Ever since legendary Nittany Lion coach Joe Paterno passed away, the recruiting at Penn State just hasn’t come as easily for them. Third year head coach James Franklin recently talked about how that is quickly changing for his team.
Franklin told Greg Pickel of Pennlive.com “Probably in three years we’ll get back to having not only numbers that make more sense, but also how it’s spread out.” Franklin’s statement was also pertinent to the issue of Penn State’s scholarship distribution.
The Nittany Lions were penalized for their involvement in the Jerry Sandusky scandal back in 2011. As part of the punishment, Penn State’s scholarships were cut from the usual maximum of eighty-five to sixty-five, a penalty that was originally supposed to hold up through 2016. All of the sanctions have since been expunged and the NCAA has slowly granted more and more of the university’s scholarships back in recent years.
It will take some time before the Nittany Lions are back on the same level of Ohio State or Michigan State due to the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes being some small thanks in part to the Sandusky scandal, the four-year bowl ban, and the limited scholarships. The offensive line has been affected most by the penalties. Each position on the line only had one experienced backup last season and they finished with two true freshmen starting.
Again, it will be a while before we see the Nittany Lions back to their former selves and in the Big Ten Championship picture, but Coach Franklin sure has them on the right track.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
