James Franklin’s Penn State on High Alert as New Intel on 4-Star Commit Confirms B1G Rival & Bill Belichick’s Aggressive Push

Football programs are always at each other’s necks, even off the field. It’s recruiting time, and colleges are battling each other to get the best talents in their rosters. The most fierce one is underway at Penn State, which has 3 schools eyeing one of its long-time commits. Those looking to lure him in are some of the biggest names in college football, too. What’s worse for James Franklin is that this commit is exploring his options.

The Nittany Lions hold the 10th spot in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports, boasting six 4-star commits. But they might be losing one of them to the No. 12-ranked Notre Dame. The two schools had a short rivalry that lasted during the 90s. Now, it seems to have refreshed as the two schools are doing their best to get Messiah Mickens, a star running back who had committed to PSU way back in 2023. A Pennsylvania native, Mickens holds the title of 6A District Champion. Along with that, he also has 155 carries, 23 touchdowns, and 62 solo tackles to his name. Despite committing to the Nittany Lions 2 years ago—their earliest commitment—it seems that he might be interested in Notre Dame, the new home of his recruiter, Ja’Juan Seider.

Seider joined the Nittany Lions in 2018 as running backs coach. During his time at PSU, he had recruited Mickens, who was happy to make a decision way back then. He has since moved up the ranks and is now an assistant coach at Notre Dame. This move had “an impact on both sides,” writes On3’s Chad Simmons. 247Sports displays Seider as Mickens’ recruiter for both PSU and Notre Dame, with the latter showing a ‘warm’ interest from the RB. “Mickens is close with Seider, the Irish are back in this and the four-star running back will visit Notre Dame unofficially and officially in the coming weeks,” Simmons noted.

Mickens will officially visit Penn State on May 30 and Notre Dame on June 20. Simmons noted that it would be difficult for the Fighting Irish to flip such an early commit from James Franklin. Mickens told On3’s Steve Wiltfong, “Super hard for me to leave, honestly. God will give me the sign if it’s right or not.” But that does not mean the head coach is not worried about it because the RB has a lot of praise for Notre Dame. He told Blue and Gold, “They’re a winning program. They have a lot of draft picks. I don’t see anybody really talking bad about Notre Dame.”  

James Franklin has more to worry about than Notre Dame breaching Happy Valley’s walls again. Because when veteran NFL coaches also make their interests known, Franklin knows he has to put up a serious fight to keep Mickens.

UNC and USC are also targeting Mickens for their rosters

The star program is none other than Bill Belichick’s UNC. The star coach stepping into the fight has just raised the stakes even higher. Mickens will visit the Tar Heels between June 20 and 22, after he’s paid a visit to Notre Dame on June 6. A huge showdown will happen between these parties because Notre Dame already has his recruiter. They only have to keep up their efforts to get Mickens to depart from Franklin’s wing.

USC is also pushing in (since 2024, actually). After Mickens dropped in for a visit to the Trojans back then, he seemed to be appreciative of the program. “I loved the conversation with Coach MacDonald and obviously Lincoln Riley. It was really nice. I love LA,” Mickens said. But there isn’t much chatter about the Trojans’ approach to recruiting him.

With 3 important schools trying to lure Mickens into their rosters, James Franklin has a serious job ahead of him. Losing him will only add to the blow delivered by Notre Dame getting Seider to change sides. With Belichick also stepping in, we know that Franklin’s fight for Messiah Mickens is far from over.

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