ALTOONA, Pa. -- Psychology plays as important a role in athletics, and that's particularly evident in college football. Penn State is no exception, and has embraced psychology since Joe Paterno's tenure as coach.
Paterno had players wear basic jerseys so that everybody knew who was coming through the tunnel, with the intent of getting a leg up on the competition. The same is true of the "Unrivaled" mantra head coach James Franklin put in place when he arrived.
Coaches like Franklin are tasked with getting the most of their players by any means necessary. That often involves a lot of mental games, from conditioning to practice set-ups to mottos and marketing campaigns for the team.
Franklin's "Unrivaled" slogan is a smaller part of his overall '1-0' mentality, which includes treating each game like it's the same. That's not true of every game, of course -- it's safe to say a game against Ohio State is much different than one against Idaho -- but the message is about maintaining an even keel and the proper mindset, regardless of the opponent.
Since taking over at Penn State, Franklin has put together an impressive run of success, including a conference championship, in a Big Ten loaded with perennial powers such as Ohio State and Wisconsin. While the Nittany Lions haven't always been the best team on the field, they've been consistent about the mentality with which they play.
"There's no doubt about it, Franklin said after practice Wednesday. "You know, I think I think we always kind of had that chip on our shoulder. That's kind of my mentality. That's kind of my approach. Until you're consistently where you want to be -- in the conference, within the Big 10 and nationally -- then I feel like you'll always feel like that."
That type of mentality doesn't work for everyone and occasionally does cause a stir, like when Central Florida declared itself national champion a few seasons ago after an undefeated season.
"There's some programs that i think we laugh about every year, that take on that approach, that underdog, that chip-on-the-shoulder or that disrespected program," Franklin said. "And that maybe doesn't fit. So there's a lot of different ways you can do it."
At Penn State, Franklin stresses maintaining the same demeanor and making sure even the most minor details don't change week-to-week, based on who the Nittany Lions are playing.
"I want to make sure that our approach and demeanor really shouldn't change a whole lot," Franklin said. "If you're doing it right, your approach when you're winning shouldn't change a whole lot. There's some lessons that can be learned. But I'm talking about your core beliefs and your core values."
The 1-0 mentality doesn't always work and there's the occasionally lump-taking, like when Penn State lost its first five games last season. When that happens, it's all about staying the course, according to Franklin.
"When you take one on the chin, if your process is correct, then it should stay," Franklin said. "And over 10 years, I think we've proven that our process is correct. There's things that we've got to get better. There's things we've got to refine. There's no doubt about it. But coming off last year, you know, we've learned a lot."
Franklin was a psychology major at East Stroudsburg University, so this is far from unfamiliar territory for him. It also allows him to delve deeper into getting the most out of his players and coaches each week. And despite how weird some of the things he says might be, it works.
The mental game of football starts at the pee-wee level and continues into the NFL, with bulletin board material and any other small advantage teams try to get on their opponents. While Penn State has yet to figure out how that might look in 2021, the right mindset can take the program a long way.
More from Franklin's availability:
• On Rasheed Walker: "I'm just super proud of him, in really every area, how far he's grown, and matured. And his approach right now is just, it's just been fantastic. He's practicing really hard. Winter workouts, he was great. His leadership with the younger players, you know, he seems, you know, more appreciative of Penn State than than ever."
• On Brandon Smith: "Brandon's always had a tremendous amount of ability. He's a guy with tremendous length and speed. And, you know, obviously, when he gets there, he gets there, and he's got a nasty demeanor to him. And as a physical player, we've seen some big hits already out of him."
• On vaccines: "I think the first thing is, I don't think you can ever mandate. Right. You know, I think we've learned that in our country, you're going to have a difficult time doing that. But what I what I think you can do is, is educate when you talk about our football team and our campus and our community, and statewide and nationally, you know, you can educate on why, why it makes sense. And that's the approach that we've been taking with our team."
