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Franklin excited about offensive line depth

James Franklin was at his best with one-liners Tuesday, coming up with some gems during his press conference discussing the start of Penn State spring football.

The coach is in his second year on the job, so he’s much more acclimated to everything than he was a year ago.

“It’s amazing to think just year two in general how much different everything is,” he said.

The last year has been tough in a lot of ways, Franklin noted, but now things are starting to slow down and he’s able to focus more on what needs the most attention.

That’s when Franklin brought up a comical comparison to Joe Paterno.

“Somebody tweeted out the other day that Joe was here 62 years, and I was here 62 weeks,” Franklin said. “Got a long way to go.”

Another memorable comment – one that was funny and should give every PSU fan reason for optimism – came when Franklin was discussing how the team’s offensive line compares now to where it was a year ago.

“There’s nobody that is happier about this group returning and the strides they’ve made than Mr. and Mrs. Hackenberg,” Franklin said.

Indeed, if it helps keep their son safe.

There was no bigger story line last year than the struggles of the O-line, although the unit did play better at the end of the season. Some – not all, but some – of those concerns are gone as the Lions enter spring drills.

“The fact that we’re going to have two deep of scholarship players is exciting,” Franklin said of the line. “We had a bunch of guys that have had some experience.

“Last year, I think at this point we had two returning starters in the beginning of spring ball, and as we all know we lost (Miles) Dieffenbach. We had one returning player on the offensive line for spring ball and had a bunch of new faces in there with a new system. It’s completely different.”

Which Franklin believes will make things completely different for his quarterback.

Hackenberg was sacked a Big Ten-record 44 times last season, playing behind an offensive line that couldn’t protect him and forced him into a tough predicament from a developmental standpoint.

“It stunts everybody’s development when you’re struggling up front,” Franklin said.

The coach defended Hackenberg all of last season, saying the struggles weren’t his fault, and continued to do that Tuesday.

“Last year Christian spent most of his time solving problems, running from problems, taking a lot of criticism, which I’m really, really defensive about,” Franklin said. “To be honest with you, looking back at it, a little angry that he faced some of the criticism he did. I don’t know if it was fair, just or realistic.

“I think in the long run, the adversity that he went through physically and emotionally in getting through those things is really going to help him. He earned a lot of people’s respect inside our program with how he handled things.”

As for how things will be different for Franklin, he opened up about not trying to be everything to everybody, and instead better prioritizing his schedule.

He spent last year trying to make a good impression on everyone, which meant taking on anything and everything he could, no matter how big or small. Tuesday, he talked about doing a better job of “protecting my time,” – which means no more comments about things such as attending every birthday party he’s asked to attend.

“We’ve done a lot of speaking engagements,” Franklin said, “but my priority needs to be on graduating our players and giving them the skill sets to go on and be successful in life and also have a tremendous experience on the field as well. Our fans deserve that as well and our alumni deserve that.

“I’m doing a better job, our staff is doing a better job of balancing those things because it was an onslaught once I opened my mouth. That was a big mistake, which I’ve learned from.”

News and notes

n Candidates to replace Donovan Smith at left tackle are junior Albert Hall (6-4, 292), JUCO transfer junior Paris Palmer (6-7, 290), freshman Sterling Jenkins (6-8, 294) and redshirt freshman Chance Sorrell (6-5, 281). The plan for now is to keep Andrew Nelson at right tackle. If that position develops more depth and someone steps up there, then Nelson could be moved to left tackle.

n Jordan Lucas is moving from cornerback to safety. “I think Jordan is a guy who could play corner here and at the next level, as well,” Franklin said. “I think he has a chance to maybe be special at safety.”

n Chris Gulla was one of the punters last season but will not handle those duties anymore, instead focusing on place-kicking.

n Mike Hull is a big loss at middle linebacker, and the frontrunner to take over that spot is Nyeem Wartman, while Gary Wooten and Ben Kline also are possibilities.

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