STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- If James Franklin were to write a book about his coaching career, there would be a portion of it about Micah Parsons – or perhaps a sizable part about the five-star Harrisburg product's recruitment.
"I've been coaching 23 years, and the book will probably be five chapters on my career and then 15 chapters on the ups and downs and twists and turns, and the journey of Micah Parsons and the commitments," Franklin said Wednesday. "The second-guessing, and all the people that felt like they had an opinion in this and what he should do or shouldn't do."
Ultimately, Penn State landed Parsons. This time, officially, as the longtime verbal pledge who decommitted last April inked his binding National Letter of Intent with the Nittany Lions on Wednesday. Parsons will enroll early where the No. 1 player in the state and the No. 4 prospect in the nation in the 247Sports composite will first get a shot to play Mike linebacker. Franklin said the Lions will put Parsons there in spring ball in part because they have a need there with senior linebacker Jason Cabinda graduating and also because they already know that he can play defensive end.
Signing Parsons was among the highlights for Franklin's team that marked the start of the 72-hour early signing period, but there was another Pennsylvania standout who chose the Nittany Lions on Wednesday and the addition of four-star wide receiver Jahan Dotson continued a theme. Dotson, who was a verbal pledge for UCLA up until he put on a Penn State ball cap Wednesday afternoon, helped catapult Penn State's 2018 class to the No. 4 ranking in the nation and No. 2 spot in the Big Ten. The Nazareth High Schooler like Parsons and Lamont Wade last year and Miles Sanders two years ago opted to stay in state.
That vow Franklin made when he was introduced at Penn State, one about emphatically dominating the state on the recruiting trail held true as Parsons and Dotson helped push a class that was already quite strong to begin with over the top. With Parsons, Wade and Sanders in the past three classes, the Nittany Lions signed the top prospect in Pennsylvania in each of the past three classes.
"Being able to keep the best players home is really important," Franklin said. "I think Miles got this thing started. Very appreciative of Miles and his mom for kind of getting it going. Miles made it cool to stay home and play at Penn State. Kind of the sexy thing to do now, Miles and Lamont, and now Micah. It's going to take a lot of hard work to keep this thing going. But as you know in my initial press conference how important we feel like this is, not only in this state, but also in this region."
The ability to keep Pennsylvania's best players in-state has been huge and while the recruiting footprint continues expanding – including two players in this class from Texas – the heart of whether or not Penn State succeeds will always revolve around landing the cream of the crop in a talent-rich state.
That's why landing Dotson, while a bit of a surprise, also wasn't all that unusual. Penn State established relationships with him since he was a sophomore, and to think that having fellow Lehigh Valley product Saquon Barkley succeeding at Penn State certainly didn't hurt the Lions' chances. Even Franklin recognized the importance of Barkley's success at Penn State when it came to leading the way for Dotson.
"We were recruiting him aggressively early on, offering him based on his sophomore tape," wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Josh Gattis said. "Jahan faced some decisions early on that he had to make. But throughout his senior year, he moved back to Nazareth Area High School. We continued to keep in communication with him and continued to evaluate his senior year tape. His senior year tape was on-par with his junior and sophomore year, which were phenomenal. He's played at a very high level throughout his high school career. I've been going there for the past three or four weeks consistently checking in with him, having dialogue with him and recruiting him. I was telling him that this was the place he needed to be."
Add four-star tight end Zack Kuntz from Camp Hill into the mix and Penn State's class, while among the best in the nation, is still loaded with elite in-state talent who also hold up nationally. That's no easy feat – especially luring in someone like Parsons who could've gone to Alabama or Oklahoma instead.
"It makes sense for local kids to come here," Franklin said. "It's good for Penn State. It's good for the kids and their families. It's good for high school programs and it's good for the community. It really is. You leave the state and you go far away, you're not going to get the same type of coverage. You're not going to get the same type of support. ... It's invaluable. So I think we're fortunate. I don't think we're done there."
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