James Franklin isn’t running from the noise anymore—he’s walking straight into it. And somewhere in the background, Penn State AD Pat Kraft is watching it all unfold with the quiet confidence of a man who knows exactly what’s coming next. While CFB pundits argue over Georgia’s reload and Michigan’s next chapter, something seismic is brewing in Happy Valley. At the center of it: Franklin, Kraft, and a wrestling juggernaut that’s so dominant it barely even makes headlines anymore.
Cael Sanderson’s program has become a formality—an annual national championship penciled in before the season begins. But now the pressure’s shifting across the field, and people are starting to whisper what once felt far-fetched: Penn State football might be golden-bound.
Former Nittany Lion and analyst Adam Breneman didn’t sugarcoat it. He pulled the curtain back on what’s happening in State College with the kind of wide-eyed honesty usually reserved for Cinderella stories. “Penn State Athletics just had one of the best years in the history of college sports and no one is even talking about it,” Breneman said. “This is what every athletic department in the country dreams of year after year. Multiple national titles, a major bowl win, Frozen Four, College Football Playoff, Final Four. Pat Kraft maybe at Penn State is not messing around.”
Wrestling did its part again. Women’s volleyball? National champs. And football? A Big Ten title game appearance, a Fiesta Bowl win, and a ticket to the CFP. No flukes, no fairy dust—just dominance from every angle.
It wasn’t just a one-sport swell. The wave swept through the athletic department like a spring flood. Men’s ice hockey punched its way to the Frozen Four. Women’s hockey brought home the AHA title. Even the lacrosse team played like they had something to prove, avenging the football squad’s near-misses with a postseason run of their own.
Matt Traynor was ice-cold in crunch time, earning side-eye comparisons to Drew Allar in the clutch. And how about baseball? They’re still swinging in the Big Ten semifinals. This isn’t momentum—it’s a movement. And it’s happening under a head coach who knows the weight of expectation better than anyone else in the country.
James Franklin isn’t hiding from the pressure. He’s leaning into it with the kind of self-awareness that only comes from a decade in the same chair. “I chose a place that has really high expectations, where you can win 13 games in a season and a portion of the fan base is pissed off,” Franklin told Rich Scarcella of the Reading Eagle. “But I chose that, and I signed up for that. The players chose that, and they signed up for that. Drew Allar, you signed up for this. You chose this. There are probably 15 other schools in the country that are similar. It’s part of the deal.” This isn’t about surviving the season anymore—it’s about owning it from day one. That standard? It’s no longer aspirational. It’s operational.
And the moves off the field are matching the noise on it. Nine regular starters who could’ve bolted for the NFL stayed put. The most coveted DC in the country packed his bags and left Ohio State—Ohio State—to join James Franklin’s staff. Wide receiver depth? Solved. Three transfers arrived to juice up a unit that lagged in big moments last season. There’s talent, there’s leadership, and now, for the first time in the Franklin era, there’s belief. Not just internal belief. National, top-down, playoff-caliber belief.
Pat Kraft hasn’t had to scream into microphones or pound podiums. He’s built the kind of culture that speaks for itself. Silent support, loud results.
Why James Franklin stays at Penn State
In a world where coaches bounce around like pinballs chasing the next big gig, James Franklin is cut from a different cloth. In the interview, Franklin was asked about the rare support he now enjoys from his university leadership—Board of Trustees chairman David Kleppinger, President Neeli Bendapudi, and AD Pat Kraft. And while he’s said he’s getting more “yes” answers now than ever before, it wasn’t always this smooth.
So, what kept him at Penn State during the tougher days?
“A couple things,” Franklin began. “No. 1, a lot of people in college football, the minute they get a job, they’re looking for the next job. That’s not how I’m wired. I almost didn’t come to Penn State because of leaving Vanderbilt and those kids and those people.”
Franklin talked about the emotional investment he poured into rebuilding Penn State’s program: “We’ve worked so hard to get this program back to where we’re now part of these (championship) conversations. To walk away from it didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
And then there’s Matt Schuyler—the former trustees chairman—who kept Franklin grounded: “Matt kept telling me to be patient… In some ways I was a part of those conversations.” It’s that trust, loyalty, and belief in what they’ve built that kept Franklin in Happy Valley.
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