Secret to James Franklin's success? His two daughters

James Franklin laughed a bit cautiously before embarking on his experimental summer family vacation.

Franklin's young daughters became hooked on the idea of traveling by RV to their destination of choice. They've talked about it for the better part of two years. 

So as the ride of a lifetime neared, Penn State's head football coach said he was focused on the overwhelming positive of such a journey: the father-daughter bonding time so difficult to come by as a high-profile head coach.

Just imagine the Franklin family rolling from State College to Niagara Falls to Cape Cod.

"The only thing I'm concerned about is the driving of the RV ... it sounds stressful," he said. "I'm just worried about changing lanes, blind spots, parking it. The whole thing."

His girls, so strikingly different, were just 6 and 5 when their father arrived in State College in January 2014. They've been growing up in front of one of the largest fan bases in the world — and, in a way, appear to be the driving force behind the man leading his second program revival.

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Shola is the older of the two, and is nonstop athletic energy. She plays basketball, softball, soccer, runs on the track team and is learning the trombone. "When she comes to (a Penn State) game, she's into the game. She wants to understand football. She asks a lot of questions," Franklin said. 

Addy is more competitive with video games and is a "techie," according to her Dad.

Shola, now 10, is a "daddy's girl." Addy, 9, latches on to her mother.

"Addy ... I think she also has the little sister thing. I think it drives her crazy that she's not as strong or fast as her older sister," he said.

Franklin admits he and wife Fumi are "different in the way we're raising our kids," as with early 7 p.m. bedtimes. Often, he leaves the house before they wake up in the morning and returns only after they're asleep.

It helps that his wife and daughters frequently stop by his office for lunch.

"I struggle with it, I have coach guilt," he said. "That you're constantly trying to find time and trying to find a way to balance it. But there really is no true balance. Just the job demands are too hard."

Part of that is always being on duty as the Penn State football coach, no matter time or place. He's constantly approached by strangers for conversation, autograph and photo requests.

"My kids, they notice," Franklin said. "We were out to breakfast the other day and (Addy) wanted me to sit on the inside (of the table) and I didn't know why.

"Because, if you sit here on the end,'" she said, "people are going to want to come up and take pictures with you the whole time."

He calls his daughters and wife his "grounding force" because they usually care little whether Penn State wins or loses. They just want his attention when he finally arrives home.

Only after that last-play loss to USC in the Rose Bowl did his daughters surprise with their emotions. Both cried as they threw their arms around him on the sideline and as he carried them toward the locker room.

"First of all, having daughters has made me a better man," Franklin said.

"Most people are selfish until they get married, especially men. And then you have kids and you start to see the big picture.

"Wanting to raise strong confident women who will go on to have a chance to be successful and be able to take care of themselves, that's a challenge."

Franklin said he doesn't  believe Penn State has necessarily molded him as a person or coach in 3 1/2 years. It's more about adapting to the immense challenges of a job he couldn't possibly understand until he started.

That adjusting — which included hiring three new assistants prior to the 2016 season — has been one of his greatest strengths at Vanderbilt and now in State College.

"You can hear about the sanctions and lack of scholarships and those things all you want, but I was just like everybody else," Franklin said. "I envisioned the Penn State I knew growing up.

"When I came here I was surprised they had fallen so far behind in technology. I was surprised they had fallen so far behind in facilities. I was surprised of the effects of the sanctions, the lack of scholarships and the lack of depth."

So he and his revamped staff are gradually updating the entire program, from renovations to their headquarters in the Lasch building to planned work on Holuba Hall and Beaver Stadium — to even tweaking those iconic uniforms, if but for one "throwback" game.

Certainly, Franklin's fit is unique, blending his longtime ties to the state and region without direct connections to Penn State. He coached in the NFL and in the SEC but never attended a Nittany Lions game until he ran out of the tunnel as head coach.

"I've said this before, that this is my dream job. But in a lot of ways I don't know if it necessarily was. Because I never really thought it was a reality. I never really thought they would hire anybody from outside of the family. It was a dream job in theory but not in reality." 

Those close to him also maintain that staying true to his upbringing in Langhorne, Pa. and then at East Stroudsburg University has sparked his success. They say that has not altered since he arrived at Penn State.

Mike Santella, a longtime assistant coach at ESU, roomed with Franklin 25 years ago and the two are still the best of friends.

"He's as detailed-oriented of a person as there is," Santella said. "And he's got the fine line between loving the kids hard and coaching them hard. If you love a player hard it gives you the ability to coach them extremely hard. It's a two-way street.

"I think he gets them to buy in that he cares about them as people more than just football players."

Santella also made sure to add this: "He never forgot where he came from." 

Joan and Gary Bowman see that regularly back in Langhorne. They helped raise Franklin 40 years ago after he became close friends with their son and still text him after every game. Just a few months ago they spent quality time together when he returned home for his sister's 50th birthday party.

They say Franklin's drive to succeed and win people over comes from his late mother, who cared for James and his sister by herself for long stretches.

"Winning wasn't the only thing for him," Gary Bowman said, referencing the distant past as well as the present. "He would not sacrifice his character and his values to just become a winner.

"I think James would be successful in any arena he would get into. He's the type of guy who wanted to excel and be the best he could be. He was willing to sacrifice time and energy to achieve his goals." 

No matter, his opportunity now is as big as it gets. He coaches in a 100,000-seat stadium, competes in arguably the toughest division in college football and is backed by one of the most rabid followings.

He's also still seen as completing the long task of leading the program out of the desert from the Sandusky scandal and all of its burdens.

He said he is thankful that his wife and daughters are there each day for support and inspiration. Gary Bowman describes those girls as keeping Franklin "anchored to what is really important."

Bowman sees the family fitting in at Penn State for years to come.

"He's never indicated he wants to go back to the pros. College is his passion. He always wanted to be at Penn State, and I don't see him leaving Penn State. I would be very surprised."