The third week of the Penn State Coaches Caravan began Tuesday with a sold-out visit to Penn College, where head football coach James Franklin and colleagues met with the media, alumni and fans in the Thompson Professional Development Center and the Field House. Coaches Guy Gadowsky (men’s hockey) and Mark Pavlik (men’s volleyball) joined Franklin on main campus, as did a recent addition to the week’s program: new baseball coach Rob Cooper.  Franklin, who is headlining the bus tour for each of its 17 stops across the mid-Atlantic, met with more than 5,000 of the Nittany Nation faithful during the first two weeks of the caravan.

− Photos by Larry D. Kauffman, digital publishing specialist/photographer

Penn State football coach James Franklin and Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour get acquainted during the walk from the PDC to the Field House.

Franklin meets the press prior to a sold-out lunch across campus.

The Penn College leg of the coaches’ tour attracts a full Field House of participants, many of them clad in blue and white.

Franklin talks about his values and vision for the Penn State football program, and enlists alumni and fans as partners in an ongoing tradition.

A presidential welcome for visiting coaches

Men’s hockey coach Guy Gadowsky

Baseball coach Rob Cooper takes to the podium.

Men’s volleyball coach Mark Pavlik

Coach Franklin readily agrees to fans’ photo requests.

Roger L. Williams, executive director of the Penn State Alumni Association (co-sponsor of the “Caravan”)

Assistant Penn State Athletic Director Mark Wharton represents the Nittany Lion Club, one of the event sponsors.

A sold-out crowd enjoys lunch with Penn State coaches.