Wednesday, January 22, 2014

We are....Happy to Welcome the Franklin Family!



Hello to officially one of the best tailgates at PSU :)!  (Still can't believe we earned that finalist spot)!

What another roller coaster of events and emotions Nittany Nation has been through since our last meeting at Lot 24.  I for one was so very sad to hear buzz of BOB leaving and was frantically scouring news sites in the hopes of a press release from him saying it was "a bunch of malarky".

Of course that wasn't so.  My frantic search then moved in the direction of figuring out who our next head coach would be.  I quite honestly spent very little time learning about James Franklin because I thought he was way too good and Penn State would never be able to convince him to come here.

We know now that James Franklin is the guy for us and better yet he truly wants to be here! Not sure how much you all see in different parts of PA and beyond, but Franklin is everywhere on campus just embracing the Penn State spirit!  He's been to all kinds of PSU sporting events.  He hit many high schools in both the Philly and Pittsburgh area including a stop at his own high school alma mater. He attended last week's wrestling match without being required b/c of an introduction, he banged on the glass with the students at a hockey game and has taken endless selfies with whoever wants to say hello! I can't wait to see his role in THON; I know he will really motivate those dancers in a BIG way :).

We have yet to see his Nittany Lions in action, but I am just so excited with this positive energy---it's fun and it's community when we need it most!  Check out the video above put together by PSU Sports on Franklin's first few days in Happy Valley.  Mark 2:13 is my favorite part :)!  Let's all welcome Coach Franklin and his beautiful and obviously very supportive family to Penn State!

We are....