ALTOONA, Pa. -- Conference media days are filled with coaches trying to sugarcoat everything, putting the best possible spin on their team and the upcoming season.
It usually doesn't take much to see through all the spin and realize which teams will, in fact, have a legitimate chance to be as good as the coaches hope/wish/pretend they will be.
This season, Penn State is definitely one of those teams.
And James Franklin knows it.
Franklin always sounds confident, to be clear, even when there have been times that it didn't take much to see through some of the spin he was doling out.
But listening to Franklin on Wednesday at Big Ten media days in Indianapolis, it was very evident that he loves his team this year and believes it has tremendous potential.
"When you talk about question marks leading into the season, to me every year when we come to this, that's kind of how I look at our season, is based on question marks," Franklin told the media at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I think we probably have less question marks this year than we have in previous seasons."
The Nittany Lions are sure to be ranked in the top 10 in every major preseason poll, coming off last year's 11-2 record and Rose Bowl victory. But the main reasons for Franklin's optimism aren't about past success, but yet what might be possible in the future based on the overall talent and depth in the program.
"Last year coming into the season, I felt like we had better depth than we had probably since COVID," Franklin said. "We're back to a more healthy roster than we're used to. And now I think we're in a position to give us the best chance to compete in our conference, as well as nationally. Just less question marks across the board.
"You look at us on the defensive side of the ball, I think we've got a chance to be better up front with our defensive line. We are bigger. We are more athletic. We are physical. I think we have a legitimate three deep across the board. Linebacker was a big question mark coming into this season, a lot of unproven players. That is not the case anymore. I feel like we have a veteran linebacker unit that's experienced and ready to play."
Notice how Franklin started with the defense. Not the offense. Not with prized quarterback Drew Allar, who himself remains somewhat of a question mark until he proves otherwise.
Franklin started with the defense because he knows that side of the ball should be able to keep Penn State in any game, against any opponent.
And if the line is as good as the coach keeps saying, then the overall defense could be very special.
The one area of concern Franklin did mention Wednesday?
"Obviously the one question mark we have is in the secondary," he said. "When you lose a guy like Joey Porter Jr. and you lose a guy like (Ji'Ayir Brown), who are tremendous players for us, that's probably the one area of question marks. But we played a ton of players in the secondary with experience, talent, and depth. So, I think we're going to be in a good position there."
This will be Franklin's 10th season at Penn State, and he's never been able to start the discussion on the offensive side of the ball by talking about how good the line could be.
It's always been the opposite, in fact, since the O-line has long been Penn State's Achilles heel.
That should not be the case this year, and Franklin is gonna love that.
"On the offensive side of the ball, again, it starts up front," the coach said.
Wait ... just want to give you a second to let that sink it -- and to think about just how crazy this year truly could be with an excellent offensive line.
"When you get a guy like Olu Fashanu who decides to come back and graduate from Penn State, highest GPA on our team, and obviously a guy that's been projected as a high-round draft choice leading the way," Franklin said.
Then the coach reminded everyone of the bad history on the line.
"When I got to Penn State, we were in a much different position," he said, referring to the post-scandal and sanctions days. "I think we only had five scholarship offensive linemen in the program. I think we're in a much better position now. Our depth and our talent is right where we need it to be."
If so, once again, WOW!
Because to think about having star young running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen running behind a good offensive line, there's tremendous potential there.
Franklin again stated that the tight end situation should be excellent, which has been the case for the past several years.
The concern on offense is wide receiver. Not only does Penn State have to find a legit No. 1 wideout -- be it KeAndre Lambert-Smith or Kent State transfer Dante Cephas -- but the team also needs to identify a No. 3 guy who can make a steady impact.
"Wide receiver, just like the secondary, is a question mark," Franklin said. "Trying to figure out who our third wide receiver is going to be in that rotation, but I think we've got a number of young people will step up and compete for that job."
Last, but certainly not least, Franklin brought up the quarterback situation.
Allar is going to be the starter. Everybody knows Allar is going to be the starter. And Allar is probably the single biggest reason why so many Penn State fans are thinking about a potential national championship run over the next two years.
But Franklin, as he's prone to do, wouldn't just come out and heap praise on Allar without keeping backup Beau Pribula in mind.
"Everybody wants to talk about quarterback," he said. "We're still in a competition phase. Obviously, there's a lot of people talking about Drew and what he brings to the table. He was able to get a ton of experience last year, played in, I think, 10 games. So, I understand why the excitement is there -- 6-5, 242 pounds, can make all the throws.
"But Beau Pribula is a guy that everybody in the program has a ton of respect for as well. So that's going to be an interesting competition throughout the entire camp."
Suuuuuure it will. Wink wink.
You take a look at Penn State's talent and potential on both sides of the ball, it's easy to see why Franklin would be so excited. He did acknowledge there could be questions about the specialist positions -- the Lions have to replace kicker, punter and snapper -- and any close game against, say, an Ohio State or Michigan could come down to one of those areas.
Overall, though, what Franklin summed up at Big Ten media day is the culmination of an enormous wave of momentum the program has been riding for a while now with regards to recruiting and player development.
Franklin knows he's sitting on something potentially special with this collection of talent. Now, all that's left is for everyone -- and certainly most importantly Allar -- to go out on the field and prove they're worthy of all the hype.
