5 takeaways from James Franklin's time at Big Ten Media Days

Indianapolis -- Penn State coach James Franklin and three players traveled to Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday to unofficially kick off the 2021 season.

The eighth-year leader of the Nittany Lions spent more than an hour talking to reporters between a podium Q&A and a roundtable discussion with reporters in addition to interviews with Big Ten Network and other outlets.

Here's what we learned from the head coach throughout the day.

Franklin declined to give the program's exact COVID-19 vaccination rate, but he did say it was over 70 percent.

"The intention is to try to get as close to 100% as possible," Franklin said. "I think we're trending in a really good direction. For me, I'm going to have conversations, I'm going to try to educate; I'm constantly sending my guys articles and videos and things that I see out there. There are obviously both ends of the spectrum on how people feel on this topic, so all I've asked our guys to do is; I met with a kid the other day and he said well the reason he's not getting it is 'X'. Ok, that's fine, and I can respect that.

"All I'm asking you to do is have a conversation with Dr. Wayne Seabastianelli and Dr. [Gregory] Billy and make sure what you are making this decision based on is accurate. As long as it's accurate, then that's fine that's up to you."

ESPN reported that at least three schools -- Maryland, Minnesota, and Michigan -- are over 90 percent, and Franklin does see higher vaccination rates as a competitive advantage come the fall.

There was a noticeable pep in Franklin's step and a bevy of smiles, jokes, and laughs as he bounded around the turf here.

It's not to say that Franklin was sad and slow all of last year, but he has not been shy about sharing how hard the last year was, but now the coach's family and work worlds are whole again.

It's definitely making a difference: Franklin said watching player media day participants Tariq Castro-Fields, PJ Mustipher, and Jahan Dotson play with his kids and interact with his wife on Wednesday "rejuvenated and refreshed my soul."

"Twenty-six years of doing this, it wasn't really two worlds colliding, it was one world, because my family and my career have always just kind of been in or intertwined," Franklin continued.

"But, over the last 14 months, it was separate, so to see them coming back together was was awesome."

Noah Cain looked healthy and explosive in a recent social media post from his trainer. Franklin has seen it, of course, and thought it looked great.

It's good news for the Lions, who lost the talented ball carrier early in last season's opener. With him back, a group that includes Devyn Ford, Keyvone Lee, Caziah Holmes, and transfer John Lovett is among the most talented in the sport from top to bottom.

"We got a chance to have arguably one of the most talented and deepest running back rooms in the country, and I think last year proved you better have that," Franklin said.

"[Noah] seems to be in a great place in my conversations with him, my conversations with the training staff, but I'll know better after we get into a week of camp."

Lonnie White Jr., to the Pittsburgh Pirates may one day be a done deal, but it isn't yet.

The Penn State four-star Class of 2021 receiver signee who was the No. 64 overall pick in this year's MLB Draft has not yet decided whether he's going to college or becoming a professional. He has until Aug. 1 to sign with Pittsburgh, and his family is still staying in touch with the Lions.

In fact, his mother had texted Franklin just moments before he sat down for his table session.

“A few days ago I thought it was a done deal, and I knew what he was doing," Franklin said. "I just got a text message that it has changed in another direction. I'm not sure. I think it depends on the day, and I didn't tell you what the direction was today… so don't try to assume anything.

"But it's been interesting. Hopefully, we'll know here soon. He essentially has up until training camp. At the end of the day, I want the kid and the family to be happy and make the right decision.

Everyone likes good quarterback fodder, so let's hit on a fews items there:

--Sean Clifford is clearly the starter heading into camp. That's no surprise, but let's leave no doubts about it.

-Penn State doesn't yet know who its second quarterback will be, but TaQuan Roberson is the logical choice. Franklin said he needs to see more consistency from him, though.

-The Lions didn't make a transfer portal addition at the position this offseason because it never found the right fit.

"If a quarterback becomes available, we would be open to it," Franklin said. "I've said that you know, really since the season ended, but I'm also not just going to take a guy to take a guy because that could stunt the development of the guys that we have in our program as well. So, I think that's one of the things you have to be careful with the transfer portal is, you can take someone just to get to a certain number, and he's not the right fit. He doesn't make sense for your organization as a whole.

"There's been a number of guys that we could have taken, and for whatever reason, doing our research, doing some background checks in terms of conversations, or watching film or workouts or whatever it is, it just has not made sense for us to move in that direction."

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