Following the playbook.

Over the past two seasons, national championship teams Michigan and Ohio State were able to bring back veteran players to their rosters, who could’ve absolutely departed early to go to the NFL draft. The veteran presence on those teams, paired with their talent, helped them to win national titles.

Penn State has taken a page out of both the Wolverines and the Buckeyes playbook for the 2025 season.

The Nittany Lions have cemented themselves in the conversation heading into this season — the national championship contender column — bringing back difference makers on both sides of the ball to make a run at the national title in Miami.

Because of the returning talent, many preseason prognosticators have PSU firmly in their top three, and some even have them as their No. 1 team to start the 2025.

Expectations are always high in State College, but this season there seems to be a national championship or bust mentality matriculating not only throughout University Park, but also with media and fans alike throughout the country.

“I don’t really feel like the expectations have changed,” said Penn State head coach James Franklin. “The expectations in the Lasch Building are always high. The expectations in Beaver Stadium are always high. The expectations in this community are always really high. That’s a big reason why I came here.

“That’s a big reason why our players chose here. To your point, are there more conversations and maybe heightened conversations going on nationally? Yes. But I think last year is a perfect example, right. We were a drive away from playing for the National Championship last year, and 99 percent of the programs in the country would be jacked about that season and how it went, and I don’t know if that was necessarily the case here, right.”

A lot of the veterans that the Nittany Lions are bringing back are on the offensive side of the ball.

Quarterback Drew Allar, along with running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have been garnering a lot of the attention, but a big part of their veteran presence will be along the offensive line. If a team is good in the trenches, it should have a pretty good chance to get a win week in and week out.

Veterans Nick Dawkins (center) and Drew Shelton (left tackle) will lead this group, and are followed by Vega Ioane (left guard), Anthony Donkoh (right guard) and Nolan Rucci (right tackle). Each of those players were starters last season. PSU is also a very solid two deep at each and every offensive linemen position.

“When I got here, we had four offensive linemen in the entire program and people just brushed it over like no big deal. I think now we’re at, like, 22, 25, something like that. We are in a different spot, right. That’s not just good for our offense, that’s good for our defense,” said Franklin.

“Iron sharpens iron every single day. It also allows us, when we talk about different weapons that we have in terms of wide receiver, running back, tight ends and trying to get them all on the field. You guys also saw us last year do some six offensive linemen sets. That is, obviously, helpful from a scheme standpoint. It’s also helpful from a development standpoint when you can get six and seven offensive linemen on the field, allows those guys to get some playing time.”

Production from the wide receiver position was a big issue for the Nittany Lions last season. Tyler Warren, a first-round draft pick tight end, was quarterback Drew Allar’s top target, hauling in 104 balls for 1,223 yards and eight touchdowns.

Harrison Wallace III (Ole Miss) and Omari Evans (Washington) were the most productive wide receivers for PSU last season, but neither was able to truly break out. Both have hit the transfer portal and are no longer on the roster. In the College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame last season, PSU receivers did not have a single catch.

So, Coach Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki were aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason, bringing in three transfer wide receivers in Kyron Hudson (USC), Devonte Ross (Troy) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse). All three are seniors and are expected to slot in as starters for the Nittany Lions.

That gives PSU some depth with Liam Clifford, who returns, and some of their younger players like Tyseer Denmark and Peter Gonzalez.

“Hudson was a captain at his previous institution,” said Franklin. “Had one of the catches of the year against LSU. Senior, veteran, mature. So that’s been valuable for us. Peña is a sixth-year guy. Same thing, was captain at his last school. Got a lot of maturity. Got a lot experience. And then Ross, we were able to watch him against Iowa. I think you guys know how much respect I have for Iowa, that program, defensively, special teams-wise, and to be able to watch him make plays against an Iowa defense, and an Iowa team in general on special teams, gave us a lot of confidence about bringing that young man in.

“But they have all been great. Some young receivers I think you’ll get a chance to see that we’re excited about, as well. This kind of, hopefully, closes the gap for a year to allow these guys to continue to grow and mature and step up.“

On the defensive side of the ball, PSU will need to replace a ton of production from top five pick Abdul Carter, and a host of defensive tackles in the middle of its defense. However, the storyline with the Penn State defense this offseason is its team speed, which is expected to be elite, and possible the fastest defense of the Franklin era.

The Nittany Lions also brought highly-regarded defensive coordinator Jim Knowles over from Ohio State.

“I think it was attractive to Jim that when he watched our tape, there are some similarities in what he believes and vice-versa,” said Franklin. “Those things help, and then once you arrive, it’s, okay, what needs to change, what can stay the same, and then I think the other thing is, hopefully this is his last time doing it but you know, he installed the defense at Duke. He installed the defense at Oklahoma State and installed the defense at Ohio State and no different at anything else.

“Every time you go through this, you get better at it as well. He’s in a really good place. Our defensive staff is in a really good place. I think we are pretty far along, but it’s still day three.”

Stay tuned into the Times News over the next few weeks for my Penn State of Mind column, which will feature an extensive depth chart breakdown, along with a schedule prediction and preview.