James Franklin embraces Penn State’s high expectations in 2025, but preseason hype ‘means nothing’ without results

There is no official Big Ten preseason poll, but Cleveland.com released its 15th annual preseason conference poll on Monday, and for the first time, Penn State was atop the list. Of the 25 voters, 11 picked the Nittany Lions to win their first conference title since 2016. In a separate Big Ten preseason poll from the King of the North podcast, 35 of 54 first-place votes went to Penn State to finish first.

Those polls, along with three Nittany Lions players being named to the preseason All-Big Ten team, is a microcosm of the expectations Penn State will have in 2025 after coming up short in last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame. On the second day of Big Ten media days in Las Vegas, coachJames Franklin, entering his 12th year in Happy Valley, took to the podium and said his team is embracing the conversations that are happening around his program and added that “we’ve earned that.”

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“There’s a lot of people that are excited on a national level talking about us, but the reality is, when it comes to the Lasch Football Building, or when it comes to local, these are always the expectations at Penn State,” said Franklin, who was also voted as Cleveland.com’s Big Ten preseason Coach of the Year.

“We had what a lot of people would consider a really good season last year. We were a game away from playing for the national championship, and you could actually make the argument a drive away from playing for the national championship, but it didn’t feel that way, right? Because the expectations at Penn State are really high.”

“Let’s also be honest. It’s a great conversation, but who really cares about preseason rankings? They mean nothing.”

Added quarterback Drew Allar, who was also in attendance: “You want to be in that position where all the expectations and maybe pressure are on you. But for me, I couldn’t care less if we’re unranked in the media, No. 1, or No. 5. To me, it doesn’t matter. The only thing I care about is being where we’re ranked at the end of the season.”

Penn State’s returners are headlined by Allar, running back tandem Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, among a host of others on a team that finished with a program-record 13 wins last season.

The staff, though, will look a little different in 2025, as the Nittany Lions lost running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, who left for Notre Dame, and defensive coordinator Tom Allen took a job leading Clemson’s defense. In comes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who coached the Ohio State defense en route to its national title, and running backs coach Stan Drayton, the former Temple head coach.

In his opening statement, Franklin says between his players and staff, “This is the best combined personnel that I think we’ve had at Penn State.”

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“When I talk about personnel, I’m talking about players and staff from a depth, from a talent standpoint, and from an experience standpoint. We’re very excited about that,” Franklin said. “We have 19 former Penn State football players, lettermen on our staff, working in a variety of roles that are doing a phenomenal job for us when it comes to player development.”

Entering his third season as Penn State’s starting quarterback, Allar is getting first-round buzz ahead of next year’s NFL draft. He’s coming off a season with career-highs in completion percentage (66.5%), passing yards (3,327), and total touchdowns (30).

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound senior has expectations to be a Heisman Trophy contender this season. Franklin, when asked about his quarterback, praised Allar’s “tremendous growth every single year.”

“[Allar] can make every throw on the field. Has shown that he can hurt people with his feet, and has really made tremendous strides as a leader, holding himself to a really high standard, and willing to have tough conversations with his teammates, as well,” Franklin said. “We expect him to take another significant leap this year. Most people had him projected as a first-round draft choice last year. He decided to come back to school [with] unfinished business, collectively as a team, but also as an individual. I’m a big Drew fan.”

The Medina, Ohio native points to teammates he had when he was a freshman, like Sean Clifford, P.J. Mustipher, and Ji’Ayir Brown, for “influences on my style of leadership.” Allar also echoed similar sentiments as Franklin in his progression from a first-year starter two years ago to leading one of college football’s top teams heading into next season.

“For me, it’s always about just putting my head down and just working, no matter if people don’t see it. I’m always in the facility trying to find a little edge, whether it’s keeping my body right with maintenance and that sort of thing, or if it’s watching more film,” Allar said. “I think my process has been really good throughout the years, and that’s what’s allowed me to get better each year.”

Allar and the Nittany Lions offense will be missing the production offensively from tight end Tyler Warren, who was selected in the first round of this year’s draft by the Indianapolis Colts. The Nittany Lions refreshed their wideout pool, adding Trebor Pena, Devonte Ross, and Kyron Hudson as transfer portal additions. And with Singleton and Allen returning in the backfield, Franklin expects to “spread that ball around” to their various playmakers.

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“When you talk about taking some of that production, we got two great running backs … and they’ve been sharing carries their entire career,” Franklin said. “We’ve had as much production out of our tight end room as anybody in the country. Khalil Dinkins is the guy that not a whole lot of people are talking about, but I think should be.

“We went out in the transfer portal and brought in three really productive players in Pena from Syracuse, who was a captain, and in Hudson, from USC, who was a captain. And then when you talk about Devonte Ross, who made a bunch of big plays and had a ton of production at Troy.”

Penn State opens the season with Nevada at Beaver Stadium on Aug. 30 (3:30 p.m., CBS3), and has marquee matchups against Oregon in its annual White Out game (Sept. 27). A date in Columbus against Ohio State then looms on Nov. 1.