On Thursday, Penn State football and Notre Dame’s collision course comes to a jolt in the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Orange Bowl. Although neither team lost more than one regular season game, their respective stories entail concurring resilience and mental toughness. While both teams are loaded with on-field talent, their coaching staffs’ experience played a huge role in getting them to Florida.
James Franklin has been the Nittany Lions’ head coach since 2014, while Marcus Freeman became the Fighting Irish’s boss in December 2021. While they’ve both served as head coaches and coordinators at other schools, they’ve each hired experienced veterans around the sport to their programs.
“We’d like to get as many qualified and experienced guys on your staff as possible,” Franklin said.
Franklin’s defensive coordinator, Tom Allen, was Indiana’s head coach for eight years before joining the Nittany Lions this season. His wisdom and calm demeanor have been helpful throughout the campaign.
“Tom’s just been awesome. There’s not a better guy in the profession. His humility is impressive. His faith is impressive. But he’s been awesome. He’s jumped right back into this thing and is really doing a great job,” Franklin said.
When a former head coach enters a program as an assistant, Franklin said, that process is easier because of the prior experience. The leadership and organizational experiences have been pivotal, but it’s also a way for coaches to continue doing what they love.
Those prior experiences were a primary factor in Freeman’s decision to hire Al Golden as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator.
“When I hired Al Golden three years ago, it was for two reasons. One, I believe he had a great defensive mind and could do great things with our defense. But two, at that point, we did not have a former head coach on our staff, and I thought it was important to get somebody that had experience where I had none on our staff, and the growth we’ve made in three years has been tremendous,” he said.
Golden has lengthy experience in college as well as the NFL with the Detroit Lions and the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s had stints at Temple as a head coach, Virginia as a defensive coordinator, Boston College, and Miami (FL). Additionally, he was Penn State’s linebackers coach in 2000, where he was a tight end from 1988 to 1991.
Given Golden’s experiences around the game, Freeman relies on him for clarity when making tough decisions.
“I’ll ask him things about his experiences and, at some point, you got to make a decision which you believe is best, but it’s good to have some of those guys that have experience in areas that you don’t,” Freeman said.
“I believe in trying to gain wisdom from other people that have experience,” Freeman said.
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Nolan is a senior journalism major from Silver Spring, Maryland. He’s an avid D.C sports and Liverpool fan who loves going to games in his free time. Nolan mainly writes about Penn State football, men’s hockey, and baseball. You can follow him on Twitter @nolan_wick or email him at [email protected].
The Orange Bowl matchup marks the 20th meeting between the two teams and the first since 2007.
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