James Franklin Digs for the Long Haul at Penn State

Here's what else we learned from Franklin's Monday availability.

Franklin noncommittal about potential staff changes

Franklin was asked bluntly whether he has considered making any staff changes following losses to Oregon and UCLA. The head coach said neither yes nor no. Penn State's offense has been particularly uneven this season, ranking 13th in the Big Ten in third-down conversions, 12th in passing offense and 11th in total offense,

"Ultimately, it starts with me," Franklin said. "And then, like I just mentioned, there's shared responsibility between myself, the coordinators and the assistant coaches. I have a ton of confidence in those men or I would not have brought them in the building, But we're a results-oriented business, and we need to produce. So my job is to hold everybody accountable and create an environment where the players and the coaches can be successful, and that's what we're going to do moving forward, starting with Northwestern."

Specifically regarding Kotelnicki, Penn State's second-year offensive coordinator, Franklin said that, "up to this point, we have not been as productive as as we expected to be and anticipated being."

On keeping the locker room together

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said Saturday that he would "throw 100 percent of my heart and effort" into restarting the season and expected others to do the same. The Nittany Lions said in Pasadena that they sensed no locker-room division, with which Franklin agreed.

"This is a resilient group," Franklin said. "When you watch the game, obviously we have two losses, but there's no signs of that on tape. Our guys battled and played really hard. We didn't always play smart but we battled.

"... Is there hurt in the locker room? Yes, no doubt about it. Is there? Was there hurt on on Sunday? Yeah, no doubt about it, and there should be, but we've got a strong group. We've got a resilient group. We've got a bunch of leaders that have been through adversity in their past. So no, I don't have those concerns right now. But obviously, a big factor in all this is that they have to tune out the negativity and focus on the things that that matter and that are going to get us better."

On where he needs to improve

Franklin noted the need for his offense to refine its play-calling approach, his defense to play faster and his special teams to recognize and recover an onside kick. But the Penn State coach also turned introspective when asked about where he needs to improve personally.

"I think it's all of it," he said. "It's how we game-plan, it's how we practice, it's how we develop [players]. It's holding everybody in the building accountable. ... But I'm also not going to allow two games that are extremely disappointing to overshadow the growth that we've had in this program over the last 12 years. So it's a balance of both of [those things].

"The reality is, we're talking about right now, and the last two weeks weren't good enough, and ultimately I'm responsible. So I hired the staff, we've recruited the players, and I'm ultimately responsible for all of it,offensively, defensively, special teams. I'm there to support those guys, I'm there to challenge and I'm there to hold everybody accountable. And that's that's the nature of my of my job, and I totally get that and totally take responsibility for it."

Penn State returns home Saturday to face Northwestern at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.