During his news conference Tuesday, Coach Franklin discussed diversity among coaches.
Penn State and Illinois both have African American head coaches, James Franklin and Lovie Smith.
“You know I’d love for us to get to a point where this isn’t even a conversation anymore, obviously I don’t think we’re there yet,” said Franklin. “I’m working like crazy number one for Penn State, I’m working like crazy for our players, I’m working like crazy for our letterman and for this community, I’m working like crazy for my family but I also feel like a carry a little bit of that weight that I’m working for thousands of young African-Americans football coaches all over the country that when someone gets into my position, the success that we have here hopefully opens some doors for guys in the future.”
There are only 13 African American head coaches out of 130 FBS football programs.