Penn State's Rocco Becht Reveals Eye-Opening James Franklin Reality

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Playing at Penn State brings a lot of pressure for many around the program. The Nittany Lions have been one of the best programs in the country year in and year out for much of the past few decades. 

At the same time, it always felt like James Franklin's teams weren't always prepared, a problem that had to be fixed. 

Penn State decided to take matters into its own hands and cut ties with the longtime head coach.

Fast forward to August of 2026, and plenty has changed for the Nittany Lions. Penn State has a new head coach in Matt Campbell, a new quarterback in Rocco Becht, and many new players on the roster.

Recently, Becht had a lot to say about what he saw from Penn State players who decided to stick around after Campbell got the job. Not everything he said was a good reflection of the program, either, and it sounds like a lot of it was Franklin's fault.

“A little bit of ego and that kind of stuff in the building,” Becht said, per CNN. “Whether it was like missing a lift or being late – just not a lot of accountability. I just don’t think they had a lot of direction, to be honest.”

Hearing that guys aren't showing up to lifts and are late to meetings is completely unacceptable, and I know for a fact that doesn't fly with every coach at that university.

As for why Campbell decided to come, part of it was the community. If Penn State didn't have the community that it does, beyond the playing field, it wouldn't be the same university. 

However, Campbell is challenged not only to build that community even more, but to get his players to buy in. Obviously, Franklin couldn't do that.

“It was always going to take the right community,” Campbell told CNN. “I felt drawn here because I wanted to see if I could unify. I wanted to see if I could help heal things externally and internally. I wanted to remind everyone how special it was to walk into that stadium and why 110,000 people show up to support this program.”

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