How Penn State's James Franklin Could Have Been a Pretzel Mogul

Philly Pretzel Factory is coming to Beaver Stadium this season. James Franklin could have been on the company's ground floor 25 years ago.

Among the new concession spots Penn State will introduce at Beaver Stadium for the 2023 football season is an outpost of the popular Philly Pretzel Factory. Which offers a chance to retell a fascinating story about James Franklin. Had he not been so committed to coaching, Franklin could have been working for the nationwide pretzel powerhouse. In fact, the owners, who happened to be his fraternity brothers at East Stroudsburg University, offered Franklin a ground-floor opportunity 25 years ago.

Philly Pretzel Factory now franchises more than 170 locations and has made more than 1 billion pretzels since its founding in 1998. That year, Dan DiZio and Len Lehman, the company's co-founders, reached out to Franklin, their former roommate who was a graduate assistant at Washington State. They contacted Franklin about their new pretzel company concept and asked him to join them. Had Franklin accepted their offer, DiZio was convinced the company would have grown even faster.

"If he would have come with us, James would have put this company at another level," DiZio, Philly Pretzel Factory's CEO, said in a 2016 interview.

DiZio, Lehman and Franklin met at ESU's Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, where they eventually became roommates. Franklin and DiZio's relationship began with a phone call, actually. DiZio attended his first party there, got into a fight and, when he got back to his dorm, heard the phone ring. It was Franklin. "That's not the type of place this is," said the quarterback, who invited DiZio back. Thus began a friendship.

After college, they embarked on separate paths. DiZio and Lehman went into business together making pretzels; Franklin went into coaching. Little did any of them know the kind of success they would find. DiZio said that Franklin didn't discuss coaching while in college but knew he was driven. Which is why he made that 1998 call offering Franklin a job at his new company.

"I knew he’d be successful no matter what he did," DiZio said in 2016. "I just never dreamed he’d be a football coach. Now I tell people, eventually he’s going to win a national championship. There’s no doubt in my mind."

Twenty-five years after that call, Franklin is beginning his 10th season as Penn State's head coach with a potential contender for that national championship. And DiZio's pretzel company is part of the concessions offerings at Beaver Stadium. Quite a journey for the fraternity brothers from East Stroudsburg.

What else is new at Beaver Stadium this year? Check out the rundown from Penn State's official sports site.

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