Penn State AD Patrick Kraft Challenges Coaches to 'Think Big' About Hires

Kraft also says of James Franklin, "I believe we’ve got the best football coach in the country."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | Penn State coach James Franklin eyed the decorative Peach Bowl promotion helmet sitting before him as he walked out of Beaver Stadium's media room Monday. Franklin grabbed the helmet, placed it on his head (it barely fit) and walked out the door to cap a light-hearted press conference that served as No. 10 Penn State’s official invitation to the Peach Bowl, where it will face No. 11 Ole Miss on Dec. 30 in Atlanta.

But Franklin did briefly address the biggest Penn State football news of the moment: defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’s departure to Duke as its head coach. Franklin first congratulated Diaz on becoming a head coach again, adding that Penn State will have an interim coordinator for the Peach Bowl. That was as specific as Franklin got about the search.

Safeties coach Anthony Poindexter seems to be the likely choice for interim defensive coordinator at the Peach Bowl. Poindexter, Penn State's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, ran the defense for the 2022 Outback Bowl after Brent Pry became head coach at Virginia Tech. Poindexter also figures to be a prime candidate for the full-time job.

“Obviously trying to balance that while also interviewing and trying to decide what we're going to do moving forward with our defensive coordinator position, whether it's an internal candidate or an external candidate, we're working through that right now,” Franklin said.

It’s safe to say @CoachJFranklin is ready for the @CFAPeachBowl 😂 pic.twitter.com/bYfaUYp0gQ

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) December 11, 2023

Franklin called Penn State's opening for defensive coordinator an “attractive position” because of the defense's pedigree. He’s had just three defensive coordinators at Penn State: Bob Shoop, Pry and Diaz. The last two left to become head coaches in the ACC.

With athletic director Pat Kraft also in attendance Monday, the discussion turned to Kraft’s involvement in a coaching search. “Well probably to James’ chagrin, I played football, so I have a lot of thoughts, and none of them are relevant or worthy of a text here and there,” Kraft joked.

“Look, I believe we’ve got the best football coach in the country. I let our coaches make decisions on the assistant coaches,” Kraft said more seriously. “They gotta do their job, and that’s what their job is. I'm here to support them. I'm here to do whatever I can. I can be a sounding board for them. But I'm here to just support in any way I can. And I know everyone thinks that's financially related. It's not, but I also want to make sure I challenge them to think big and think in a different way than which was thought of in the past.”

“We're partners in this. That's kind of how it works. That's the way I believe it should work,” Kraft added. “They make the decisions and they do what's right for their program. They know their programs. James knows this program better than anybody. I have a good feeling for what I see, but that's just a small part of it.”

The press conference shifted tone from there, with everyone trying to keep things bowl-focused. Kraft and Franklin joked about everything from bike shorts to sideline penalties on Kraft’s behalf to Kraft wishing he was on the defensive coordinator hot board. But Franklin did offer a good note on the “alignment” with Kraft that he’s continually referenced since Kraft was hired. The back-and-forth was an example.

“I speak for football, but I hope I can speak for a lot of the coaches on this,” Franklin said. “It does feel good when you've got a guy like Pat that is right there with you every step of the way and kind of understands what's happening nationally, in all of our sports, and also locally."

Franklin will fill both his offensive and defensive coordinator jobs for the second time in his head coaching tenure. He recently hired Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to the same position, who is set to have his introductory press conference Friday.

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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.

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