It started on a rainy day in January of 2014. James Franklin , the brash, confident new head coach of the Penn State football program, exited the private plane with then-athletic director Dr. David Joyner at the University Park Airport and made a beeline over to a fenced area where a handful of fans and media who had gathered to get a look at the new guy.

It was immediately clear that Franklin was a much different character from his predecessor, Bill O’Brien . He was brimming with optimism – some say too much – and was ready to dive into a job at a school that was still under strict NCAA sanctions from the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Franklin seemed to be a breath of fresh air, proclaiming he was “a Pennsylvania boy with a Penn State heart” during his opening press conference later that

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