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Did you know Penn State named a new head coach today? I was 99% sure it was going to be Gordon Bombay, but my editors asked me to reach out to some recruits to find out what they thought of this Franklin guy. So here goes nothing I guess.
Antoine White (2014 DT Commit)
From what I've heard he is a very animated, high energy, good coach. If it is him it will be great to see how we do with him.
(Antoine was contacted before the news was official). Antoine has already reaffirmed his commitment to Penn State, and is excited to get to work with the new head coach and new staff (although he is also still hoping that Larry Johnson is retained, as all the commits are). Antoine arrives at Penn State this weekend, and will be enrolling and officially starting classes this week. Good luck, Antoine!
Mark Allen (2014 RB Commit)
I'm just happy to have a coach. From what I hear, Franklin has a good resume and I'm just ready to get down to State College and work my butt off to prove to him that I can play ball.
Mark is surely feeling what other recruits and commits must be feeling. While the excitement for a fantastic coach coming in is surely there, they also must consider the fact that Franklin has not seen all of them. They all know that they have to show the new head coach why they were recruited to be Penn State athletes in the first place;, and I have no doubt in my mind that they will all do so.
Troy Reeder (2014 LB Commit)
I'm very excited. He's the coach I wanted to be selected throughout the entire process.
While Troy finds himself still without his favorite Penn State coach, Ron Vanderlinden, he is clearly excited about the hire. He mentioned to me that he would love if Vandy was brought back, but unfortunately that seems like a long shot at this point.
Michael O'Connor (2014 QB Commit)
He offered me at Vandy, so it's good that we have some familiarity.
Mike didn't have much to say, as he has been hounded by reporters since his announcement that he was reconsidering his commitment and early enrollment. But as reported by Onward State and Rivals, O'Connor is in State College now and will make a decision on his enrollment soon. All signs point to his sticking with the Lions at this point.
Chris Godwin (2014 WR Commit)
We couldn't reach Godwin himself, but he did reaffirm his commitment to Penn State today:
Four-Star WR Chris Godwin confirms that he's done listening to other schools. He'll absolutely sign for #PennState come signing day.
— Ryan Snyder (@RivalsSnyder) January 11, 2014
Ryan Bates (2015 OL Recruit)
I don't have a lot to say about him. But I hear he's a good coach.
Ryan is also focused on whether or not Coach Johnson is sticking around, as most are. That we'll just have to wait and see on (If I get the chance at the press conference today, I'll ask. Don't worry everyone).
Tommy Hatton (2015 OL Recruit)
He's a great coach, he did good things at Vandy.
Tommy is still waiting for his Penn State offer, so I'm sure he's excited to make a good impression on Franklin and whoever his staff ends up being in State College.
Jake Cooper (2015 LB Recruit)
I'm excited about him being the new head coach! I think he's a great guy and he did well at Vandy!
Jake is longgggg overdue for his Penn State offer. He told me that he was being recruited heavily by Vanderbilt as well, though, so that Penn State offer should come soon with Franklin coming in. He is very excited about Franklin being the man in charge.
Richie Petitbon (2015 OL Recruit)
I have gotten to know Coach Franklin at Vanderbilt. They offered me during the summer, he also coached at Maryland for many years so it is very exciting.
(Richie is from DC, hence the Maryland comment). Richie currently lists Alabama as his top school, so Penn State can use all the help it can get in recruiting him. He's still high on the Nittany Lions, but his lead recruiter is Larry Johnson. Should he leave the staff, that could be trouble for PSU in his recruitment. Having familiarity with Franklin is definitely a plus though, and this could be one spot where we see his recruiting prowess take form right away.
That's all for now. If I get a hold of more recruits, I'll put up another post or add to this one, we'll see. Make sure that you're also following @BSDtweet and @TheRealNPolak today, as I will be live tweeting the press conference introducing Bombay as the new head coach. Everyone together now. Quack. Quack. Quack! Quack!! QUACK!!!! QUACK!!!!!!! QUACK!!!!!!!!!!
