Options. Penn State football now has a lot more of them.
Monday, the NCAA quietly released the news that the remaining postseason and scholarship sanctions against the Nittany Lions from the Jerry Sandusky scandal have been lifted. While the decisions to sanction Penn State and revoke those sanctions were controversial, this article will focus only on the recruiting impact.
Penn State is immediately eligible to play in bowl games, and it can now sign recruiting classes without any scholarship restrictions. For the future of the program, this is a big deal. I chatted with Nick Polak, recruiting analyst for Penn State website Black Shoe Diaries.
"There can be no doubt that having the ability to play in a bowl game will entice even more highly ranked prospects to consider the Nittany Lions," Polak said. "Just a year ago, (five-star cornerback) Jabrill Peppers stated that had Penn State been eligible for a bowl game his freshman season, they would have made the race with Michigan even closer than it was. The appeal to play in bowl games, where everyone on the team gets to travel and play against an unfamiliar opponent, gain even more television exposure, be given a typically ridiculous package of gifts, and compete for an annual trophy is easy to understand."
The scholarship implications, however, are an even bigger deal, and could supercharge an already resurgent Penn State recruiting machine.
Penn State currently has 19 commitments for the class of 2015, and 12 of them are rated four-stars or better by the 247 Sports Composite. Coach James Franklin and staff have been doing an excellent job on the recruiting trail, and that ratio of blue-chip players is triple what Penn State brought in over the last four seasons. Among those commits, quarterback Brandon Wimbush was probably the best signal caller I saw this summer east of the Mississippi, and defensive back John Reid has offers from all around the country.
But Penn State was going to be somewhat limited in terms of how many players it could sign in the 2015 class. The Nittany Lions probably could have found a way to take a full, 25-man class, though it would have likely involved a level of, um, "roster management" beyond that which most of the Big Ten is comfortable. Now, if they want, the Nittany Lions can add 25 players without having to trim, as they can have an 85-scholarship roster in 2015.
Now, the Lions can cast a wider offer net.
"It allows the staff to reopen once-closed doors," Polak said. "It was somewhat common knowledge that the staff has become very picky with who receives offers as time has gone on, due to the fact that they needed to make sure they had enough at each position before they thought about taking luxury picks, so to speak. In fact, Penn State already had to turn away Darrin Kirkland (committed to Michigan) earlier in the 2015 cycle (back when Josh Barajas was still committed), because they simply didn't have the flexibility to add him to the class. It would seem that this will no longer be an issue for Penn State more than any other team in the country. In other words, James Franklin has officially been let off his leash."
The Nittany Lions now also have the option to evaluate recruits during the early part of their senior high school seasons and throw out new offers to those who had previously not played at a Penn State level. Some prospects, like Alabama cornerback Eddie Jackson, for instance, do come from nowhere to emerge as some of the best players in the country during their senior years.
And don't forget about the part of recruiting season during which coaches are fired and recruits begin to look elsewhere. The extra flexibility now afforded to Penn State allows the Nittany Lions to press a bit harder in December. The obvious program to watch here is Michigan, which has nine blue-chips currently committed and a coach on one of the hottest seats in the country after getting embarrassed, 31-0, by Notre Dame.
![]()
Our Penn State site ![]()
There are a number of prospects for whom Penn State would have already made room, like offensive lineman Matthew Burrell or cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick, who may see the reduced sanctions as yet another reason to strongly consider Penn State.
Polak explains the process of picking and choosing which recruits to take, and clarifies the cornerback recruiting scenarios, including how Penn State may be able to take Fitzpatrick and another corner should both want in, in his piece on Black Shoe Diaries.
But while the excitement is mostly focused on the 2015 class, Penn State's coaches realize that they must also focus on 2016 -- a class that projects to be very important, as the relationships established by the coaches in the region will be that much stronger. Do not expect Penn State to simply throw out offer after offer. Selectivity will still be the key, and if Penn State doesn't land the high-profile targets it wants with its newfound freedom, expect it to bank a few scholarships for the 2016 class.