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By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
UNIVERSITY PARK -- The period of time between the end of the regular season and a school's bowl game is commonly referred to in college football as "silly season." There is still plenty of work for college football coaches to do, including recruiting on the road, bowl preparation, the ever-changing coaching carousel, and discussing futures for players.
All of that is happening while having to monitor the transfer portal, which changed college football as fans knew it a couple years ago.
For Penn State and James Franklin, add on top of that a trip to Las Vegas for the College Football Hall of Fame where former PSU great LaVar Arrington was inducted earlier this month.
"Over the last two weeks, I've literally been everywhere," Franklin said.
"You're running in a thousand different directions, making sure our guys finish strong academically, and making sure we're doing everything we can for bowl prep. God forbid you go buy a Christmas present. There are literally not enough hours in the day."
So Franklin should be happy upon returning to campus to see that most of his team that finished the regular season three weeks ago will largely be intact for the Rose Bowl against Utah on Jan. 2.
In a world of college football where opting out of bowl games has become a norm, Penn State only has two opt-outs for the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2 in Joey Porter Jr. and Parker Washington.
That's a far cry from last year's Outback Bowl where the Lions had six starters out in a 24-10 loss to Arkansas.
"In my 12 years as a head coach, I had never had an opt-out until last year," Franklin said at Rose Bowl media day on Friday. "Part of it goes to the leadership of our captains. In my mind, the way we build it at Penn State, there's really no reason to opt out. We will be as flexible with our guys as we possibly can. I want the bowl experience to be a great experience.
"Last year was probably an outlier."
Penn State safety Ji'Ayir Brown admitted that he had thought about opting out of the Rose Bowl, but ultimately decided against it due to the prestige factor. That was a theme throughout the players, except most said that they didn't even consider sitting out such an opportunity.
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime," said senior defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher. "I grew up watching the Rose Bowl. I'm excited to be in that environment out in California.
"Whenever the Rose Bowl was on in our house, no other game mattered. No other sport mattered. I love the Rose Bowl. I'm not going to take this for granted."
The trip to California will be a high to quite the roller coaster of a career for sixth-year quarterback Sean Clifford, who said he's also excited to take a trip to Disneyland in the week leading up to the game.
"I always knew this team had big goals and big dreams," Clifford said. "I think some would say we fell short in a couple areas, but I think the talent on this team and the excitement around it, to be able to finish at the Rose Bowl is something we can be proud of.
"I think it just shows the importance of this game. It's not the College Football Playoff, but it's a very important championship that we're playing for. In a world of college football where you see opt-outs a lot, for the majority of this team to say, 'This matters. This is important.' I'm so happy about that."
It's also been quite a few weeks for defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who seems to have his name pop up in any school's search for a new head coach. Diaz was the head coach at Miami (FL) from 2019 until he was fired last season when the university brought in Oregon's Mario Cristobal.
Diaz was linked to the job at Florida Atlantic a couple weeks ago, but the school hired Tom Herman instead.
Now it looks like Diaz will be staying at least for the 2023 season.
"It's called silly season for a reason because a lot of it is just rumors," said Diaz. "I've got a great job. It would take an amazingly great job to leave a great job."
"At this point, it's full speed ahead for the Rose Bowl and 2023. As far as ambition, I'd like to be a head coach again. I enjoy it. I think there's some unfinished business with the way things happened a year ago."
It may be a silly few weeks, but it's also been a successful one for the Nittany Lions. The same team that left the Beaver Stadium turf three weeks ago will look a lot like the one for the Jan. 2 game against Utah.