Franklin and Knowles previously had discussed a job at Penn State. An early morning call two days after Ohio State's national championship began the process.

Penn State head coach James Franklin met with the media Tuesday afternoon to preview the 2025 offseason and winter updates. Franklin discussed several topics, including the Super Bowl, hiring Jim Knowles, winter conditioning, Ja'Juan Seider's departure and much more.

In the days after the Orange Bowl, Penn State’s players gathered on campus for a team meeting. At that point in January, they found out defensive coordinator Tom Allen was leaving for Clemson and that James Franklin would do his part to hire the best candidate he could.

A former Penn State tight end who played under coach James Franklin made his feelings clear about the program Franklin has built in State College.

The Penn State football team turned the page on the 2024 season and officially began 2025 on Tuesday with James Franklin’s winter press conference. Each February, the team meets with the media and officially introduces the freshman class from the previous year after the moratorium on media interaction is lifted in their first year.

Franklin had talked to Knowles in December 2021 shortly after defensive coordinator Brent Pry, one of his longtime assistants, left Penn State to become head coach at Virginia Tech. Knowles wound up going to Ohio State and the Lions ended up hiring Manny Diaz, who enjoyed two very successful seasons before he became head coach at Duke.

James Franklin reportedly must hire yet another top assistant coach. Here are possible candidates to replace longtime running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider.