James Franklin discusses defensive coordinator criteria, transfer portal during bowl media day

James Franklin didn’t let a reporter finish when he started to ask when he wanted to have a defensive coordinator hired.

“Yesterday,” he said.

Franklin’s search began officially last Friday when previous DC Manny Diaz was hired as the head coach at Duke, but the Nittany Lion head coach clearly wants to have a replacement sooner rather than later.

He outlined the process involved in finding the right candidate — in-person interviews, video interviews, data study, film watching and searching for the right fit — and did hint that scheme will play a role in the decision when describing the kind of hire he’s looking to make.

“Obviously someone who’s got extensive defensive coordinator experience, someone that runs a similar scheme and philosophy because our current players have had a lot of success in a similar system,” Franklin said. “I’ve had three defensive coordinators that have all been able to play at a high level, and we’ve taken a similar approach with all three. But then we’ve also recruited towards a certain scheme, as well, and to me, I’m not saying that what we have played is the only way you can play defense. ... I just think there’s a lot of gymnastics that go into making that change and can create a lot of questions if guys are asking am I going to fit into the new scheme.”

While the hire could come from the outside, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter could be an internal candidate. Poindexter and analyst Robb Smith, a former defensive coordinator, will be co-coordinators for the bowl game, giving the safeties coach an opportunity to audition for the job.

Poindexter said Friday that he and Franklin had multiple discussions about the opening. It still may be an uphill battle for him to get the job, however, because he doesn’t have head coaching experience, something Franklin mentioned as a desirable trait, even if it’s not a required one.

“If somebody had head coaching experience, I think there’s value in that,” he said. “I think Manny’s time as a head coach was valuable. (Special teams coordinator) Stacy Collins’ value as a previous head coach, there’s value in those things. I don’t think that’s the end-all be-all but it’s helpful if we can find it.”

Transfer portal approach

The defensive coordinator search is only a small part of the business Franklin needs to take care of this month. He and his staff will also have to manage the transfer portal — both incoming and potential outgoing players — along with the beginning of the early signing period on Dec. 20 when players are allowed to sign as part of the 2024 recruiting class. All of that is happening while the team tries to prepare for the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss at the end of the month.

With all of that going on, Franklin doesn’t see the current December schedule as sustainable and said there are other issues under the surface that are impacting everything.

“The schedule is not good,” he said. “It is not good. It is chaotic. You’re recruiting your own roster. There’s mixed messages everywhere. There are agendas in every direction. It’s more challenging than it’s ever been. Schedule-wise, you used to be able to just focus on your current team and recruits, whether that was high school or junior college. Now obviously the transfer portal is factoring into it, as well. We’re not a huge transfer portal team, but we do it. That’s factoring into it, as well. Tampering is rampant. I mean, I think if you talked to any college football coach in the country, that’s an issue. Agents, coaches, calling parents, calling high school coaches of your current team, it is rampant. All the reasons why we’ve had all these rules in place that now are not being enforced, all these rules were put in place for a reason.”

While the Nittany Lions don’t heavily rely on the portal like some programs do, they do try and supplement their roster.

That will be the case once again, according to Franklin, but he said they do have difficulty with some portal players because of the promises other schools make.

“We’re going to go out, and our job, whether it’s through high school or whether it’s through the portal, is to create competition at every position,” he said. “Once again, we’re not making promises. A lot of programs promise you come here, you’re the starter. We don’t do that. You’re going to be promised an opportunity to come in and compete, and the best players will play.”

Quick hitters

• TE Theo Johnson, OT Olu Fashanu, LB Curtis Jacobs, CB Daequan Hardy, DE Adisa Isaac and TE Tyler Warren all said they plan to play in the Peach Bowl. Johnson and Jacobs are the only ones in that group to announce a draft decision and said they will be entering the draft this year. The rest all said they’re still working through that process.

• CBs Johnny Dixon and Kalen King were not made available Friday, nor were they spotted at practice Friday evening in the portion open to the media.