James Franklin will leave family in Florida while he coaches Penn State
Penn State coach James Franklin made his most difficult decision of the season when he decided to leave his family in Florida while he coaches the team. He’ll coach the Nittany Lions apart from his family to protect his youngest daughter, Addison, from the coronavirus.
Franklin revealed the news on HBO’s “Real Sports,” which aired Tuesday.
Addison, 12, has sickle cell disease, a blood disorder that increases her risk by compromising the immune system.
Franklin said leaving the family in Florida, where they have a second home, was “the right thing to do for my daughter.”
Franklin, his wife, Fumi, and daughters, Shola and Addison, have been quarantined since March.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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