James Franklin and Penn State accomplished a lot in the 2024 season. A school record of 13 wins, a first-ever playoff appearance, and their first Big Ten Championship Game appearance since 2016. While they ultimately fell out of the race after their loss against Notre Dame in the CFP semifinals, those are great reasons for the Nittany Lions to want to return to State College. But there’s a bigger prize in the mix, and that could be the reason for Penn State’s potential dominance next season.  

Several players aren’t done in Penn State, including QB Drew Allar, RBs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and more. In a shared post by Yahoo Sports on January 18, Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger, and Pat Forde discussed Penn State’s situation, calling it a huge start to the offseason. But it was Dellenger’s update that stole the show.

He said, “I was texting with somebody over at Penn State, and the person kinda mentioned to me, ‘We’re following the Ohio State model. Pay your dudes!’ Penn State is all in. The ad there, Pat Kraft went deep with me about that back in November. They’re gonna start spending to go ‘toe-to-toe.’”

Money makes the world go round. Ohio State’s $20 million roster stole the headlines sometime during the season. It mainly surfaced in the wrong light when Ryan Day faced criticism for not being able to beat Michigan despite a valuable roster. But see where it has led them. The Buckeyes had been building a national championship roster, and here they are. 

This season’s success doesn’t dim their future hope, as several key players will be returning, including QB Will Howard, WR Emeka Egbuka, and DE JT Tuimoloau, among others. This is what happens to a team that has the means to finance their players. Money can even win the best player in the nation, as we’ve seen in Bryce Underwood’s case. And now that James Franklin has gone so close to tasting the glory of being a national championship team, nothing will stop him from picking up where the Nittany Lions left off this season.

Who knows? It can also be part of a retaliation move to prove his critics wrong.

Can James Franklin prove Paul Finebaum wrong?

No one is safe from Paul Finebaum’s critical assessment, and unfortunately, James Franklin is a huge target for the ESPN pundit. Following the close 27-24 Orange Bowl loss to the Irish, Finebaum called the Penn State HC a “jinxed coach” on his show.

In another appearance on The Matt Barrie Show, he didn’t sugarcoat anything saying, “Let’s just be honest: James Franklin can’t win a big game. He didn’t do it this year. He’s not gonna do it next year. He’s not gonna go it any year. That’s just who he is. That doesn’t make him a bad coach. It just makes him a jinxed coach in these situations.”

That’s quite a grim forecast for James Franklin. But advancing to the CFP semifinals gave him an idea of what is needed to make the Nittany Lions pop. Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft is all in for this emulation of OSU’s money model, and the return of key players is their first win. In addition to their signal caller and RBs, the Nittany Lions will also see DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, DT Zane Durant, LB Dom DeLuca, and punter Riley Thompson suiting up again for the 2025 season.

The 2024 season hasn’t been terrible for Penn State. Can their revamped NIL landscape save James Franklin from Finebaum’s label in 2025?