Penn State coach James Franklin named Big Ten preseason coach of the year by Cleveland.com

Penn State coach James Franklin is Cleveland.com’s preseason Big Ten coach of the year. The 12th-year leader of the Lions received 10 first-place votes to take home the outlet’s 15th such honor. Various media members from around the conference vote in the poll, which is an unofficial one that started when the Big Ten stopped down its own.

“[Franklin] edged out Illinois’ Bret Bielema by one vote (10-9) to earn the honor,” Stephen Means writes for Cleveland.com. “Other coaches to receive votes were Ohio State’s Ryan Day (three), Michigan’s Sherrone Moore (two) and Oregon’s Dan Lanning (one), who was last season’s preseason Coach of the Year.

“Since arriving in 2014, Franklin has gone 101–42 as PSU’s head coach and 64–33 in the Big Ten. His resume includes only one conference title won in 2016 and a Big Ten Coach of the Year award in the same season.”

Penn State is also the preseason No. 1 team

Cleveland.com’s voters put Penn State atop its preseason poll, as well. Eleven of 25 voters picked Franklin’s team to win the conference a year after it lost to Oregon in the Big Ten title game. That, of course, was the team’s second trip to that game in the Franklin era and first since winning it all in 2016. You can see the full poll results below.

Complete Cleveland.com Preseason Poll

School & Ranking	Points	Average Rank
1) Penn State	435 (11 first-place votes)	1.60
2) Ohio State	435 (10)	1.76
3) Oregon	405 (2)	2.80
4) Illinois	353	4.88
5) Michigan	346	5.16
6) Indiana	305	6.80
7) Iowa	287	7.52
8) Nebraska	277	7.92
9) USC	269	8.24
10) Washington	216	10.36
11) Minnesota	192	11.32
12) Wisconsin	159	12.60
T-13) Michigan State	135	13.60
T-13) Rutgers	135	13.60
15) UCLA	134	13.64
16) Maryland	91	15.36
17) Northwestern	65	16.40
18) Purdue	39	17.44

Order the Blue-White Illustrated Penn State preview magazine today!

This year’s preview is 116 pages discussing everything about the unofficially No. 1 Nittany Lions going into the 2025 season.

Notable features include:

• A season preview breaking down Penn State’s best players and position groups
• The freshmen most likely to play
• Position-by-position analysis of the Lions
• In-depth player and coach features
• Historical articles and NFL updates on former Lions
• A final evaluation of the departing recruiting class
• An exclusive Q&A with head coach James Franklin
• Expert columns, opponent previews, and more

Link to order: https://bit.ly/BW-Preview

REMINDER – This special edition is INCLUDED with a regular subscription to Blue White Illustrated’s magazine. That is different from a subscription to the website. You only need to order if you want an additional copy — makes a great preseason gift!

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