Is Kraft quite possibly the worst AD in Major CFB history?

JoePaMajorCFBrecord409Ws

All-Conference
Jun 26, 2025
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He has managed to just decimate one of the most valuable franchises in Professional College Football. He fired a coach that took us to like 7 CFP Sponsored post-season games in his 12 years despite inheriting a team that only had 53 scholarship players his first year - for this downgrade of a team that is being paid every bit as much as Franklin's teams (both coaches and players), but looks like they could be the worst team in the Conference. Just absolutely horrid and uncompetitive against a mid-tier Conference team last night. Not even remotely competitive - got blown out by an unranked, middle-of-the-pack Conference team..... just taken to the woodshed. Unreal how bad Krafty The Clown's decision making is - an utter empty-suit who deserved to be fired long before Franklin given the negative return and impact of his management and they're paying him a couple mil a year for this bs??? Utterly irresponsible - where is the BOT and President? This is ridiculous.
 

Psumatt85

Senior
Jan 5, 2002
631
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He has managed to just decimate one of the most valuable franchises in Professional College Football. He fired a coach that took us to like 7 CFP Sponsored post-season games in his 12 years despite inheriting a team that only had 53 scholarship players his first year - for this downgrade of a team that is being paid every bit as much as Franklin's teams (both coaches and players), but looks like they could be the worst team in the Conference. Just absolutely horrid and uncompetitive against a mid-tier Conference team last night. Not even remotely competitive - got blown out by an unranked, middle-of-the-pack Conference team..... just taken to the woodshed. Unreal how bad Krafty The Clown's decision making is - an utter empty-suit who deserved to be fired long before Franklin given the negative return and impact of his management and they're paying him a couple mil a year for this bs??? Utterly irresponsible - where is the BOT and President? This is ridiculous.
But at least he thinks he’s great!!?!😁😢😂
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
2,055
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I remember last year there were a couple posters here that were unhappy I referred to Kraft as Krafty. He butchered the search to the point we were a national laughing stock. He also allowed Franklin‘s leftover staffers to wreck the rest of the 2026 recruiting class.

In all honesty, not that it matters to anyone on planet earth, but Campbell was really high on my own personal list as well. I am utterly shocked with what we are seeing on the field. I’m shocked that CMC has not pulled Rocco. Mouser called an OK game, but Rocco couldn’t hit the WRs that legitimately were getting open all night. The only criticism I have of Mouser last night is not rolling becht out of the pocket. I’ve never seen so many tipped balls, even with trace who is possibly shorter than Becht. I’m shocked that Campbell allowed Lynn to run that base defense last night that did not work from the first snap to the last snap of the game. It’s obvious the strength of the team is the secondary. They should’ve loaded the box and went man on the receivers.

Looking back on the search, Chesney would been a better pick. I think Manny Diaz would’ve also been a better choice. At least he had the experience of coaching, big boy football. Hell, even Daboll, who was an actual candidate if you can believe that and had Nick Saban publicly rooting for him, would have had more sense than we saw last night. In the end, this team is a combination of an 8-4 Big 12 team and a three conference win Big 10 team. It is not a good team.
 

KingLando

All-Conference
Nov 29, 2021
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I remember last year there were a couple posters here that were unhappy I referred to Kraft as Krafty. He butchered the search to the point we were a national laughing stock. He also allowed Franklin‘s leftover staffers to wreck the rest of the 2026 recruiting class.

In all honesty, not that it matters to anyone on planet earth, but Campbell was really high on my own personal list as well. I am utterly shocked with what we are seeing on the field. I’m shocked that CMC has not pulled Rocco. Mouser called an OK game, but Rocco couldn’t hit the WRs that legitimately were getting open all night. The only criticism I have of Mouser last night is not rolling becht out of the pocket. I’ve never seen so many tipped balls, even with trace who is possibly shorter than Becht. I’m shocked that Campbell allowed Lynn to run that base defense last night that did not work from the first snap to the last snap of the game. It’s obvious the strength of the team is the secondary. They should’ve loaded the box and went man on the receivers.

Looking back on the search, Chesney would been a better pick. I think Manny Diaz would’ve also been a better choice. At least he had the experience of coaching, big boy football. Hell, even Daboll, who was an actual candidate if you can believe that and had Nick Saban publicly rooting for him, would have had more sense than we saw last night. In the end, this team is a combination of an 8-4 Big 12 team and a three conference win Big 10 team. It is not a good team.
All fair--and MC has 2 years to build a team for 2028.
This team wasn't going to be great this year no matter who we hired or if we kept James. The schedule may have allowed us to look better than we were but 2026 was always going to be an issue.
I still fully believe if Howard is healthy we beat Wisconsin--not Northwestern. Northwester has a realistic shot at 9-3 despite their schedule
 

rigi19041

Sophomore
Apr 1, 2026
396
177
43
He has managed to just decimate one of the most valuable franchises in Professional College Football. He fired a coach that took us to like 7 CFP Sponsored post-season games in his 12 years despite inheriting a team that only had 53 scholarship players his first year - for this downgrade of a team that is being paid every bit as much as Franklin's teams (both coaches and players), but looks like they could be the worst team in the Conference. Just absolutely horrid and uncompetitive against a mid-tier Conference team last night. Not even remotely competitive - got blown out by an unranked, middle-of-the-pack Conference team..... just taken to the woodshed. Unreal how bad Krafty The Clown's decision making is - an utter empty-suit who deserved to be fired long before Franklin given the negative return and impact of his management and they're paying him a couple mil a year for this bs??? Utterly irresponsible - where is the BOT and President? This is ridiculous.


Why? Were fans who wanted to get rid of sandy wrong or were the fans who wanted to fire Franklin wrong?
 
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psu0408

All-Conference
Oct 28, 2004
463
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PSU is going to have to bring in another 20-40 portal guys next year, and will have to pay up to keep guys like Howard, Zayas, Dixson, etc. With no championship aspirations on the horizon, they'll have to pay above market to get better players to come. Kraft promised elite-level resources, and we're about middle of the pack in the Big Ten on par with Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Kraft survived the coaching search debacle and the leaked audio tape. Right now, his only value to the program is what he can bring in monetarily. I don't know what Kraft's relationships are like with higher-level donors, but PSU will likely need $40M+ to keep up with "inflation" and pursue higher-level transfer targets. If Kraft doesn't have that type of commitment for next year, it's time to get rid of him and bring in an assistant AD from a major program to take over.
 

Marshall2323

All-American
Aug 7, 2024
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As I have been publicly stoned for.....I'm a big James Franklin fan. He did a very good job at PSU. He brought us out of the sanctions and pushed and shoved against the suits to spend on many aspects of the program that needed care and modernization. But I belive his tenure had run its course. Should he have been fired by an AD motivated by his own issues mid season? I'll let others judge. Should he and his family have been subjected to harassment? No, that's a black eye on this fanbase that isn't going away soon. Especially with a White Out coming and the potential for more embarrassing behavior by this loyal fanbase,
The BWICAC dug its own grave. The nonsense they propagated all off season about Campbell's brilliance had no justification in fact and the claims that 24 ISU players would bring Indiana like results was incredibly biased.
,
If you want to gamble on a complete rebuild, Campbell is as good a coach as you will get for that. One thing is certain, Kraft must be fired before Saturday.
 

SRURock24

Senior
Jul 25, 2017
567
844
93
As I have been publicly stoned for.....I'm a big James Franklin fan. He did a very good job at PSU. He brought us out of the sanctions and pushed and shoved against the suits to spend on many aspects of the program that needed care and modernization. But I belive his tenure had run its course. Should he have been fired by an AD motivated by his own issues mid season? I'll let others judge. Should he and his family have been subjected to harassment? No, that's a black eye on this fanbase that isn't going away soon. Especially with a White Out coming and the potential for more embarrassing behavior by this loyal fanbase,
The BWICAC dug its own grave. The nonsense they propagated all off season about Campbell's brilliance had no justification in fact and the claims that 24 ISU players would bring Indiana like results was incredibly biased.
,
If you want to gamble on a complete rebuild, Campbell is as good a coach as you will get for that. One thing is certain, Kraft must be fired before Saturday.
Letting the search drag out past the first signing period and portal is total incompetence. Further the guy that got rid of Franklin didn’t have the balls or football instincts to take a chance on a guy like Chesney who seems to be testing it up at UCLA. I like Matt Campbell but he is in a tough spot right now.
 

Anon231980

Senior
Dec 9, 2025
227
533
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with no plan to upgrade? yes and yes
If Pat Kraft thinks times are bad now, he has no idea. This is going to need a long term fix and unless you have Indiana type money (Mark Cuban), good luck.
He isn't going to make the end of next football season because the pressure on PSU admin to make a change will be too great. Empty seats and donor pressure will win out at the end of the day. He overplayed his hand. PSU writer Ben Jones said it best, "there is a reason they are Iowa State players." When PSU WAS PSU, Carson Hansen would have been the MVP of the Blue White game and ended up the 4th string running back behind 3 studs
 
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Marshall2323

All-American
Aug 7, 2024
5,149
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Letting the search drag out past the first signing period and portal is total incompetence. Further the guy that got rid of Franklin didn’t have the balls or football instincts to take a chance on a guy like Chesney who seems to be testing it up at UCLA. I like Matt Campbell but he is in a tough spot right now.
Remember he wanted Sitake??????????LOL Great fit!
 

olelion

Senior
Jun 10, 2001
2,743
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All fair--and MC has 2 years to build a team for 2028.
This team wasn't going to be great this year no matter who we hired or if we kept James. The schedule may have allowed us to look better than we were but 2026 was always going to be an issue.
I still fully believe if Howard is healthy we beat Wisconsin--not Northwestern. Northwester has a realistic shot at 9-3 despite their schedule
Not going to be great? I had this team at 7 or 8 wins and got roasted. I was over optimistic. I'm ignoring this year but I do expect recruiting and selective transfers to significantly improve this team. Speaking of transfers, enjoy Howard while you can. He's gone
 
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Marshall2323

All-American
Aug 7, 2024
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Not going to be great? I had this team at 7 or 8 wins and got roasted. I was over optimistic. I'm ignoring this year but I do expect recruiting and selective transfers to significantly improve this team. Speaking of transfers, enjoy Howard while you can. He's gone
Why would recruiting improve? As for the portal, the cream goes to the highest bidder. NIL was already outside the top 20. You are correct in that anyone on the roster that is good might be gone.
 
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KingLando

All-Conference
Nov 29, 2021
7,799
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Not going to be great? I had this team at 7 or 8 wins and got roasted. I was over optimistic. I'm ignoring this year but I do expect recruiting and selective transfers to significantly improve this team. Speaking of transfers, enjoy Howard while you can. He's gone
7 or 8 maybe not be optimistic yet--7 is still very realistic
I do agree about recruiting--I think Howard stays and is paid well. His call though--won't blame him if he goes
 

Chumboshifko1

All-Conference
Oct 15, 2025
3,086
3,360
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As I have been publicly stoned for.....I'm a big James Franklin fan. He did a very good job at PSU. He brought us out of the sanctions and pushed and shoved against the suits to spend on many aspects of the program that needed care and modernization. But I belive his tenure had run its course. Should he have been fired by an AD motivated by his own issues mid season? I'll let others judge. Should he and his family have been subjected to harassment? No, that's a black eye on this fanbase that isn't going away soon. Especially with a White Out coming and the potential for more embarrassing behavior by this loyal fanbase,
The BWICAC dug its own grave. The nonsense they propagated all off season about Campbell's brilliance had no justification in fact and the claims that 24 ISU players would bring Indiana like results was incredibly biased.
,
If you want to gamble on a complete rebuild, Campbell is as good a coach as you will get for that. One thing is certain, Kraft must be fired before Saturday.

Go to the VT board with your man love of BGJ.
 

Steelers1

Junior
Sep 29, 2025
135
279
63
You don't keep a coach over fear of what happens next.
You most certainly do when that coach had consistently won 9-10 games per year. And just had you in the final four. You can say that if your team has played sub .500 ball for a couple of years. The problem with firing JF was that there was no upgrade out there. There are about 4 coaches who are clearly better than JF and there was NO chance they were coming here.
 
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KingLando

All-Conference
Nov 29, 2021
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You most certainly do when that coach had consistently won 9-10 games per year. And just had you in the final four. You can say that if your team has played sub .500 ball for a couple of years. The problem with firing JF was that there was no upgrade out there. There are about 4 coaches who are clearly better than JF and there was NO chance they were coming here.
So Georgia should have kept Richt?
You believe there's only 4 coaches better than Franklin--name them.
That's one of the most insane things I've heard--notice no major program hired him, right?
 

JVP_Yahweh

Senior
Nov 29, 2004
5,302
946
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He has managed to just decimate one of the most valuable franchises in Professional College Football. He fired a coach that took us to like 7 CFP Sponsored post-season games in his 12 years despite inheriting a team that only had 53 scholarship players his first year - for this downgrade of a team that is being paid every bit as much as Franklin's teams (both coaches and players), but looks like they could be the worst team in the Conference. Just absolutely horrid and uncompetitive against a mid-tier Conference team last night. Not even remotely competitive - got blown out by an unranked, middle-of-the-pack Conference team..... just taken to the woodshed. Unreal how bad Krafty The Clown's decision making is - an utter empty-suit who deserved to be fired long before Franklin given the negative return and impact of his management and they're paying him a couple mil a year for this bs??? Utterly irresponsible - where is the BOT and President? This is ridiculous.
As long as Cael keeps dominating, Pat is safe
 

ulrey

Heisman
Feb 8, 2008
25,683
37,072
61
If Pat Kraft thinks times are bad now, he has no idea. This is going to need a long term fix and unless you have Indiana type money (Mark Cuban), good luck.
He isn't going to make the end of next football season because the pressure on PSU admin to make a change will be too great. Empty seats and donor pressure will win out at the end of the day. He overplayed his hand. PSU writer Ben Jones said it best, "there is a reason they are Iowa State players." When PSU WAS PSU, Carson Hansen would have been the MVP of the Blue White game and ended up the 4th string running back behind 3 studs
Indiana won with JMU players. It’s not about money.
 
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JoePaMajorCFBrecord409Ws

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Jun 26, 2025
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Indiana won with JMU players. It’s not about money.

It's about talent evaluation using a finite resource - your budget. This is where people are off the charts about this situation - for the same annual budget (including coaching salaries Franklin put a LIGHTYEARS better team and product on the field. This team is being paid more than Franklin's team and they are quite possibly the worst team in the Conference. Franklin took us to CFP Sponsored post-season games 7 of his 12 seasons! How Kraft has not been fired yet is amazing in an irresponsible way.
 
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KingLando

All-Conference
Nov 29, 2021
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It's about talent evaluation using a finite resource - your budget. This is where people are off the charts about this situation - for the same annual budget (including coaching salaries Franklin put a LIGHTYEARS better team and product on the field. This team is being paid more than Franklin's team and they are quite possibly the worst team in the Conference. Franklin took us to CFP Sponsored post-season games 7 of his 12 seasons! How Kraft has not been fired yet is amazing in an irresponsible way.
Lol when there's a playoff falling short is a failure. CFP sponsored games might be the biggest reach I've seen yet to defend James
 

WVilleLion

All-Conference
Oct 13, 2021
781
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Yes, Kraft is terrible. Campbell still should be given several years though, 3 years IMO. Cheney was my want to get. Time will tell if he is Cignetti 2.0 (not winning NC in first year, but turning around UCLA into a great team). I hear people say what Cignetti did is going to be new standard. I still think that was an amazing abnormality though, not a realistic new standard to judge off of.
 
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