As Time Passes, Nittany Nation Should Remember Franklin Era Fondly

During Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas' press conference announcing that the team and long-time head coach Mike Sullivan were parting ways on April 29, he had this message:

“You can use whatever analogy you want. Sometimes, the class needs a new professor and sometimes the professor needs a new class... That was the conclusion that I had come to,” he said.

Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft had a similar situation to consider before announcing the decision Sunday following another devastating loss, this time to Northwestern on Homecoming at West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium.

“Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power,” he said. “He won a Big Ten Championship, led us to seven New Year’s Six bowl games and a College Football Playoff appearance last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards, and we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten and national championships.” 

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi shared a similar reaction in the same press release.

“I am grateful for all that Coach Franklin has done for Penn State football and the University over the past 11-plus years. We thank him for his dedication, and we extend our best wishes to him and his family as they move forward into their next chapter,” she said. “Our commitment to excellence extends across every facet of our institution, including athletics, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to this exciting new chapter for the Nittany Lions as we continue to build on that standard."

Sunday, Penn State came to the conclusion that many programs have had to consider before them: A coach can be good coach, but no longer the right coach.

After dropping back-to-back games where the Nittany Lions were 20+ point favorites (the first to do that since the FBS and FCS split in 1978) to teams that on paper that they should've beaten soundly, Franklin is now out of a job.

But even as this era comes to a heartbreaking end as hopes of a Big Ten and national championship have faded for 2025, Nittany Nation should be looking back upon his era with great pride once the dust settles.

Yes, he will have an awful record of 4-21 against teams ranked in the top 10, but there's so much more that Franklin had to manage to put Penn State back in the discussion for being national championship and Big Ten contenders.

Think back to where the program was when you woke up the morning of January 11, 2014 when Franklin was introduced by then Athletic Director Dr. David Joyner.

It was a program that was picking up the pieces after the NCAA's harsh sanctions, was expecting to be serving the third year of a bowl ban, but was allowed to start restoring scholarship allotment as the punishment was lightened.

Eight months later the bowl ban was lifted, and two years later the Nittany Lions took off on their unexpected Big Ten Conference Championship run in 2016, sparked by Marcus Allen's field goal block before Grant Haley took it to the house sending Beaver Stadium into a frenzy against Ohio State.

During Franklin's tenure Penn State registered six 10-plus win seasons -- including the last three which is the first time program has accomplished that since 1980-1982.

Along with an appearance in seven New Year's Six Bowl games (a 4-3 record) along with making the 2024 College Football Playoff Semifinals, Franklin has left Penn State in a position far greater than what he inherited from his predecessor, Bill O'Brien.

His era is the most successful football Penn State has enjoyed since Joe Paterno was in his prime from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, and Nittany Nation has plenty to be thankful for from that.

There will be plenty of what ifs from this era of Penn State Football, looking back at missed opportunities in big games among others.

But, Penn State should look back on this time with happy memories because at a time when the Nittany Lions were expected to be down for sometime, they found away to bring the program back to prominence rather quickly.

Bill O'Brien deserves a lot of the credit for keeping the program afloat during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, but James Franklin deserves much of the credit for taking what O'Brien built and turning it into what the program has become.

Unfortunately, this decision comes at a difficult financial time as Penn State's $700 million renovation continues at Beaver Stadium while having to pay out close to $50 million in a buyout while having to add another $100-$150 million depending on final negotiations.

Penn State will now get to do something it hasn't done since the Nittany Lions promoted Joe Paterno to the head coach position in 1966 after he succeeded Rip Engle (who Franklin is tied for second-most wins in program history): hiring a coach without the scandal hanging over their heads.

Kraft understands how important it is to get this hiring right as now this will be the first time Penn State will make this kind of hiring in the NIL era. Franklin should also get looks elsewhere if he desires to continue coaching especially from programs who need help taking the next step toward relevance.

But no matter where the future takes either of them, once the dust settles, Penn State fans should look back on this era with a lot of pride.

Penn State Hockey...You've Come Along Way

The photo you see is from press row at Pegula Ice Arena on the night of Friday, October 11, 2013 as Penn State welcomed Army for the first ever game at this new state of the art area.

That was the day Penn State started its second season of playing NCAA Division I Hockey after ending what was a 65-year hiatus due to the lack of resources.

It was a day that Nittany Nation could dream of what could lay ahead as they ushered in a new era of hockey.

Joe Battista -- who enjoyed exceptional success as the head coach of the former ACHA Club team -- had the dream of bringing Division I Hockey back to the University Park campus. It all became possible after a meeting with Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula as he would donate along with his wife Kim more than $100 million to make the program a reality

Division I hockey made its return to what is now known as Hockey Valley on October 12, 2012 as Penn State hosted American International under the yellow lights of the old Greenberg Ice Pavilion. The Nittany Lions dropped the first game of their return 3-2 in overtime before recording the first win the next night in the extra session against the Yellow Jackets, 4-3, in the extra session,

Fast forward to a year later and the opening of Pegula Ice Arena, the possibilities were endless for the newest teams on campus as over 6,000 fans gathered for this historic night.

It didn't take long to know just how crazy of an environment it could be when just over three minutes into the contest as defensemen Nate Jensen took a feed from Taylor Holstrom for the first ever goal in the Nittany Lions new den.

Curtis Loik, David Goodwin, and Eric Scheid would add goals of their own to secure a 4-1 win over the Black Knights. What some may have forgotten is the Black Knights due to a government shutdown at the time almost had to back out of the game.

While the season didn't end well, it was a thought of what could come in the future under coach Guy Gadowsky once the transition was complete.

What a ride the Nittany Lion hockey program has been on ever since.

Penn State got its first breakthrough during the 2017 Big Ten Conference Tournament at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Seeded fourth, they knocked off Michigan, stunned top-seed Minnesota before an unforgettable double-overtime winner as Liam Folkes on the breakaway upset Wisconsin, 2-1.

The Nittany Lions would introduce themselves to the NCAA Tournament with an emphatic 10-3 victory over Union which included a five-goal outburst during the third period.

Fast forward a couple of years, Penn State appeared destined for glory in the NCAA Tournament as they went 20-10-4 on their way to capturing their first Big Ten regular season championship in 2019-20. That unfortunately would be derailed as the NCAA canceled the remainder of the season in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

After a brief down period the Nittany Lions returned to the NCAA Tournament two years ago emphatically beating Michigan Tech, 8-0, before meeting the same fate at PPL Center from six years earlier in Allentown against Michigan, 2-1, in their second appearance in the Elite Eight.

This year if you told me that this team was going to make the Frozen Four after falling in the shootout during the Frozen Confines match up against Notre Dame, I wouldn't have believed you.

After bouncing back the next game back in South Bend with a 3-0 shutout against the Fighting Irish, it turned out that was just a sign of how wrong I was about to be proven (and I'm sure I'm not alone).

Watching Penn State go from being a team that appeared destined for an early exit in the Big Ten Tournament following a last place finish to a team that was one win way from playing in a National Championship will go down as one of the most important moments on their path to when they finally climb the mountain to a national title.

Seeing them destroy Maine, 5-1, before watching Matt DiMarsico take a feed from Charlie Cerrato to send the PPL Center crowd into a frenzy as they clinched the Allentown Regional Championship over UConn in overtime 3-2.

Thursday night's defeat at the hands of Boston University during Thursday night's national semifinal at Enterprise Center in St. Louis while disappointing, it's just a sign of how far this program has come as Gadowsky completes his 13th year at the helm. It also served as a reminder how much work still remains for the Nittany Lions to enjoy their championship day.

There was plenty of tears shown by this year's Nittany Lions after the defeat, but all of them can take pride in knowing that what came before them, they helped raise the standard again.

In a matter of 13 years, Penn State went from being a program trying to build it from the bottom up to a program that should expect to make it to the Frozen Four more often. They've found what it takes to make it to college hockey's biggest stage and now have the challenge of breaking through on this stage next year in Las Vegas.

It wasn't that long ago that success was a dream for Penn State Hockey. The dreams were there and the thought was there of what Penn State Hockey could be in the years to come after the donation made by the Pegula's.

Now, both programs have made significant progress towards becoming national powers in the sport, also knowing that there is more work to be done before it could be considered a blue blood in the sport.

There may not be any national championship trophies to show for it, but there's one thing that can't be denied when it comes to how far Nittany Lion ice hockey has come.

Penn State Hockey in a short time, you've come a long way.

Speaking of making history, stick taps to the women's team who under Jeff Kampersal in seven years has won three straight conference championships between the College Hockey America and Atlantic Hockey America conferences and has made it to the NCAA Tournament each year in that time.

While the men look to make their second Frozen Four appearance, the women have an extra incentive to make the Frozen Four next year with Pegula Ice Arena will hosting the women's event for the first time since 2022.