Penn State coach James Franklin engages with practically everybody whose path he crosses on his day by day campus walks. Occasionally, he even agrees to a dare.
Recently, Franklin rode a single-wheel electric skateboard, often known as a Onewheel, on campus, urged on by a few different riders. Yet Franklin, 49, appeared fairly snug within the five-second video of the trip posted to social media.
During the Penn State Coaches Caravan, which returned in digital kind June 1, Franklin defined the second and what prompted him to attempt it.
Franklin walks greater than 5 miles day by day round campus, circling Beaver Stadium, looping by the close by Arboretum, and even heading downtown. Franklin greets everybody he walks previous and “keeps track of who responds.”
In late May, Franklin was pitched a probability to trip the single-wheel board. He took it.
“I jumped on, and they were kind of amazed that I didn’t crack my head,” Franklin stated on the digital Caravan presentation. “It was fun to do that.”
Franklin additionally knew there could be penalties, notably if he fell and the video went viral.
“I think that’s why they asked me to get on,” Franklin stated, “because they started videotaping it and hoping that I was going to fall off.”
Elsewhere through the 90-minute session, which featured softball coach Clarisa Crowell, girls’s soccer coach Erica Dambach and males’s lacrosse coach Jeff Tambroni, Franklin mentioned a selection of soccer subjects. Here’s a sampling.
Penn State’s full roster of scholarship gamers will probably be on campus for each summer season periods. Five freshmen enrolled in May, whereas the rest will arrive later this summer season, Franklin stated.
One distinctive carryover of the pandemic season and its associated recruiting restrictions: A couple of freshmen arrived with out having seen Penn State’s campus earlier than. Franklin met with gamers and their mother and father the evening earlier than faculty started. He requested one household, “Well, do you like it?”
“That was somewhat strange,” Franklin stated. “Fortunately, they loved it.”
Franklin as soon as once more assured followers that they are going to love the brand new offense that coordinator Mike Yurcich introduced with him from Texas. Franklin stated the offense will probably be just like that of 2016, when Penn State received the Big Ten title with a unfold type and explosive performs.
Franklin additionally famous two variations: Quarterback Sean Clifford will take snaps from underneath middle, and the offense will run a extra up-tempo type than it has previously.
“We will be in a situation where we will mix going under center a little bit, which I know is important to our fan base and our community,” Franklin stated. “That will be a part of what we do; not a big part, but it will be a part of what we do. Then one of the differences that we’ll probably see is, we’ve never really been a tempo team. We haven’t really gone fast, and that will be an aspect of our offense. It will just be one of a number of weapons.”
Franklin’s daughters are awaiting the second doses of their COVID-19 vaccines. Once they’re totally vaccinated, Franklin stated the household can reunite underneath one roof, and “I can give my wife and kids a hug and get back to somewhat normal from that standpoint.”
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