Pennsylvania State University's new head coach James Franklin, a Pennsylvania native who is one of the nation's most successful and dynamic coaches, has been added as a guest speaker for this year's NIKE Coach of the Year Clinic, NIKE Coach of the Year Clinic to be held in the Lehigh Valley from Thursday, February 27 through Saturday March 1 at the Holiday Inn and Conference Center in Fogelsville.

Franklin, the 16th head football coach in Penn State's 127-year history, will speak from 7:45 to 9:15 p.m. on Friday night.The enthusiastic and passionate Franklin led Vanderbilt University to unprecedented success in his three years as head coach, winning nine games in each of the past two years, and finishing in the Top 25 in consecutive seasons, both for the first time in school history.Jimbo Fisher, head coach of the Florida State Seminoles National Championship football team, is also one of the main guest speakers on the list, along with Ball State head coach Pete Lembo, who coached at Lehigh from 2001 through 2005; Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads and University of Pittsburgh head coach Paul Chryst.Lembo, on the schedule Thursday evening, will speak on "Building a Successful Program from the Ground Up".Rhoads will speak on Friday afternoon and his topic is "Defensive Tendencies and Defensive Backs".Chryst will speak on Saturday morning about the "Situational Passing Game".Fisher gets his time at the podium on Friday morning.His objective when he took over the Florida State football program wasn't just putting together a couple of 10-win seasons, a conference championship, a BCS Bowl win and a top 10 national ranking, all of which he's accomplished in just three seasons.Other speakers on Thursday's schedule include Fordham University head coach Joe Moorehead, Yale's Kevin Cahill and Bloomsburg University defensive coordinator Chet Henicle.Lehighton native Dave Warner, now the offensive cooordinator and quarterback coach at Michigan State, will speak on Friday. Others include West Virginia's Tony Gibson, Bryant College's Marty Fine, Lebanon Valley defensive coordinator Vince Pantalone, PA Class A Coach of the Year Mike Shuback of Old Forge, PA AA Coach of the Year Rick Keeley of Berks Catholic, PA AAA Coach of the Year Joe Henrich of Bethlehem Catholic and Delaware State Champion head coach Bill Dinardo of Salesianum High School.Also on Friday, the John C. Whitehead Coach of the Year Awards will be presented.Lafayette and Lehigh will hold sessions on Saturday morning before the finale.Registration can be done online at

www.nikecoyfootball.com with price varying by how many staff members register and how many days. There is also registration for Youth And Recreational League coaches.For more information, contact Jim Tkach by phone: (484)225-2706, FAX: (302) 265-2101 or e-mail:

allentown@nikecoyfootball.com.