After 20 Years, Penn State’s James Franklin Returns to Green Bay for the NFL Draft
Franklin coached with the Green Bay Packers in 2005. He hasn’t been back since. “I’m kind of interested in seeing it,” Franklin said.
Penn State’s James Franklin often refers to his one NFL season as among the most influential of his career, largely because of where he spent it. Franklin coached wide receivers for the Green Bay Packers in 2005, a season that ended with the staff getting let go at 9 a.m. and Franklin on a plane bound for his next job two hours later.
Franklin hasn’t been back to Green Bay since. He’ll return to Lambeau Field on Thursday for the first time in nearly 20 years for the NFL Draft, where the Nittany Lions’ Abdul Carter is expected to be a top-five pick. It’s certainly Carter’s night, though Franklin is eager to return to Green Bay.
“It’s changed a lot,” Franklin said. “I’m kind of interested in seeing it.”
Franklin told the story Tuesday night on the Penn State Coaches Show, during which he discussed Penn State’s upcoming Blue-White spring football game. Franklin, entering his 12th season at Penn State, shared a glimpse of coaching’s transient nature, where connections matter more than roots.
Franklin joined Mike Sherman’s Green Bay staff in 2005 after spending five seasons at Maryland as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Franklin has said that he took the job to expand his coaching resume and gather NFL experience.
It was a rough season for the Packers, who went 4-12 but beat the Seattle Seahawks 23-17 in their season finale on New Year’s Day. The next morning, Sherman gathered the coaching staff for a 9 a.m. meeting, telling them that they had been fired. Franklin then made a phone call.
Ron Prince, who became the Kansas State head coach in early December, had offered Franklin his offensive coordinator position. Franklin paused before accepting, choosing to see how the Packers’ season concluded.
When Sherman delivered the news, Franklin called Prince about the job at Kansas State. At 11 a.m., Franklin was on a plane with Raheem Morris, whom Prince hired as defensive coordinator. (Morris now is the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach). Kansas State announced Franklin’s hiring Jan. 3.
“I got on a plane to Kansas State at 11 a.m. and I never went back [to Green Bay],” Franklin said on the radio show. “My wife [Fumi] stayed back, packed the house, put the house up for sale. Two hours after the staff meeting, I was gone.”
Still, Franklin has fond memories of Green Bay and is curious to see how the neighborhood around Lambeau Field has changed in the past 20 years.
“It was a special, unique experience,” Franklin said of his season with the Packers. “A lot of the things we do now at Penn State are things that I stole from Green Bay. I thought it was a first-class organization from top to bottom. Had a great experience.”
Ultimately, though, Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft is about Carter and tight end Tyler Warren, who could be Penn State’s highest-drafted duo in 25 years. Franklin has a hectic day planned. He is having lunch with Warren and his family in Virginia on Thursday afternoon, then will fly with defensive line coach Deion Barnes to Green Bay for the draft.
Good thing that Penn State doesn’t practice Thursday. Franklin will return to State College for the team’s “Fast Friday” practice ahead of Saturday’s Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium.
“One of the things I love about [the NFL Draft] is, we were recruiting Abdul when he was in 10th and 11th grade,” Franklin said. “To watch his entire journey, to watch him grow and mature … and then to be in the discussion with him in his senior year about his dreams, and now to be on the back end and watch him walk across that stage, be drafted in the top 5 picks and really be prepared for this next phase of his life, to me that’s what it’s all about.”
