Control what you can control.
At least twice this season, Penn State coach James Franklin has talked about how he approaches his job, in general and on gamedays. With all the moving parts and variables, all the audiences and stakeholders, he’s been fairly consistent with his message.
He said he focuses only on what he can control. It makes no sense to waste energy on anything else.
Big games played at midday rather than primetime. Who cares? Not Franklin (at least publicly).
Where his team falls in the weekly College Football Playoff rankings. Why worry? It’ll all play out eventually, in plenty of time for the first postseason game.
Instead, Xs and Os matter. Balancing game and practice reps to keep players fresh as a long season moves along matters. Prioritizing input from assistant coaches to get to meaningful decisions matters.
Both the most appropriate praise and in some ways most pointed condemnation of Franklin’s tenure at Penn State come when fans, the media, whomever, describe him as a “CEO coach.”
On the one hand, it probably means he’s prepared and well organized. It means he’s a leader who keeps his team on task, consistently seeking best practices and ways to improve. It means he prods and pushes, striving to be better every day, hoping to get the Penn State football program to the self-defined “elite” status that has remained elusive.
On the other hand, it unfairly hints that he’s not really an Xs and Os guy. It’s a backhanded compliment that when defining a football coach he’s somehow less gritty football guy and more rah-rah, self-help guru. It insinuates he’s not teaching techniques or driving home lessons about leverage, spacing or on the practice field or in meetings.
The truth is Franklin can coach and cares deeply about all he can control, as well as the things he cannot directly influence — and he’d like to have a big say on all those things as well.
Still, there are some things that should clearly be on the radar for a top-tier Division I football coach and some things that should not. Here are a few of each …
Needs to Know
• His players’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as what motivates them and ways to put them in a position to succeed.
• An opponent’s tendencies, including ways to help his team exploit any weaknesses.
• Who’s getting paid what in the NIL/pay-for-play world. That matters in terms of relationships and roster management.
• Rules that affect eligibility and playing time, as well as coming changes that will impact roster development and size.
• Game and clock management.
• It’s always best just to walk right off the field after a game, win or lose, good or bad.
Does Not Need to Know
• How or why the fireworks, flyovers and other gameday special events or productions work.
• Any detailed plans, except be-here-at-this-time information, in regard to the gameday presentation at Beaver Stadium.
• The cost of a student ticket, or any ticket to the game, really. Just appreciate, repeatedly and as sincerely as possible, the support of those fans.
• The name of any fan who tries to engage with him after a game. There’s no need to interact in any way. You’re the famous one, the one with the multimillion-dollar paycheck and you’re getting compensated to be above it all.
There could be several more entries in each category, but keeping it simple, controlling the controllables, can be a productive route to success.
This season that could lead Franklin and the team to a level of success they’ve not previously enjoyed.
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