Watch Penn State's James Franklin at Big Ten Football Media Days

Franklin addresses expectations for the Nittany Lions and how he's confronting them.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin speaks to the media during Big 10 Football Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State football coach James Franklin covered a range of topics Wednesday at Big Ten Football Media Days, including expectations for the Nittany Lions, Abdul Carter's position change and receiver Julian Fleming's impact after transferring.

Here's Franklin's podium session at Lucas Oil Stadium courtesy of the Big Ten Conference. The transcript follows via as.

JAMES FRANKLIN: I want to thank the commissioner and congratulate the commissioner. I think he's done a phenomenal job of positioning our conference in a position of strength in a very, very challenging time in college athletics history, so many changes. He's done a really good job and a
great job of communicating with the head coaches, with the ADs, and with the presidents.

I want to welcome the four new teams to our conference. What an exciting time in college football. What an exciting time for the Big Ten. Going to create some really, really exciting matchups that I think
our fans are going to enjoy, but also obviously going to create some challenges as well. Some of those challenges are magnified for Penn State, being one of the most northeast schools without an international airport. For the media that's been to Happy Valley, you know some of the travel
challenges that exists there. So we spent a ton of time talking to NFL organizations as well as college programs that have done East Coast to West Coast travel during the season and what are the best practices for that. So put a lot of time into that, and we're excited about those opportunities.

You talk about the season, I think one of the big story lines for us obviously is three new coordinators, which is unusual. Andy Kotelnicki, who we hired as our offensive coordinator from the University of Kansas, has been great. I 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 got a ton of respect for his former head coach in Lance 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 in Tom Allen. 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 spent a ton of time making sure that Penn State was the right fit for him and he was the right fit for us.

Had about a two-week interview process with us actually in Happy Valley during bowl prep, and that went really well. Tom's done a great job. Obviously a little bit different situation depending on what
metric you look at. We had arguably the number 1, 2, or 3 defense in college football last year. So Tom is stepping into that position and has done a really, really good job. Excited about how he has joined our staff and impacted our players.

Then Justin Lustig, our special teams coordinator. Justin has done a great job. He's from Pennsylvania, is widely regarded as one of the better special teams coordinators in the country.
Really impressed with what those guys have done, as well as our team. We had a great spring. We had a great summer. Obviously we've got an important time ahead of us with camp starting here very, very soon.

QUESTION: I wanted to ask you about Abdul Carter and him changing positions from linebacker to defensive end. How much do you feel like that will strengthen your defense this season? And also, how does that placate as far as throughout the locker room, as far as taking that type of role being a leader in the locker room?

JAMES FRANKLIN: I think first thing is he'll play both. We have the flexibility to play him at both positions. He's one of the unique athletes that was playing linebacker at 250 pounds. You never
know how that transition is going to go, playing in space at the linebacker position compared to moving up to the line of scrimmage and having to go against the offensive tackles. He made the adjustment pretty quickly.

At the end of the day, you're talking about one of the more explosive, physical athletes in all of college football. We think he has the ability to make a significant impact. Week to week we'll decide where he'll have the most impact for us, whether it's on the line of scrimmage at defensive end or in the linebacker position. This spring he stayed mainly at defensive end to get comfortable with that, and then after that we had a really good conversation, and he's open to doing both.

That will also put us in a position where people can't game plan and know exactly where he's going to be on the defense. So we're excited about that. But he's really grown up. I'm proud of him and his development academically, as a student-athlete, as well as a football player. We need him and expect for him to have a huge year for us.

QUESTION: You got Julian Fleming as a transfer from Ohio State. How excited are you to have him? What kind of impact do you expect him to have for a receivers unit that wasn't all that explosive last year?

JAMES FRANKLIN: He's a veteran guy that's played in this conference. He knows what it's all about. Obviously you know we got a ton of history with him and his family, recruited him very heavily out
of high school, but he's thriving. He's very comfortable. He's very confident.

He really came, got on campus, like most guys should do, kept his mouth shut, worked, earned everybody's respect through that first, and now is really developing into a leader for us.

His improvement from the end of spring to now, he is healthy and lean and explosive and fast right now, and just from the feedback from the players over the summer, has really done a nice job. Looking at all the metrics and the numbers from our strength staff, he's in a really good position. I think he's got a huge chip on his shoulder and excited about the opportunity at Penn State. He's really turned into one of the leaders in that wide receiver room.

So we're happy to have him and expect for him to do big things for us this year, and appreciate the question.

QUESTION: You mentioned earlier about Southern Cal, Oregon, UCLA, Washington joining the league. After the 2018 Ohio State game, you had your, what I refer to as the epic good to great to elite rant. So with these teams coming in, where do you feel Penn State stands in the pecking order? And a follow-up, if you don't feel Penn State is quite at elite, what do you think the Nittany Lions have to do to achieve the elite status?

JAMES FRANKLIN: I would describe it as a speech, not a rant, first of all. But, no, I think, again, back to the comment earlier, you're talking about a program that you can win 10 or 11 games and people are not happy or satisfied. That's inside the Lasch building and that's outside of the Lasch building. We totally get that and embrace that.

I think our players understand that when we recruit them. Our staff understands that when we hire them. And as the head coach, I embrace all those things as well.

I think week in and week out the Big Ten is arguably the best conference in all of college football. I've been fortunate to be a head coach in the SEC as well as the Big Ten, so I think I've got good perspective on that.

And like you mentioned, adding the four new schools makes it even more challenging. We'll have the opportunity to figure that out and figure that out real quick starting at West Virginia. We're fortunate
to play most of those teams that we discussed. We want to play those teams that you discussed, both that have been in the conference historically as well as those that have been added.

For us, we've got to play our best when our best is needed most, in the biggest games, at the biggest moments. I think, if you look at us specifically last year, did some phenomenal things. That's the step
that we need to take, and having a returning starting quarterback obviously helps with that. We're a quarterback-driven game, whether it's in the NFL, college, or high school, and having a returning
quarterback at that position that did some phenomenal things. I think he was second in touchdown to interception ratio. I think he broke the national record in completions without an interception. So did some phenomenal things.

We've got to build on that. Then I think the pieces of the puzzle around him — tight end, running back, and then receiver — has been the big question mark really since last year. We've got a ton of confidence in that room. Those guys got a huge chip on their shoulder.

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