James Franklin, Head Coach | Trent Gordon, CB, So./Fr. | Michal Menet, OL, Sr./Jr.
Q: Coach, welcome to North Texas. Did things go well on the flight in?
Franklin: We had a great trip. We had great trip in. Everybody's been wonderful from the time we landed. Obviously, the hotel was beautiful and the welcome we got has been fantastic.
I just got a tour. Everything seems to be set up great. I know the players are fired up about the players' lounge. We're excited about being here.
Q: It's been a quick two weeks. You've had prep time for the bowl game and National Signing Day. How have you handled this busy time?
Franklin: Yeah, busy time of year. There's no doubt about it. It's gotten busier with the the early signing day.
Our team has been great. They've been finishing up with finals. The way our academic schedule has been, we've been able to get some practices in as well, which for the most part have been more about Penn State than they have been about Memphis. We switched the last two days, the last two practices, and got a head start on those guys. Then, we'll do a complete game week down here, so we're looking forward to that.
Q: Before we go to questions, Coach, can you introduce your two student‑athletes and tell us a little bit about both of them?
Franklin: Michal Menet is our starting center. He really can play multiple positions for us. He's really worked himself into a leader on our team. Obviously, when you talk about experience, game experience, we think he's got a very, very bright future, not only in the remainder of his Penn State career but also at the next level as an in‑state young man who decided to stay home, put Penn State on his back and has been fantastic. We couldn't be more proud of him and what he's accomplished so far. We're going to need his leadership up front being the quarterback of our offensive line and really making everything go.
Trent Gordon is a young man who we convinced to leave the great state of Texas and come join us in Pennsylvania. I don't know if necessarily it was Trent's decision or his parents' but we got them all on board. He's done a great job, especially early in his career, for us.
We wanted him to be able to represent us here today, obviously, being a Texas boy who's decided to come to Pennsylvania and done some great things already in his short time on campus. And think he has a very, very bright future.
Two guys that we're very, very proud of. It's very important to us, and I'm going to depend on these two guys' leadership, that the Cotton Bowl staff feels like this is the best team that you guys have been around, hopefully on the field, but I'm really talking more about just how we conduct ourselves all week.
Very appreciative of this opportunity, understanding the historical significance of this bowl and this game. We want to make sure that we leave the Cotton Bowl staff and the hotel feeling like this is the most appreciative and well‑mannered team that you guys have interacted with.
Q. Trent, what's it like coming back to Texas? I know you're from a few hours south of here. Does it make it easier for some family and friends to come see you play?
Gordon: Yeah. I actually have a lot of family that are coming up to see me. I think 14 people are coming in for me. It's just a breath of fresh air just being here. That's good for me.
Franklin: This is part of the plan. We told him this was going to happen during the recruiting process.
Q. Trent, kind of shifting gears, what have you seen kind of in early film studies from Brady White, the quarterback of Memphis?
Gordon: He's a very good player. Our defense has taken precautions, not precautions, but steps to make sure that he doesn't have any explosive plays or he doesn't have anything that could obviously get good yardage on us. Obviously, he's a good quarterback and all I want to say is we're very prepared for him.
Q. Michal, a big week of different festivities and traveling. As a senior leader, how do you make sure the focus stays obviously on having fun but also the task at hand?
Menet: One thing we always talk about is just being present. When you are supposed to be having fun, have fun. When it's time to practice, you've got to lock in and just got to make that your main priority. When it's time to go have fun again, go do that. But, also, you got to do your film study. You've got to stay up on that. Just being present is probably the biggest key.
Q. Coach Franklin mentioned how you were the quarterback of the offensive line. It's an offensive unit that's had very little penalties this season. What kind of responsibility do you take in that? What's been kind of the key to maintaining that discipline?
Menet: I think specifically for the offensive line, it's kind of easy to not get penalties when you are playing with really good technique. That's something that Coach [Matt] Limegrover always emphasizes, Coach Franklin always emphasizes.
When you are finishing to the whistle and moving your feet, it's hard to get holding penalties and that type of stuff. I think just good technique all around is the number one way.
Q. Since the last time you guys played, kind of a new offensive situation with Coach [Ricky] Rahne leaving. Does that change anything for you as one of the leaders of the offense?
Menet: No, I don't think it changes anything at all. I have 100 percent confidence in everybody that stepped into a bigger role as far as our coaching staff. Maybe a little bit more communication here and there between me and Coach [Tyler] Bowen and Coach [Kirk] Campbell. But besides that, nothing's changed.
Q. Trent, you grew up playing in warmer weather. Is it going to be nice to get back inside a dome and 73 degrees instead of snow?
Gordon: Yeah, it's definitely going to be a good change of weather for me. I mean, I'm used to it. The guys are going to get used to it. I'm just happy that it's going to be somewhere warm now.
Franklin: Sir, I'm not sure what you're talking about. It's 76 degrees in Happy Valley right now (laughter). Not sure what you're talking about.
Q. How have things changed from your perspective with the departure of Coach Rahne? Offensively, how is that different?
Franklin: It's a little bit of the nature of college football now. I was just in my room watching all the bowl games that are going on and a lot of bowl games are being coached by people that weren't coaching during the regular season, whether it's GA's getting promoted or whether it's analysts being promoted. I think that's one of the real strong cases that you can make for the analysts and the consultant positions that everybody has now.
You see a lot of times those guys sliding into full‑time positions the following year. You see them sliding into responsibilities during these bowl games. I think it's a great opportunity for young guys on your staff, whether they're graduate assistants or whether they're more experienced guys like analysts and consultants, to take that next step.
I think at the end of the day, as we all know, you're not going to recreate your offense or your defense or your special teams in a couple weeks before the bowl game. So, at this point in the season, it's really about our players. It's always about our players, but I think it's magnified at this point, especially when you do have some changes like that.
Both teams will have a few new wrinkles like you always do, whether it's after a bye‑week or a bowl game, but for the most part, we're going to be who we've been. It's about the players making sure that we have the right mentality for this game and that we go out and execute our offense, defense and special teams at a higher level than they run theirs. That's really what it comes down to.
Tyler Bowen has jumped into this role and has done a great job. The rest of the staff has had to step up as well. For us, it's complicated a little bit more because not only did we lose Ricky Rahne but he also has hired a bunch of our graduate assistants and analysts as well.
Memphis, it's probably strange to say this, but Memphis in some ways might have an advantage with this. What I mean by that is, if you've studied Memphis, they've had between seven and nine staff members turn over every single season since Coach Norvell has been there. So, their team is used to it. This is just kind of what they're used to dealing with every single year during bowl time and the offseason. We've had a little bit of it, but not nearly as much as them over the last four to five years.
Q. So in terms of filling that offensive coordinator void, is that something that you're looking over now or you'll just start the search after the bowl game?
Franklin: No. We've already been working on it extensively and trying to balance hiring a new offensive coordinator, finishing the recruiting class, and the priorities on our players finishing strong academically and getting them ready for this bowl game. That's the reality of it. You have to be able to wear all those hats and juggle all those things at the same time.
But when you got great leadership from the guys like we do, I know Michal is going to make sure that the locker room is right and that we're practicing right and Trent's doing the same thing with the defense.
I've got a great staff that, when I need to jump in a plane and go talk to somebody, that the rest of the staff knows what they need to do back in the office.
For us, we've been pretty much a low‑drama recruiting staff. We've been fortunate. These two guys are great examples of that. They committed to us and made their decision and then never really wavered. So, we don't have a whole lot of drama on signing day.
The guys that were supposed to sign with us signed. I think we had 27 guys sign with us on Wednesday, and they were all in by 7:45 in the morning, and they can't send them in before 7:00. I take a lot of pride in that because I think it really connects to later on. Once they show up on campus, we want low‑maintenance, high‑production guys. That's kind of how our recruiting process typically goes.
Q. Just from a Penn State program perspective, three of the last four years under your coaching tenure have been 10‑plus win seasons and three of the last four have been New Year's Six bowls. What do you think that says about just kind of the program as a whole?
Franklin: I think one of the most important things that you can do as a program is show consistency. When you have been able to do what we've been able to do over that period of time, you're part of conversations that you want to be a part of. We have very, very high expectations and standards at Penn State internally, and also externally, from our fans and everything else.
What you just mentioned we're very, very proud of. Obviously, all that is wonderful. We've got to find a way to get a win in the Cotton Bowl. That's very important to me. That's very, very important to us. Ten wins is nice, 11 wins is nicer. We want to make sure that we do that.
It's one thing to get bowl rings. It's another thing for these guys to be looking down for the rest of their lives and it says "Cotton Bowl Champions" on there, being able to bring that trophy back to our facility and put it in our facility.
I think it also does a lot of other things. It sets momentum for the spring. It sets momentum for the following season. We're going to have a bunch of guys returning. I just think it does a lot of positive things when you're able to play in such a historic game like the Cotton Bowl and part of the New Year's Six. We take great pride in that.
For me in my career, I have been fortunate to coach in almost every bowl game. I have not been in the Cotton Bowl, so I'm fired up about being here. My daughter is in the hospitality suite, the players' lounge, right now and there's nobody happier than her. So, we're very appreciative of this opportunity.
Q. What have you kind of seen from the film you have watched from Memphis' offense? Franklin: They're explosive. Typically, when you play teams like this, they're as good as anybody at the skill positions. Their running back can play for anybody in the country. Their wide receivers can play for anybody in the country, explosive playmakers.
The quarterback understands how to distribute the ball. He transferred in there. He understands how to distribute the ball. He makes plays. Coach Norvell has done a really good job of building that offense. I know Coach [Ryan] Silverfield will take over from that point moving forward.
They're very impressive. They're very impressive on offense, how they're able to create yardage, how they're able to create explosive plays and then being able to get the ball into the end zone.
I think they play really good complementary football. You look at what they have been able to do on special teams, they have been very explosive on special teams. Our special teams coordinator was there with them for the last four years. He's got some familiarity with their schemes and got some familiarity, probably more importantly, with their personnel. He's able to talk to us about who they are, how they are, how we match up against them, and things like that. But they're very, very impressive, specifically the skill positions.
Q. I joked about it with Trent, but in all seriousness, does the dome actually help your game plan because you know exactly what you're going to get? You don't have to take into account the Big Ten weather.
Franklin: Again, Big Ten weather is wonderful. Have you ever been to a Big Ten game? You probably should come before you have strong opinions.
Come check it out. You never witnessed it. We think it's great, right, Trent?
Gordon: Yep (laughter).
Franklin: But, yeah, obviously, the dome helps because of, just like we're talking about, for consistency. You know what you're getting.
Last time we were in this situation, in the Big Ten championship game, Michal played Wisconsin in a dome and played really well. We had a great game in terms of run game, pass game, really in all areas.
But I would strongly recommend that you come to Happy Valley and you come to a whiteout. I'll be interested to hear your opinion after experiencing a whiteout in the Big Ten.
