Penn State Begins Season With a Top-10 Coaches Poll Ranking

The Nittany Lions earn a top-10 preseason ranking in the Coaches Poll for the second consecutive year.

Penn State head coach James Franklin watches during the Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State opens the 2024 college football season as a top-10 team for the second consecutive year. The Nittany Lions are No. 9 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, which USA Today released Monday.

Penn State begins its second consecutive season as a top-10 team in the Coaches Poll, which includes 66 voting coaches from across college football. Penn State football coach James Franklin is one of the voters.

The Nittany Lions began the 2023 season ranked seventh in the poll before finishing 13th after losing to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. Penn State went 10-3 last year, its second consecutive 10-win regular season. The preseason Associated Press poll is scheduled to be released Aug. 12.

Penn State is among four Big Ten teams ranked in the Coaches Poll preseason top 10. Georgia opens at No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Big Ten newcomer Oregon, Texas and Alabama in the top 5. Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State and Florida State round out the top 10.

Franklin begins his 11th season as Penn State's head coach with a roster that returns 16 starters, including seven each on offense and defense. The Nittany Lions added four scholarship players through the NCAA Transfer Portal: cornerbacks A.J. Harris (Georgia) and Jalen Kimber (Florida), receiver Julian Fleming (Ohio State) and offensive lineman Nolan Rucci (Wisconsin). Three other transfers joined the team as walk-ons: kicker Chase Meyer (Tulsa), defensive end Jordan Mayer (Wisconsin) and receiver Logan Cunningham (Marietta College).

Franklin also hired three new coordinators this season: Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas on offense, former Indiana head coach Tom Allen on defense and Justin Lustig from Vanderbilt on special teams.

"You talk about the season, I think one of the big story lines for us obviously is three new coordinators, which is unusual," Franklin said. "Andy Kotelnicki, who we hired as our offensive coordinator from the University of Kansas, has been great. I've got a ton of respect for what they were able to do at Buffalo as well as what they were able to do at Kansas. I've got a ton of respect for his former head coach in Lance [Leipold] and have followed those guys closely for a long time.

"I think the big thing was, was this going to make sense for him and us? We're not starting from scratch, so are you able to come in, study what we do, what can stay the same and what needs to change. I think the big thing obviously, did a ton of good things on offense last year, but we were not explosive enough. Coach Kotelnicki and what they were able to do at Kansas the last two years, extremely explosive and just did a really good job as a relational leader, coming in and building those relationships with our staff and players.

"On the defensive side of the ball, a name that you guys are all familiar with is Tom Allen," Franklin added. "[He] was a head coach in this conference for a long time, so got great perspective there. And Tom was in a position where he did not really need to take a job. So we spent a ton of time making sure that Penn State was the right fit for him and he was the right fit for us.

Penn State opens the season Aug. 31 at West Virginia, which received 22 votes in the inaugural Coaches Poll. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on FOX.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.