Georgia State and Penn State have formed a unique partnership in the pursuit of football recruiting.
Incoming Penn State James Franklin and his staff will work as guest coaches for the Trent Miles Football Camp at Georgia State on June 10.
The arrangement appears a win-win for both programs. Penn State gets to evaluate high school players who would never travel to its camps in Pennsylvania while Georgia State gets exposure to more high-profile recruits than usual.
“The way the rules are set up, you’re not allowed to have any camp outside of your state, unless you’re on the border and within a 50-mile radius. And a lot of people recruit in Atlanta,” Miles said. “But you can legally work somebody else’s camp.
“So it’s beneficial to both parties where Penn State can come down here, work our camp and get to see the kids that they’re recruiting. And it benefits us by the amount of kids that are coming.”
It’s common for colleges to permit smaller college staffs to attend their camps for evaluations. For example, Georgia State routinely grants access to schools such as LaGrange College and Clark Atlanta University.
However, it’s rare — maybe unprecedented — for colleges to invite a coach from a bigger program, even if he steals attention from the host school.
While Georgia State and Penn State are both FBS-level programs, Miles said he’s fine with the situation due to recruiting benefits.
“I don’t worry about being overshadowed by anybody. That’s just not a concern,” he said. “(Franklin’s) ego is not that way and my ego is not that way. We’re not going to recruit the same person, you know? There’s no way. The Sun Belt doesn’t recruit against Penn State. Let’s face it: I’m not competing for kids against Penn State or Georgia and Alabama. I’m just not. Nor will we ever.”
Penn State has signed one Georgia player in each of its last three recruiting classes, but the Nittany Lions have never had sustained success in the state. That could change under Franklin. Over the last three seasons at Vanderbilt, he signed 13 players from Georgia.
The camp costs $50 per player and will be held at the GSU practice complex. Miles will have nine one-day camps in June, including trips to Dalton, Columbus, Macon and Camden County.
“I want to get out around the state to see as many kids from different parts of the state as I possibly can,” Miles said. “It makes it a lot easier for kids. Rather than kids from Camden County driving all the way up here, I’d rather go down there and take it to them.
“I’d rather take our show to people. It’s a chance to save the kids some gas money and at the same time, get us out to be able to evaluate them.”
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