Despite some national media members criticizing Ohio State and Ryan Day for being the only team setting a so-called blow torch to the Big Ten with his released statement on Thursday, there are others.
Enter stage left James Franklin.
Franklin has been coy about speaking out before on how he feels about where things stand with the Big Ten, but he leveled up Thursday while appearing on ESPN Radio’s Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin show.
When asked about what he knows with where things currently stand with the Big Ten and any potential plan on safely returning to play, he just let it all hang out.
“In terms of where we’re at, I’m not really sure — and I think that’s part of the problem,” Franklin said. “I’ve said this from the beginning — I don’t necessarily have an issue with the decision. I’ve got an issue with the process and I’ve got an issue with the timing.”
Franklin went on to criticize the communication (or lack thereof) coming from the Big Ten at the onset of the decision-making process to postpone.
“We just haven’t gotten great communication from the beginning,” he said. “We’ve never really fully been told or understood why this season was shut down in the first place. And then there hasn’t been a whole lot of communication since. … When I say communication, we’ve had meetings but I’m talking about really understanding why and what and how we got here.”
Blunt comments from Penn State coach James Franklin on Big Ten leadership: https://t.co/fXkPAEqtZM pic.twitter.com/FLdk6KRd3U
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) September 10, 2020
Not knowing where things stand makes it extremely tough to know what to prepare for, and to message any sort of light at the end of the tunnel for his team that continues to prepare hard for an end goal they don’t know anything about.
“I think the big challenge as the head football coach — your players and parents think that you have all the answers to what’s going on,” Franklin continued. “But the reality is, we’re dependent on the Big Ten to drive this thing forward. It’s been challenging. It truly has.”
“To stand up in front of your team and tell them and the parents that the season is canceled/postponed but not have any answers of how that affects their futures — when we will be playing football, and still a month later, that’s the hard part that’s been really, really challenging,” Franklin said. “I think a big part of leadership is to be able to deliver answers to people’s questions, and also to be able to drive people toward a vision and drive people toward the plan. And right now we don’t have those things.”
Franklin was then asked what kind of messaging he and the Penn State program has received from the conference or commissioner Kein Warren. He took the high road — asserting that he and his team just has to continue to prepare and be ready.
“I’m gonna stick to what’s going on here at Penn State,” he said. “With our team here, I’m just trying to tell our guys to stay ready so we don’t have to get ready, keeping everybody motivated and controlling the things that we can control. And they’ve done a phenomenal job with that.”
What has to be the hardest question to ask, however, is why there are so many other teams still playing games while the Big Ten sits on the sidelines in limbo. Franklin said that’s a hard pill to swallow.
“That’s the challenge,” Franklin said. “Not only to not be going through our normal routines, but then to be sitting there on a Saturday or Friday night and watching other people play — we’re not a part of it.”
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