Following are the highlights of James Franklin’s press availability on Tuesday:

Hiring season

Franklin said he’s in the midst of interviews to fill two vacant positions on his staff, including running backs coach after Ja’Juan Seider, who held the job since 2018, took a similar role at Notre Dame.

“We wish him nothing but the best,” Franklin said, citing Seider’s tenure and the fact that his son, Jaden, was a PSU walk-on. “When you lose somebody, it’s a painstaking process to fill it. There aren’t as many qualified (candidates) as people think.”

The Lions return veteran running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and Franklin said, “I’m not hiring anybody that Nick and Fat (Alen) won’t feel great about,” and added, “It’s arguably the best running backs coach job in the country.”

“We’ve got to get the best candidate we can,” he said. “It’s about getting a return on our investment.”

He said vacancies at the time of the year create “uneasiness” due to recruiting. Harrisburg junior running back Messiah Mickens, a 2026 recruit, committed to PSU in 2023 with Seider as the Lions’ lead recruiter.

Seider called all the running backs to inform them, and redshirt freshman Quinton Martin said he was “caught off guard a little bit.”

Khalil Ahmad, Penn State’s recruiting coordinator, is also moving on, having taken a football operations position at Temple.

Both moves come in the wake of Penn State’s hiring of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, whose $9.3 million salary (over three years) ranks as the nation’s highest for an assistant coach.

Knowles replaced Tom Allen, who left after one year to become Clemson’s DC.

Franklin reiterated Penn State’s “commitment level” in the last two years (since Pat Kraft came aboard) “has matched the expectations.”

Spring plans

Franklin gave the team two weeks off due to the length of the season (16 games), and there will only be six winter workouts, rather than eight.

He said some modifications to the Blue-White game (April 26) will also be made, but “we will still have it because of what it means to the State College community.”

“There’s so much built” around Blue-White weekend, he said, including fundraising.

Plus, he said, if the spring game was scrapped, “all these (younger) guys competing for positions lose (an opportunity).”

Growing experience

Penn State’s loss to ND in the College Football Playoff semifinal was sealed in part because of quarterback Drew Allar’s late interception that set up the Irish’s game-winning field goal.

Franklin said, “When the season ended the way it does, everybody’s disappointed. There’s only one program that’s happy at the end. The most important thing for all of us is to learn and grow from it, and that’s what we’re all doing. Everybody is as disappointed as you can be when it ends, but there’s a ton to be proud of and the most important thing is to use the experience as a positive.”

Allar is one of the Lions’ top returnees for 2025, and Fox analyst Joel Klatt has already slotted Penn State as his preseason No. 1.

WR assessment

Though the Lions’ wide receivers did not make a single catch in the Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame, Franklin said he thought the wide receivers “got better this year.”

Two of them, though, Trey Wallace and Omar Evans, who combined for nine touchdowns, transferred to Ole Miss and Washington, respectively.

Transfers Kyron Hudson (USC) and Devonte Ross (Troy) are seen as the frontrunners to be the Nits’ 2025 starting receivers.

Franklin said he’s “strategic” in terms of how deep the Lions recruit the portal in order to not upset “the culture of the locker room.”

Notable …

Defensive end Amin Vanover was appealing for a sixth season, but Lions 247 reported Tuesday that bid was denied, and Vanover will test the NFL waters.

Franklin opened the press conference by congratulating Saquon Barkley, Jahan Dotson and Tariq Castro-Fields, members of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The presser was held at the Pegula Ice Arena because the Beaver Stadium media room is affected by renovations.