James Franklin breaks down Penn State’s approach to NIL across sports

Penn State is one of the many schools that has tried to position itself for NIL in the modern world of college athletics. As head coach James Franklin explained, that means making sure all sports are able to compete at the highest level.

The topic came up during an interview with WHTM-ABC27 News when he was asked about the approach to NIL.

“Well, I think it’s changed dramatically, obviously over the last year, specifically with Pat Kraft,” James Franklin said. “But it’s basically to make sure that all 31 sports have the ability to compete at the very, very highest level.”

Kraft is the Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at Penn State. In that role, he’s actively spearheaded NIL issues at Penn State.

“And not only from a Penn State perspective but from what we’re having to compete with on a national level and really even within our conference. So, obviously, from my perspective, it’s football. But I still make the argument a healthy football is really good for the entire athletic department, which is really good for the entire university and the state.”

Penn State currently has three NIL Collectives, We Are, Success With Honor, and Lions Legacy Club. Of those, both Lions Legacy Club and We Are have set football as their primary focus. Success With Honor, meanwhile, works with football and basketball.

Fans do see the impact that NIL is having. However, James Franklin thinks that many fans don’t even realize the total impact that NIL is having on college athletics.

“Yeah, I think you would have to say it is. It’s a major change. That transfer portal has been a major change. NIL has been a major change in recruiting and in keeping your current roster,” Franklin said. “So, yeah, I think for sure it’s probably as big and I’d make the argument bigger than what probably most people think.”

James Franklin on the excitement for Drew Allar

Penn State is entering the 2023 season with huge expectations. A key reason for those expectations is Drew Allar. Now a sophomore, Allar is a highly touted quarterback who is expected to start for the Nittany Lions.

Recently, James Franklin spoke about the excitement for Allar going into 2023.

“He’s kind of more of the old-school, traditional NFL quarterback. He’s 6 foot 5, he’s 242 pounds. He can make if not every throw on the field almost all of them. But he actually has a little bit more mobility than people may think, so there’s a lot of excitement about him,” Franklin said.

“We’ve got a competition for the quarterback spot and Drew Allar is a young man that there’s a lot of excitement about. Coming out of high school he was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country, was our backup quarterback last year. And unusually he was able to play in almost every single game, so that was a real positive that we were able to get him a ton of reps and experience last year.”