Dude killed his press conference today. Everything I've heard about him has been great. Energetic, engaging, and driven. Hearing him speak and discuss his vision, he seems like a perfect fit for PSU and college coaching in general.

A good friend and former co-coach of mine was actually James Franklin's successor as starting QB for East Stroudsburg. The guy I know shattered every DII record at the time (over 600 yards passing in a game, 7 passing TDs in a game 3 times, etc.). He had nothing but extremely good things to say about Franklin. I have two other good friends who were teammates with Franklin for some of their career at East Stroudsburg and they too had nothing but great things to say about him.

Some have questioned his ability to coach up Hackenberg. I don't think that will be an issue. East Stroudsburg, his alma mater, ran an extremely complex offense that aired the ball out. He ran a pro-style offense as the offensive coordinator at Maryland (they're hating themselves for letting him go).

Personally, I think he will be one heck of a recruiter. He just seems like a very charismatic guy who kids would love to play for. He talked about putting a wall around PA and continuing to attract the best from MD, NJ, DE and the northeast. His PA roots (dad from the Hill District in Pittsburg and he grew up in the Philly suburbs) will definitely help too. I know he's gonna bring in his own coaches, but I sincerely hope he opts to keep LJ Sr. around (and LJ Sr. wants to stick around too).