The guy who lives above James Franklin’s garage isn’t a crazy uncle who’s down on his luck.
He’s Frank Leonard, a Penn State football analyst who’s as close to Franklin as anyone who works inside the Lasch Building.
They’ve known each other for more than 25 years, first meeting on the recruiting trail when Leonard was an assistant at Richmond and Franklin was an assistant at James Madison.
A huge fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Leonard is Stevie Van Zandt to Franklin’s Springsteen.
“You know, it’s kind of like that,” Leonard said. “I’m sure Stevie Van Zandt has Bruce Springsteen’s back. To the best of my ability, I have James Franklin’s back.”
The 66-year-old Leonard is warm, engaging, funny, energetic and unabashedly honest. He is a football lifer who has coached or scouted since 1981.
He works with offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, who he met when he coached tight ends with the St. Louis Rams and Trautwein was an undrafted free agent. The two later worked together for several years on the Boston College staff.
“He’s such a good dude,” Trautwein said. “When you first meet him, you think this guy’s an awesome guy. He has high energy. Then when you see him coach, you think, this guy’s a maniac in a good way.
“He’s just so loyal. He does it in a loving way. Everybody knows he’ll do anything for anybody. That’s who he is and that’s why he’s here.”
Leonard also is at Penn State because he knows his stuff and because Franklin trusts him implicitly. They first worked together in 2007-08 at Kansas State, where Franklin was the offensive coordinator and Leonard was the tight ends coach. Before Leonard was officially hired, they had a long conversation at a coaches convention.
“We kind of clicked,” Leonard said. “We have similar personalities. I would say we both possess a little bit of energy. Of course, James is a very sharp guy. We just got along very well. Our personalities jelled. Our families got along.
“Like we do now, I would go to his house and pick him up. We’d drive into work together. We really began to build our friendship.”
After they both left Kansas State – Franklin to return to Maryland and Leonard to join the Rams – they stayed in contact over the years. In January 2022, Franklin offered Leonard a job at Penn State and Leonard quickly accepted.
So why has Leonard been living next to the Franklin family? Leonard’s wife, Kathy, and two daughters live in a suburb of Boston. They have lived in five homes during his career.
“Once my daughters (Maria and Sarah) got into high school, I was not going to move them,” Leonard said. “I had a wonderful high school experience and I wanted them to have the same thing.
“Maybe James knew that. He said, ‘You’re going to live with me. I have a place above my detached garage.’ It’s a beautiful room. I’m very close not only with James but with Fumi (Franklin’s wife) and their two daughters (Shola and Addison).”
Leonard rides to and from work with Franklin almost every day. The two discuss anything and everything during their 20-minute commutes between Port Matilda and State College.
“James is a smart son of a gun,” Leonard said. “I always knew he was an excellent football coach. He’s a really, really intelligent guy. I say that with all sincerity. The guy is a very, very sharp person. And he’s a good person.
“In one of our first car rides, he asked me what I thought was different about him. I told him, ‘You’re kind of a hip guy, but you’ve got old school values, man.’ That’s one of the major reasons why I’ve grown to be a friend of his.”
Relationships mean everything to Leonard, according to Trautwein.
“I know I wouldn’t be here without him,” Trautwein said. “If anybody says anything about me or the offensive line, he’ll be mad for two days.”
Criticism of Franklin especially rankles Leonard, who has worked with Bill Belichick, Steve Spagnuolo, Pat Shurmur, Ryan Day, Don Brown, Steve Addazio and others.
“I think the world of James,” Leonard said. “I think he gets a bum rap at times. This guy does a great job. I’m not sure you people (critics) know what you have.”
Franklin and Leonard are 14 years apart and somewhat of an odd couple, but their bond is tight. Their friendship is forever.
“I think people look at me as maybe one of his right-hand men, a confidant, a consigliere,” Leonard said. “I really don’t care how people take this; I’m just a huge fan of his. He’s very loyal to me and I’m very loyal to him.”
