After an offseason that has at times felt impossibly long and at others remarkably short, we’re back with another season of Penn State football!
Following Penn State’s season-ending loss to Notre Dame in the semifinal round of the playoffs, it felt like a missed opportunity. Some have argued Penn State was lucky to have made it that far, thanks to a favorable draw in the first two rounds. I would argue Penn State earned its seeding by being the fifth best team in the regular season.
In any case, the Lions came within a field goal of playing for a national championship, and the “what if” questions were running rampant.
Would the Lions be good next year? Would all of the talented players on the roster declare for the draft or head for the portal and greener ($) climes?
And so the offseason began, first shaking off the feelings of loss, then weathering the storm of NFL draft declarations and transfer announcements.
Then, realizing that all, perhaps, was not lost.
One by one, the majority of Penn State’s roster announced that they would be returning to Happy Valley for another go.
Drew Allar. Nicholas Singleton. Kaytron Allen. Nick Dawkins. Zane Durant. Dani Dennis-Sutton.
Eschewing either the draft or the transfer portal, big name after big name decided to stay at Penn State for one more year.
Then the Lions hit the transfer portal, and sought to address their biggest need: wide receiver.
Out went Trey Wallace, Omari Evans, and Julien Fleming.
In came Trebor Peña, Devonte Ross, and Kyron Hudson.
Just like that, the biggest weakness on the team had been addressed, and things started to look up!
Then out went defensive coordinator Tom Allen and running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider.
Back to the doom and gloom we go.
Then Penn State pulled off two of its biggest hires to date, including what I would argue is its single biggest sign to the rest of the world that it means business, by bringing in Stan Drayton to coach running backs, and prying Jim Knowles away from Ohio State to be defensive coordinator.
Summarizing the offseason like this has made me realize just how much stuff has happened in the last 7-and-a-half months. That is a LOT of activity, and a lot to deal with for a team – and a fanbase – that came so close to playing for all the marbles.
At long last, however, here we are. The 2025 season begins this Saturday at 3:30 ET against Nevada, and we get to see how well the fruits of James Franklin’s labors will pay off.
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