Penn State notebook: Franklin is looking for a general manager
STATE COLLEGE - Professionalism isn't coming to college football. It's already here.
James Franklin acknowledged as much Thursday, during his weekly radio show, when he announced that he's looking to hire a General Manager for the football program.
Franklin technically already employs a GM, Andy Frank, but he's really the manager of the recruiting operation. His previous title, Director of Player Personnel, more accurately summarized his duties.
"What we're looking in this next generation of college football, with revenue sharing and those things coming, is trying to get really a specific contract and money [person],'' Franklin told Steve Jones, Penn State's radio play–by-play man, who co-hosts the radio show.
"An accountant, somebody who maybe has a background working in the NFL and is maybe a No. 2 or a No. 3 in the NFL to the general manager.''
Many major-college programs now have someone with the GM title, but the duties vary. Frank, who has an engineering degree from Princeton which really doesn't apply here, oversees a staff of 11 recruiting analysts and coordinators.
As college football moves inevitably toward player contracts, the job inevitably will move toward negotiating those deals. If there's a salary cap, expects GMs to become "cap gurus,'' a la the NBA or NFL.
Alabama's football GM, Courtney Morgan, signed a contract extension in August what will pay him $825,000 annually. That's more than some Crimson Tide assistant coaches make.
It's also chump change compared to what college football's Theo Epstein or Howie Roseman will someday make, if that's the direction we're headed. And it is.
The topic came up on Franklin's radio show because of the news last week that Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN's NBA insider, has retired from that gig to become GM for the men's basketball team as St. Bonaventure, his alma mater.
Woj had to have taken a big pay cut, which he acknowledged doing for quality-of-life reasons, and out of affection for his school.
Similarly, Franklin said he'd love to get someone with local ties, "who maybe has got a Penn State connection or Pennsylvania connection who would love to be working in this role. That's the next step for us."
Recruiting update: Kent State isn't necessarily a big draw for recruiting visits, but perhaps 50 recruits, their friends and families were crowded along the sideline pregame.
Among the expected visitors, according to 24/7 Sports and other recruiting sites, were Jerome Larue, Jr., a freshman (yes, freshman; he's been in high school for less than a month) running back who grew up in Lancaster and attends Bishop McDevitt.
Also expected at the game were the following District Three players: Messiah Mickens, Jr. RB, Harrisburg; Elias Coke, Jr. WR, Harrisburg; Jalen Cook, Sr. WR, Dallastown; Santana Young, Sr. WR, Central Dauphin East.
Of that group, Mickens is the only recruit committed to Penn State.
