Penn State's James Franklin: 'I'm probably the highest-paid health official in the country'

Penn State coach James Franklin is going above, beyond and beyond again to maintain his program's COVID-19 prevention plan.

In the COVID-19 era, James Franklin has added team parent to his role as Penn State's football coach.

While driving around campus, Franklin said, he will scream when seeing players not wearing their face masks properly. Recently, Franklin circled around a block trying to catch a group of players lowering their masks after his check. They laughed at the coach, and still were masked properly.

"I'm probably the highest-paid health official in the country," Franklin said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

On the 2020 debut of the Penn State Coaches Show, Franklin and athletic director Sandy Barbour reiterated their pride in how Penn State athletics has handled its COVID-19 prevention plan since voluntary workouts resumed in June. Through Aug. 28, Penn State Athletics had reported just 11 positive cases of COVID-19 among at least 1,273 tests.

Prior to the Big Ten's decision to postpone fall sports Aug. 11, Penn State's football program had no positive tests through its four training-camp practices. And the Penn State College of Medicine said that no athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 have been diagnosed with myocarditis, or heart inflammation.

Franklin and Barbour attributed that to the Penn State athletic medical staff and organizational personnel who put together the protocols for voluntary workouts. Franklin continues to adhere to them, admittedly to the point of being overbearing.

"I'm probably the highest-paid health official in the country, because all I do is run around the whole practice saying, 'Put your mask on, cover your nose, do this, six feet,'" Franklin said on the radio show. "I do that all day long. If that mask flips over your nose, I'm all over you."

Penn State released a photo gallery showing players practicing while wearing masks. Franklin said that his team is practicing in shifts to reduce the number of players on the field at one time.

That means coaches are on the field for at least two sessions. It makes for some organizational challenges but also has led to more one-on-one instruction.

On his radio show, Franklin said that he found it "painful" watching the Aug. 29 game between Central Arkansas and Austin Peay. He took comfort that Central Arkansas players twice tested negative before their next game Thursday.

Franklin also said he sees a way for Penn State to play again, particularly with the approach his program has put into place.

"I watch stuff on TV. I look at stuff on social media, and I don't see a lot of people doing it the way we're doing it," Franklin said. "I see people practicing with no masks. We're doing all that. Again, I'm not 100 percent sure what actually works and what doesn't, percent sure what actually works and doesn’t, but I would rather go over and beyond every protocol and policy to keep everybody safe while we continue to play the game we love."

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