Notebook: James Franklin Previews Michigan, Talks Gattis
James Franklin met with the media today ahead of Penn State’s game with Michigan this Saturday night in the Nittany Lions’ annual “white out” game. PSU is the No. 7 ranked team in the country taking on the 16th-ranked Wolverines.
Franklin was complimentary of the U-M program as a whole, but especially with the ties that he has to U-M offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who coached with Franklin at Vanderbilt and PSU.
“I’ve got so much respect for the University of Michigan, their history, their tradition, their program,” Franklin said. “Obviously, Coach Harbaugh’s done a great job for them as well.
“We’ve obviously got a lot of history with Josh Gattis. Very happy for him professionally, very happy for him personally.
“Obviously a great opportunity for him to go be the offensive coordinator at the University of Michigan. Everybody knows that we were together for a long time. He did a fantastic job [at Vanderbilt and PSU].
“I want to thank Josh for the job that he did while we were together.”
As for the similarities between what PSU runs and what Gattis has implemented at U-M, Franklin says there are some, but it isn’t the exact same.
“There are aspects of it from what we’ve done here, there are aspects of what [Gattis] did at Alabama and then some aspects of what Coach Harbaugh runs at Michigan,” Franklin said. “It’s a combination of all those things.”
Franklin said he believes that because of Gattis’ influences at Alabama and U-M, the Wolverines may actually be more familiar with the Nittany Lions than PSU is with U-M’s offense.
He isn’t just impressed with Gattis and the coaches, but he pointed out some of the U-M players that impress him.
“Guys that we’re impressed with – Ben Bredeson, Jon Runyan, Ronnie Bell. There’s a bunch of guys that we could list, Franklin said. “As everyone knows, they’ve recruited very well there for a long time.”
Franklin and U-M defensive coordinator Don Brown are also familiar with each other. The two coached together at Maryland in 2009-2010.
“As you guys know, I have a tremendous history with Don, as well,” Franklin said. “It’s hard to give him enough credit for what he’s done over his career and specifically what he’s been able to do at Michigan.
“Statistically, they’ve been one of the best defenses in the country since he’s arrived.”
Brown is known for his aggressive defenses, and that is no different this season.
“[They play a] very aggressive, in your face style of defense,” Franklin said. “They pressure 45 percent of the time.
“A bunch of guys impress on defense, as well. Kwity Paye is playing at a high level, Khaleke Hudson has had a really nice career at Michigan. Ambry Thomas, LaVert Hill are both guys we recruited. There’s a bunch of guys we could mention.”
Franklin said it will be a challenge to protect the quarterback against the attacking Wolverines defensive front.
“I think Michigan [does] as good of a job at attacking people’s protections as anybody,” Franklin said. “Not only are we going to have to be ready for what we’ve seen on film, but we’re going to have to be ready for something that he pulls out of his bag that he hasn’t shown us.”
U-M started fast against PSU in last year’s game in Ann Arbor. Franklin was asked about how to prepare for what the Wolverines threw at them a year ago in the 42-7 U-M victory.
“All we can do is study the film and what they’ve put on tape. The personnel packages, the plays they run, the schemes, what they’re trying to do and our familiarity with Josh [Gattis] and Coach Harbaugh and prepare for it,” Franklin answered.
With it being PSU’s annual white out, Franklin says it will be an advantage (the last two Beaver Stadium White Outs have each had 110,800+ fans), but that his team will also need to play well against a good U-M team if it wants to win.
“Hopefully, we can create an environment here where it’s the toughest environment in college football,” he said. “Saturday is a chance to prove it.
“We’ve got a really good team coming here and we’re going to need to play well.”
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