James Franklin’s $3.2 million plan to kill Ryan Day’s pledge as Ohio State hits crunch just before holiday parade – essentially sports

Dennis SuttonThe Penn State Defensive end summed up his team’s attitude for next season in a few words, ” unfinished business in pursuit of the elusive championship”. And that’s exactly the mood in the Penn State locker room right now. James Franklin’s Penn State had to face a bitter loss on Jan. 9 against Notre Dame in the playoff. It didn’t even change the enthusiasm in the dressing room. And it looks like the Nittany Lions head coach is looking for redemption in the 2025 season. With him making moves left, right and center, it looks like even Ryan by day will feel his chills by night.

Things started looking pretty favorable for James Franklin until his defensive coordinator, Tom Allen, was poached Clemson Tigers. Who dropped out of Penn State because of his admiration for Sweeney and being close to home with his daughters. But even in that crisis, he stepped in to pull out a Hail Mary in an effort to recruit Ohio State ace Jim Knowles. And with an offer already made by Penn State close to $3.2 million, it doesn’t look like Franklin is giving up anytime soon.

Zach Seyko, who hosts the “Locked on Nittany Lions” podcast on YouTube, has a definitive update on Franklin’s exploits, “WHy Penn State has a chance to land one of the best defensive coordinators, if not the best defensive coordinator in the entire country because Penn State is already a national title contender. He will have a chance to win back to back titles while getting a pay raise. ” And Zach is right in every way to be precise. Because he will come to a team that is coming together with the potential to win the championship in 2025, as they were ranked #1 in Stewart Mandel’s 2025 projections. But why is Penn State adamant about recruiting Knowles?

Seiko answers this question, “Penn State is so selective with their defensive coordinator candidate because they want to follow and have a similar system. So there’s not this complete overhaul and there’s some consistency. Penn State wants to run the 425 and guess what Jim Knowles also runs the 425, so Penn State is loaded with not only pure talent, but the right talent to match. ” Well, that explains a lot. And since Franklin’s team looks the same as it did in 2024, the philosophy will also help team chemistry and cohesion. But is there a catch? Well, there definitely is.

Because, for one thing, Ohio State doesn’t like to play catch-up in the recruiting market. And this seems very evident in their immediate reaction to Franklin’s poaching exploits. So what did they do? Well, of course they’ve made him an offer he certainly can’t refuse. For starters, they offered the DC a new contract that would make him the highest DC received in college football. Keep in mind that he already has a $2.5 million deal in his bag through 2027. with Ohio and if he accepts the renewed offer. This could mean troubling waters ahead for James Franklin. But still, Franklin may have a way to disrupt the victory parade of the day after all.

How might the development affect Ryan Day’s victory parade?

Well, Ryan Day and Ohio State were some happy guys on January 20th after winning the championship. But their happiness may have some darker clouds on the horizon. If Seiko is to be believed, Penn State plans to announce the signing of Jim Knowles soon. And it comes at a terrible time.

seiko said “I think Jim Knowles may have made up his mind as far as what he’s going to do, but the official decision publicly won’t happen until after the championship parade…. If the decision happens, it will be after the championship parade, whether that is Sunday night Going into the next day on Monday. I think we will hear about that news soon. ” Well, that would basically mean that Ryan Denn would walk into the parade knowing that his DC ace was leaving for Penn State. And perhaps one more worry will bother him to think about entering the much-anticipated victory parade.