James Franklin's Modernization of Penn State Football

Welcome to the 21st century, Penn State.

Social media, satellite camps and relentless recruiting approaches have each been commonplace for big-time college football for the better part of the past decade. But between the employment of a head coach in his 80s and unprecedented sanctions stemming from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State lagged behind—the departure of Bill O'Brien after just two seasons only seeming to complicate matters.

But as James Franklin addressed the media during national signing day on Feb. 4, the Nittany Lions head coach raved of his 25-man class, praised the efforts of his staff and provided a timeline for how his team's latest haul came together. More importantly, Franklin's press conference seemingly ushered in a new era in approach for Penn State football.

In just one year, Franklin has proved to possess a foresight that hasn't otherwise been seen in the history of Happy Valley. He knows the value of recruiting, and the emphasis he places on it certainly exceeds that of his predecessors.

"We believe that everything in our program is about relationships," Franklin said at his signing day press conference. "And that starts through the recruiting process."

Hired on Jan. 11, 2014, following O'Brien's New Year's Eve decision to head to the Houston Texans, there wasn't enough time for Franklin to turn his first class at Penn State into his own. But with a year to instill his philosophy into his new program, Franklin is finally modernizing Penn State football, which was evident throughout the construction of the Nittany Lions' latest class.

Recruit, Recruit, Recruit

At Ohio State, Urban Meyer often calls recruiting the "lifeblood" of his program. At Alabama, Nick Saban once bemoaned the amount of time the national championship game kept him away from the recruiting trail. At Oregon, the Ducks have more than 17,000 uniform combinations, all of which are aimed at catching the eyes of potential prospects.

At Penn State, recruiting has always been important and an area where the Nittany Lions have typically had success. But never has it been approached with the intensity of Franklin, who honed his recruiting acumen in the dog-eat-dog world of the SEC in three seasons at Vanderbilt.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

"A lot of the things that they are doing, Penn State wasn’t doing before. I think you can say they modernized Penn State’s recruiting plan," PennLive.com and FightOnState.com recruiting analyst Greg Pickel told Bleacher Report. "I don’t think the previous staffs here were really doing the things that Urban Meyer was doing, that Nick Saban was doing, that Chip Kelly was doing when he was at Oregon."

As Pickel explained, those practices extend from the age in which Franklin and his staff are willing to recruit a player, to the amount of effort that they put into his recruitment. Franklin has also shown a willingness to extend the Nittany Lion footprint beyond traditional Penn State borders, which wasn't embraced by previous regimes.

"Penn State really lagged behind in that department when it came to how to host kids for official visits and best practices when it came to what they had to do at junior days," Pickel said. "I don’t think Penn State’s older staff really had a firm grasp on that and James Franklin and his staff really do. There is some SEC twinge to their recruiting plan.

"It’s certainly a lot of the way he operated at Vanderbilt, which is you blanket the areas that are going to be best to you in recruiting, and then you get guys out of satellite areas to recruit. Areas that you may not always land a kid from, but once a kid comes up from that area you want to reach, you certainly want to be familiar with the head coaches."

Of the 25 players who comprise Penn State's 2015 class, only 11 hail from Pennsylvania. There isn't a player who embodies Franklin's willingness to think outside the box more than junior college transfer Paris Palmer, a North Carolina native who could find himself playing right away next season.

“Penn State’s not typically a JUCO school," Pickel noted. "But if you go back to the idea of modernizing, they weren’t a JUCO school, they had a need they had to fill and they did it, even if that’s something Penn State hasn’t really ever done in the past except for a few rare instances.”

Forward thinking like that has already shown up in the Nittany Lions' 2016 class, with Franklin securing a commitment from 4-star cornerback Lavert Hill. Penn State hadn't previously successfully recruited a player from the Detroit area since Anthony Adams in 1998.

As Franklin's time at Happy Valley extends, look for his recruiting hold to only grow.

Social Media Star

It wasn't until Franklin came to State College that Penn State football established a social media presence, and boy, did it ever. Posting a picture of his own face morphed with that of an an actual lion's, the Nittany Lions' new head coach announced his arrival in a Twitter post that instantly went viral.

"

The LION has always been a part of me,waiting for the right time 2 show his face & attack,now it's time! #PSUnrivaled pic.twitter.com/EFhCo44O53

— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) April 11, 2014"

But while Franklin's tweets tend to draw attention to the program—just as they are intended to do—social media also serves another purpose for the Penn State program. Just as they have for other schools around the country, Twitter and Facebook have provided the Nittany Lions with another platform to communicate with prospects, which they weren't previously utilizing.

"When Bill O’Brien got here, we saw them kind of get closer to what the national picture looks like for teams like Ohio State, Alabama, Florida and the who’s who of the college football world, but it wasn’t until Franklin arrived that these guys really started using social media," Pickel said. "Penn State’s old staff had social media profiles but they hardly used them and kids didn’t know where to find them. All these guys now for Penn State, they take full advantage of these platforms to contact juniors."

Offensive line coach Herb Hand has become a social media star in his own right, accumulating more than 23,000 Twitter followers while regularly interacting with fans and media members alike on the platform. And as evidenced by the fast start the Nittany Lions got off to on the recruiting trail last year and the four players Penn State already has committed in its 2016 class, the Internet efforts of Franklin's staff already appear to be paying off.

Satellite Camps

It wasn't just Franklin's photoshopped tweet that made waves in 2014, but the news that the Penn State staff was holding satellite recruiting camps away from its own campus. Last June, Franklin and his staff set up shop in the South, taking the message of Penn State football straight to the prospects.

"They did one in Florida and one in Georgia last year, that maybe got the name of Penn State out to kids that can’t afford to go to Penn State for a camp," Pickel said. "So the camp was Penn State without [the prospects] going to a camp."

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

“If we get one player from this camp,” Franklin said, via Matt Hayes of SportingNews.com. “It’s worth it.”

Penn State didn't ultimately land a player from either Georgia or Florida in its 2015 class, but data shows why it was wise for the Nittany Lions to build their brand in the Southeast. According to a study performed by SaturdayDownSouth.com, Florida and Georgia produced the two highest percentages of 2015 Division-I signees relative to their state populations.

According to HamptonRoads.com, Penn State will team up with Old Dominion to host a recruiting camp in Virginia later this year, although neither school is yet to confirm. The idea of satellite camps isn't just a forward-thinking idea for Penn State, but the college football world in general.

Moving Forward

Although Penn State's latest recruiting efforts are a step in the right direction, the Nittany Lions are still in a state of playing catch up. This time last year, Penn State was thought to have the country's top class, but the Nittany Lions' 2015 haul ultimately wound up ranked 14th.

That's not bad—and actually ranks second in the Big Ten—but there still remains work to be done. After all, there's only so much success you can find off the field, without showing sustained success on it.

That was evident in Franklin's battles with Meyer on the recruiting trail, where he held firm in his own backyard but struggled elsewhere. As Pickel explained, the difference between Penn State and Ohio State is that when the Buckeyes miss on a kid, they have plenty of other places to look.

At the moment, the Nittany Lions don't have that luxury.

"James Franklin’s talked about this, maybe not Ohio State specifically, but the idea is that Ohio State can recruit nationally. And while Penn State’s getting closer to being able to do that, they’re not able to yet," Pickel said.

"If Penn State beats out Ohio State for two or three kids in the region or around both schools, that’s beneficial. But at the same time, Ohio State might be able to go to California or Florida or Texas and get a guy similar to that guy Penn State won the battle for. That’s not something Penn State’s able to do in reverse right now.”

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

With Penn State's bowl ban lifted and scholarship numbers fully restored, it would behoove the Nittany Lions to use their favorable 2015 schedule to continue to enhance their national brand. That's what it's going to take for Penn State to fully catch up with the Ohio State's and Alabama's of the world, as Franklin continues to try to even the playing field.

"Ohio State obviously has lots of tradition similar to Penn State, but in recent years, Ohio State has obviously been far and away the more results-friendly program," Pickel said. "Penn State's certainly in a position to put the wins together to help them recruit nationally, but it takes time."

In his quest to modernize Penn State, Franklin doesn't seem willing to wait.

"We're never satisfied. We always want more. You always want to do better. I love the guys that we got. I love the class that we put together, but we're never going to be satisfied. I told these guys, we're going to go out and recruit a class next year of guys to come in and take their jobs," Franklin said. "That's the mentality.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.