going to have an influence and that’s when the relationship really factors in and that’s how you’re able to close on some guys.

“Initially, that initial interest it’s really just about people that are intrigued by you, by how you’ve played, by the success that you’ve had,” he continued. “I think that’s really what’s kind of growing more than anything.”