Penn State doesn't have a football GM. Should it?

The sport sprints toward professionalism. The Nittany Lions trail the pack, but they're not alone.

For nearly a year now, Penn State has been publicly on board with hiring a general manager for the football program.

“I’m 100% supportive, let me say that,” Kraft said in the spring. “We have people in the building that are doing that job right now.

“A lot of these general managers that you’re seeing hired have full roster discretion, … meaning they’re choosing the players, much like the pros. I don’t agree with that. I do not think that’s right. They’re coming here because they’re going to play for the coaches and James Franklin’s football program.”

Kraft was asked about it because Franklin had brought it up last September.

“What we’re looking a little bit for in this next generation of college football, with revenue sharing and those things coming, is trying to get a specific contract, money guy, accountant,” Franklin said.

“Someone who maybe has a background working in the NFL as maybe a No. 2 or No. 3 in the NFL to the general manager that maybe has a Penn State connection or a Pennsylvania connection that would love to be working in this role.”

Penn State had tended to trail the cutting edge of the big changes that have hit the sport of late. This looks like another example of that - there’s no indication that Kraft/Franklin are close to hiring anybody, and the quotes above suggest when they do, he’ll be more about money management than football management.

In February, Notre Dame hired Mike Martin, a former Detroit Lions’ scout, to be its GM. Since then, ND has secured verbal commitments from 18 of the 25 members of its 2026 recruiting class, including the top seven highest-rated prospects in the class, including a couple guys that Penn State has been heavily involved with.

Martin seems like more than a salary-cap cruncher.