FC: New James Franklin article in The Athletic.

Karl_Havok

Heisman
Jul 8, 2021
5,357
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In today's college football, it's likely that 3 years is all a coach will get. That's my point exactly. With no 2026 class and a #20 2027 class, what is the trajectory of the PSU program for 2027 and 2028? The question isn't what Virginia Tech may do, it should be will PSU do better than 11-2,10-3 and 13-3? Because after those 3 seasons 3-3 got a coach fired.
The experts here insist that simply changing coaches will bring improvement. Indeed, the record will tell the tale. It isn't going to be easy to do better than 37-11 in roughly the next 50 games. Remember that future schedules will feature Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana.
People spent years demanding the firing of James Franklin. Well they got it. Now we will find out if it's as easy to win as many games as James won as a lot of people here think it is. This year is a great opportunity with a really weak schedule, but in three years we will definitely see if it's as easy to be James Franklin at Penn State as people believe.
 
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BobPSU92

Heisman
Aug 22, 2001
44,471
36,130
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People spent years demanding the firing of James Franklin. Well they got it. Now we will find out if it's as easy to win as many games as James won as a lot of people here think it is. This year is a great opportunity with a really weak schedule, but in three years we will definitely see if it's as easy to be James Franklin at Penn State as people believe.

Franklin meddled too much and was distracted with money and other nonsense. If Campbell avoids those pitfalls, with our talent and resources, the winning will take care of itself. This is Penn State, after all. 🙂
 

ApexLion

Heisman
Nov 1, 2021
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Lots of people have coached football.
Including me. Franklin has been a D1 P4 head coach for now entering 15 years. He has had no trouble finding employment that nets him more than 8 million dollars per year. Meanwhile there are thousands that claim they would do better. It's all part of the deal.
Coaches like me and your Dad had people in the stands that knew how to coach better than we did too. I gave them all the attention they deserved. :cool:
Imagine how stupid a coach has to be....all those years of playing, watching film, attending clinics, countless hours of off season conditions etc. When all you need to do is watch games on TV to have all the answers.
"I know it when I see it."

Just a quick note: my father (a former player) and I have been watching PSU football for more than 50 years, in his case 70 years. Joe and staff did some dumb things but Franklin and crew were obviously in over their heads with a 4-21 mark against Top 10 teams and a 1-15 record against Top 5 opponents.

Dumb football...routinely. The message got to Kraft.
 

Grant Green

All-American
Jan 21, 2004
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Two games that I will have an eye on this season - Pitt vs VT (Dooz vs JF) and ODU vs VT (Rahne vs JF/BP - PSU coach reunion).

I have a feeling that VT will be a bet-on team this season, with Franklin having something to prove (and he likes the front door cover).
 
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DandyDonII

All-Conference
Oct 30, 2021
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His decision making got better and his time or clock management and even Time Outs' aren't much different than any other college or pro coach I've watched.
As for his player development if you think Barkley, Sanders, Allen and Singleton were average RB's you are going to be very disappointed this season. LB'r was also better than you think.
This is very true. His ultimate issue came down the offensive systems/coordinators he chose. Running an offense that AK was running with a drop back passer was idiotic. That should have never happened.
 
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DandyDonII

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Oct 30, 2021
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I hear ya but for me its easy. My dad, a former coach, calls me and says 'Franklin's staff got outcoached and outsmarted. Did you see this play'...and then he proceeds to go point by point and discuss what should have happened and that Franklin should have the squad better prepared for this or that. I saw it too. I had the same f'in conversation with my dad more than 24 times, even sometimes after games they eked out. At some point, you realize its obvious. My dad, who actually likes Franklin, sits there and picks his strategy apart with ease. So, hey its my Dad, I get it. But not 24 times or more. It was obvious Franklin was average as a coach and his staff was average when coordinating during each game.

I really disliked running Allar; not using Tyler Warren vs. OSU near the goal line; passing in OT vs. Oregon; staying in man vs. Michigan State at home; back up qb at Iowa travesty; how the end of the Indiana game out there was handled; the use of the RBs last year when one was having a great deal of success and the other was not; preparation for UCLA out there; and, I could go on and on. Dumb football.
you bring up a point that I have also thought of, which is not using Warren on the goal line against OSU. I know the plays were conservative, but let's face it, their defensive talent was much better than our WR talent. I thought the play calls were fine, but Warren should have been involved. Granted, he was gassed from his long play to get them into that position. However, using a TO there to get him a blow would have made sense.

However, some of the "dumb football" comments were just bad results, not dumb football. Allen/Singleton have always run hot and cold. Could they have come off of Singleton faster, yes, but with his history of the program continuing to use him was normal. Prep for UCLA, how do you know the Prep was bad? The defense was certainly poor which put the offense behind the eight ball.

Franklin's worst mistake last year was probably not trying to tap down expectations, the team was certainly overrated coming into the season.
 
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Midnighter

Heisman
Jan 22, 2021
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All you have to know about Franklin and his reputation is that he was trending on social media when the USMNT got their asses stomped by Belgium because the performance parallels against top teams for PSU under Franklin and the USMNT are similar - as in awful.
 
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