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The guy who lives above James Franklin’s garage isn’t a crazy uncle who’s down on his luck.
He’s Frank Leonard, a Penn State football analyst who’s as close to Franklin as anyone who works inside the Lasch Building.
They’ve known each other for more than 25 years, first meeting on the recruiting trail when Leonard was an assistant at Richmond and Franklin was an assistant at James Madison.
A huge fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Leonard is Stevie Van Zandt to Franklin’s Springsteen.
“You know, it’s kind of like that,” Leonard said. “I’m sure Stevie Van Zandt has Bruce Springsteen’s back. To the best of my ability, I have James Franklin’s back.”
The 66-year-old Leonard is warm, engaging, funny, energetic and unabashedly honest. He is a football lifer who has coached or scouted since 1981.
He works with offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, who he met when he coached tight ends with the St. Louis Rams and Trautwein was an undrafted free agent. The two later worked together for several years on the Boston College staff.
“He’s such a good dude,” Trautwein said. “When you first meet him, you think this guy’s an awesome guy. He has high energy. Then when you see him coach, you think, this guy’s a maniac in a good way.
“He’s just so loyal. He does it in a loving way. Everybody knows he’ll do anything for anybody. That’s who he is and that’s why he’s here.”
Leonard also is at Penn State because he knows his stuff and because Franklin trusts him implicitly. They first worked together in 2007-08 at Kansas State, where Franklin was the offensive coordinator and Leonard was the tight ends coach. Before Leonard was officially hired, they had a long conversation at a coaches convention.
“We kind of clicked,” Leonard said. “We have similar personalities. I would…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-football-analyst-frank-034700674.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-09-25 03:47:00
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