Penn State coach James Franklin said he shouldn’t have walked away from reporters asking questions about former players accused of rape earlier this week.
Franklin declined to answer questions from reporters seeking comment after Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys were charged with felony rape and other charges for the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old woman over the summer. The two players, both 19 years old, are no longer enrolled at Penn State.
The alleged incident occurred on July 7 at the campus apartment the players shared. Before being kicked off the team, they had been suspended for what the school called a “personal matter.”
“The first thing I’d like to say is I want to apologize, I didn’t do a great job driving on Wednesday,” Franklin said after Penn State’s 28-13 win over Wisconsin. “Difficult, difficult situation. And I have to admit that I didn’t do a good job at that. I understand that you have a job to do and you have to ask those questions and I respect that. The university released a statement and the reality is, I don’t think there’s much more they can say other than that statement. It is an ongoing legal situation. And it is a challenge. It is a challenge for everyone. At the end of the day, I didn’t do a good job of handling that situation and representing this program the right way, so I want to take a minute and apologize for that and understand that you guys have a job to do.”
Instead of simply declining to comment on the charges Lyons and Keys face, Franklin twice walked away from a meeting with the media after practice Wednesday when asked about the former players. As Franklin stood awkwardly to the side, a member of Penn State’s media relations staff read a statement from the school.
Franklin’s handling of the situation can be seen as a lesson in what not to do when asked for comment on a sensitive topic. If he had stood his ground and said he could not comment further on the allegations, his actions and words would not become an additional story. Instead, the way he walked away exacerbated the situation and resulted in an apology days later.
Penn State’s win on Saturday night pushed the No. 3 Nittany Lions to 7-0 heading into a massive game against Ohio State in Week 10. The win came when QB Drew Allar missed the second half with an apparent knee injury. Franklin did not go into detail about Allan’s injury after the game, saying Allar told Franklin he didn’t feel ready to play after suffering the injury late in the second quarter.
Allar was replaced by substitute Beau Pribula. Allar was 14 of 18 for 148 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game, while Pribula was 11 of 13 for 98 yards and a touchdown as Penn State rushed 35 times for 173 yards.
