All Penn State

How #LTFI Became the Viral Heart of Penn State's Postseason Run

James Franklin didn't expect an 8-second video to gain such traction. The Nittany Lions say it captured their coach perfectly.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State's official NIL collective made T-shirts commemorating coach James Franklin's viral moment before the Nittany Lions' game vs. Maryland.
Penn State's official NIL collective made T-shirts commemorating coach James Franklin's viral moment before the Nittany Lions' game vs. Maryland. / Courtesy Happy Valley United
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SCOTTSDALE, Arizona | James Franklin led Penn State into Beaver Stadium on Nov. 30, through the white smoke and under the "1-0" sign, where a collection of fans waited, a few more frenzied than usual. Michigan had just defeated Ohio State, which meant that Penn State football could clinch a spot in the Big Ten championship game with a win over Maryland that afternoon.

"We'll see you in Indy!" a fan shouted to Franklin moments before the Nittany Lions took the field. With that, Penn State's head coach responded with a phrase that went viral, launched a clothing line and underscored every iteration of Franklin's favorite term. What once veered into repetitive-stress territory had new life. For Penn State fans, it was time to "focus on f---ing Maryland" and to "lock the f--- in."

The eight-second video, captured by a fan hanging over the Beaver Stadium tunnel, has breathed a cheek new tone into Franklin's famous "1-0" phraseology. "Lock the f--- in" has become an IYKYK hashtag (#LTFI) among Nittany Lions fans, endearing Franklin to them for the red-hot moment of humanity. It also resonated with players and coaches, who appreciated how their head coach, perhaps inadvertently, provided a glimpse under the program's hood.

"He treats the fans the same way he treats me," Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein said. "If I had said that, he would have said the same thing to me."

At Fiesta Bowl Media Day on Sunday, Penn State players and coaches discussed those 8 seconds, how they represent the program's ethos and what they mean as Nittany Lions' prepare to face Boise State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. How did Penn State bring LTFI to Arizona? The Nittany Lions arrived to their Scottsdale hotel just before 8 p.m. on Saturday. Curfew that night was 10 p.m. This isn't a bowl trip.

"Curfew on a bowl trip is usually 2 a.m.," Penn State offensive lineman Sal Wormley said. "You have time to get some food, enjoy the scenery, see what the town is like. But we get here, and it's 10 p.m. Those two hours were team meeting, dinner, then bed. That's what happened."

'That's how coach Franklin is in the moment'

Franklin walked into the tunnel before the Maryland game locking arms with two offensive linemen: Wormley, a sixth-year senior who has started 39 games, and center Nick Dawkins. They had different views of the moment.

"I caught the end of that," Wormley said. "I just thought it was funny. Coach Franklin is always locked in, especially right before the game, and just seeing that interaction made me chuckle a little bit. I heard him cursing and yelling and I was like, 'What’s going on?'"

Dawkins was so locked in, he didn't even hear LTFI.

"When the [locker room] door bursts open and we walk through, everything kind of goes black," he said. "You get in that mindset of what you’re about to do. Anything that happens after that is just a blur. But I saw the clip afterward and I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ But it was funny. It was awesome to see. That’s who coach Franklin is."

Franklin said he didn't anticipate the video "going viral the way it went viral," and it has taken on a digital life. X user Dylan Dawson shared the video four days after the Penn State-Maryland game, which the Nittany Lions won to earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Oregon. When they arrived in Indianapolis on Dec. 7, fans had LTFI signs. Happy Valley United, Penn State's official NIL collective, quickly turned the moment into merch, bringing together LTFI and "1-0" on T-shirts, hoodies and hats. HVU general manager Jen Ferrang said LTFI gear has been a hot seller since, with Athletic Director Patrick Kraft among the buyers.

After Penn State defeated SMU in a first-round playoff game at Beaver Stadium, players and staff were rewarded with LTFI gear. Some brought theirs to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl. "I think so," Franklin said when asked if he brought his LTFI T-shirt.

"I had it on yesterday, you'd best believe it," running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider said.

"I don’t have an LTFI T-shirt," offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said, "although I would like one and I do subscribe to that school of thought."

"It was cool to see'

Franklin is famous for filtering every game through the same prism. He reflexively works "1-0" into postgame interviews when Penn State wins. He took a break from repetitively, almost relentlessly, posting the next opponent's name on social media but has revived the practice occasionally. In 2017, Franklin caused a stir when he said of beating Pitt, "I know last year for their win [over Penn State], it was like the Super Bowl, but for us, this was just like beating Akron."

Outside the program, the messages can appear by turns obsessive, rote, brash or all three simultaneously. Inside the program, they go beyond messaging into practice. "That's the one thing that I truly learned from coach Franklin," Seider said. "It can't be lip service."

"Coach is a driven guy who has a plan for us," said Terry Smith, Penn State's associate head coach. "We’re all just soldiers and generals trying to work underneath the vision of what he has planned. I don’t know if that particular moment, or any other moment, is any different, because he’s so driven to make us the best team in the country and he’s so driven to make us understand that the process is more important than the outcome."

Added quarterback Drew Allar, "It shows coach Franklin's personality all in one moment, for sure."

Why did Franklin respond to that fan before the game? His explanation.

"We’re getting ready to run on the field to play a really important Maryland team and game, and people are in the stands wanting to talk about other things because something just happened," Franklin said. "And they want to talk about Indianapolis? We’re not ready to talk about Indianapolis. So with that, we’re gonna be focused. And you can say, 'Well focus on your own team.' Well, this guy is screaming it over and over to my players. That’s not the message that I want, so I felt that was the best way in the moment to address it."

For the Nittany Lions, sharing their coach with the fans was the best part of those 8 seconds.

"That's who we are and what we've been doing," Dawkins said. "But I think it was cool to see and hear a fan getting coached up by coach like he does with us. Maybe that's the bigger thing."

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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