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WATCH: See everything Penn State coach James Franklin said at the podium during Big Ten Media Days

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel07/23/25GregPickel
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Penn State coach James Franklin speaks at Big Ten Media Days. (Pickel/BWI)

LAS VEGAS — Penn State coach James Franklin unofficially kicked off the Nittany Lions’ 2025 season with a podium speech live on the Big Ten Network on Wednesday during the conference’s annual media days event. It is being held here for the first time at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Franklin was the last of six head coaches to speak during the live broadcast portion of the event. Later today, he and the team’s three player representatives — quarterback Drew Allar, safety Zakee Wheatley, and center Nick Dawkins — will speak with reporters in a roundtable setting.

Franklin’s 15 minutes at the dais started with an opening statement. During it, he covered his team’s high number of returning starters and his coordinator situation, among other things, before transitioning to a question-and-answer period. A big talking point was how the Lions will replace star tight end Tyler Warren.

“Tyler was a special player,” Franklin said. “Two years ago I sat in the meeting room with our TEs and Theo and Tyler were deciding what was going to happen and who was going to come back. Theo declares, Tyler comes back, and obviously has an unbelievably memorable season. We had a unique situation at running back. I thought it was going to be the same deal and one of those guys would declare and the other come back. They both came back. We have two great running backs.

Watch the complete video of Penn State coach James Franklin’s Big Ten Media Days speech below. If you can’t see the embedded video player, you can watch the clip on Blue-White Illustrated’s YouTube channel. Click here to access it.

“Penn State from a historical standpoint at the running back positon, there’s been a ton of really good players. They’re going to play a big role in that. Khalil Dinkins is a guy not a whole lot of people are talking about but should be. Andrew Rappleyea, Luke Reynolds, there are three guys we think will be very productive. And then at receiver, that’s been the big conversation. We went out in the portal and brought in three really productive players. What we hope to do is spread that ball around to all of those people. It makes us more difficult to defend.”

Blue-White Illustrated will have continuing coverage from media days throughout the afternoon and evening. Find more updates inside The Lions Den forum by clicking here.

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