Penn State's James Franklin on Proposed Roster Limits: 'I Don't Love It'

Franklin says the proposed roster limits in college football could "hurt opportunities" for players.

Penn State coach James Franklin walks on the field during a warmup prior to the game against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State coach James Franklin is preparing for the Big Ten schedule, which begins Saturday night against Illinois, with a roster of about 120 players, 85 of whom are on scholarship. That likely will change next year. Yet Franklin isn't entirely comfortable with college football's propsed the new roster size, particularly as it regards walk-ons.

"It's going to hurt opportunities for the kid that wanted to come to Penn State and chase his dream and see if he could possibly earn a role or even possibly earn a scholarship," Franklin said. "So I don't love it. But like most things, this all deals with finances and budgets."

In writing the proposed settlement of three antitrust lawsuits involving college sports, the NCAA and its major conferences addressed issues regarding back payments for name, image and likeness opportunties and future payments, or revenue-sharing, from athletic departments directly to athletes. The proposed settlement also eliminated the concept of athletic scholarships, replacing it with roster limits. That will change the composition of college football rosters.

Currently, college football rosters can have 120 players, with FBS programs offering scholarships to 85 of them. The settlement, if approved, would limit college football rosters to 105 players. All would be eligible to receive scholarships. While scholarship opportunities could increase, depending on a team's budget, playing opportunities could decrease. And that might reduce, or perhaps even eliminate, a team's walk-on program. Franklin called that a concern.

"it will limit some opportunities, there's no doubt about it," the Penn State coach said. "We've had some great stories over my time at Penn State, and really over Penn State's history, there's been some tremendous stories. I don't think there's too many coaches that love it.

"You look at some of these programs — I don't mean to talk about other schools — but you look at programs like Nebraska and others that have a really robust history with walk-ons. This creates challenges. It creates a lot of challenges for all of us, and some programs more than others. And it reduces opportunities, which you hate to see. I think it's going to help FCS programs. I think it's going to help Division II football."

Franklin added that, as the rule currently proposed, offseason roster limits would be set above 105. So college football teams that carry more players during spring practice and training camp might institute cuts to make the 105-limit.

"So in some ways you're going to create a system where you're going to have almost like tryouts and cuts, like you've had in high school and like you've had a little bit maybe in some colleges, guys fighting to get onto the active roster, the 105," Franklin said.

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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.