How so? Because I'm jot pretending Terry Smith should have replaced Franklin or been handed a spot with a new statf?
FC/OT: Is Cory Giger right?
- Thread starter Midnighter
- Start date
You still don’t fire a coach mid season and kiss away an entire recruiting class with no succession plan. An absolute total cluster no matter how some try to spin it.
What team has a succession plan? You should be conducting a search. True succession plans rarely work
We agree he screwed up the search but that committee should have exist from day 1.
He met with at least 7 coaches including 3 that accepted other jobs...arguably lesser roles for multiple reasons including requirements Kraft placed
I think you know how I know this
No the way to handle the firing was to wait until the end of the season to fire him and hope to salvage the recruiting class and move faster on the portal by promptly hiring a successor or having a succession plan in place if you fire him mid season.
Take your own advice
You're telling me Northwestern didn't have runs where they went 20 yards before being touched? A cut wasn't even required on most of them
Was Hansen's TD run unacceptable to you for some reason other than you were mad it wasn't Q?
I never pushed for Smith to be head coach. You don’t know how Campbell felt about retaining Smith. Do you think Kraft “ordered” to retain other Penn State coaches like Connor too?
ALL competent ADs have a succession plan. If you don’t, then you don’t fire a coach mid season and you conduct the search while he is still here. This ain’t rocket science.
How many times do I have to tell you I am not campaigning for Martin before it registers? Hansen had a nice TD run but BFD. There were numerous runs where the Northwestern backs burst through a small crease and broke arm tackles.
I'm not sure you fully understand what a succession plan is. Keeping him while interviewing others is your solution? You know how bad that would have been?
Saying he botched the process is fine but anyone that has just one candidate and doesn't do the due diligence shouldn't be hiring.
I didn't say those didn't exist. And behind their line and against our front 7 maybe our guys can pull that off. All I said was they had lanes a 90 year old using a walker could have gained 5 or 10.
I give up. Yeah it would have been better to let Smith go so Campbell could bring in another ISU coach who can’t coach. Unless I am mistaken Smith coaches the DBs which is the best position group on the team.
No, it would have been better to let Smith go and hire one of our candidates prior to him that wasn't willing to allow the AD to determine any part of their staff. MC agreed to accept the job with Smith--that's his choice. Kraft's stipulation had no impact on obtaining MC. it absolutely impacted our attempts at others--not Rhule who was never going to get the role.
Don’t know Lando. How much do you get paid for constantly apologizing for Campbell and players who can’t play (
Funny how a coach who won 409 games once said it’s not the Xs and Os it’s the Jimmies and Joes.
It s a talent issue along some really bad coaching...other than that lol. Kraft has completely napalmed the football program with the stadium and coaching hiring/firing. During the prime sanction years this team didn't have a losing record. Campbell is staring down a disaster in his first year. .
The thing these numbskulls can't explain is why Campbell had to pay these huge sums of $$$ to players that he knew weren't going to help us win in any way - apparently they believe Campbell had to blow the money (PSU's finite resources) because it's use it, or lose it??????????? Why would Campbell not just keep his powder dry for this year????? Had he not spent such large sums of PSU's finite resources, I think people would be more understanding. But you pay this many Free Agents market-rate $$$ for performance - don't be coming up with this week bs that we can't expect anything except PSU to be completely non-competitive and one of the worst, if not the worst teams in the Conference.
3-fold problem
Kraft completely botched the process. At worst, he had a 50-day head start to find a coach. i believe the Kraft-Franklin relationship became so personal, that Kraft made an emotional decision with the sole plan being, "we'll get someone, We Are." Franklin's fate was sealed when he went over Kraft's head looking for more money. He lost that power struggle. When the team lost to UCLA & Northwestern, Kraft was given his justification. At the time, I said it was time to drop all pretenses and hire Urban Meyer. I had convinced myself this would happen at any moment. Kraft succeeded in orchestrating contract extensions for a lot of head coaches. He justified hiring Campbell late by saying he had the wrong contact information. Seriously?
During the process conversation, I said, "I don't understand what all the fuss was with Campbell." He was hired. I softened. Still willing, but the margin of error is gone. Next problem, the X's and O's. Defensively, the decision was made to get bigger up front. Unfortunately, they got much slower. There is no push, There is no changing the line of scrimmage. No interior pass rush and no gap control. The hope was too muck up the point of attack and let the linebackers flow. Problem is they only play with 2. Gaps are not controlled or are overrun. That's a very light box. Result, 415 yards rushing given. NW had more rush yards in their first 2 drives than they had the entire game the previous week. No adjustment. Still with a double high safety in the 2nd half. No edge pressure. 2nd or 3rd long is an open playbook for opposing offenses. Offensively, the scheme is plodding. No identity. Offensive line is completely ineffective. Compare the running lanes that NW had vs. what PSU had. The 4 TE set is embarrassing. Reliance on a 2-yard out to slow TE on 3rd & 6 is mind numbing. Short QB kept in the pocket. Wonder why so many balls are batted down? When's the last time a receiver was "schemed" open? Every pass is into a tight window. Play calling is predictable.
And, finally, the Jimmys and the Joes are just not talented enough.
Kraft completely botched the process. At worst, he had a 50-day head start to find a coach. i believe the Kraft-Franklin relationship became so personal, that Kraft made an emotional decision with the sole plan being, "we'll get someone, We Are." Franklin's fate was sealed when he went over Kraft's head looking for more money. He lost that power struggle. When the team lost to UCLA & Northwestern, Kraft was given his justification. At the time, I said it was time to drop all pretenses and hire Urban Meyer. I had convinced myself this would happen at any moment. Kraft succeeded in orchestrating contract extensions for a lot of head coaches. He justified hiring Campbell late by saying he had the wrong contact information. Seriously?
During the process conversation, I said, "I don't understand what all the fuss was with Campbell." He was hired. I softened. Still willing, but the margin of error is gone. Next problem, the X's and O's. Defensively, the decision was made to get bigger up front. Unfortunately, they got much slower. There is no push, There is no changing the line of scrimmage. No interior pass rush and no gap control. The hope was too muck up the point of attack and let the linebackers flow. Problem is they only play with 2. Gaps are not controlled or are overrun. That's a very light box. Result, 415 yards rushing given. NW had more rush yards in their first 2 drives than they had the entire game the previous week. No adjustment. Still with a double high safety in the 2nd half. No edge pressure. 2nd or 3rd long is an open playbook for opposing offenses. Offensively, the scheme is plodding. No identity. Offensive line is completely ineffective. Compare the running lanes that NW had vs. what PSU had. The 4 TE set is embarrassing. Reliance on a 2-yard out to slow TE on 3rd & 6 is mind numbing. Short QB kept in the pocket. Wonder why so many balls are batted down? When's the last time a receiver was "schemed" open? Every pass is into a tight window. Play calling is predictable.
And, finally, the Jimmys and the Joes are just not talented enough.
right? And Northwestern made them work hard to earn that win. Losing doesn't always mean you're bad--just like winning doesn't make you great. What was your point here? Indiana > Penn State--obviously.
hmmm I thought the D3 kid was playing!People calling for Manske are just going to get Rocco II imo. Let the D3 kid have a chance.
In as much as I agree, firing a coach mid-season is not rare. Here's a notable list from last year.
Mid-Season and Notable 2025 Firings
| Coach | School | Timing / Status |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Pry | Virginia Tech | Fired 3 weeks into the season (0-3 start) |
| DeShaun Foster | UCLA | Fired 3 weeks into the season |
| James Franklin | Penn State | Fired following Week 7 (3-3 record) |
| Billy Napier | Florida | Fired after Week 8 |
| Brian Kelly | LSU | Fired after Week 9 |
| Jay Norvell | Colorado State | Fired 7 games into the season (2-5 start) |
Not sure how all the other teams are doing. What we can say for sure is that "experts" had PSU well within the top 20, and that proved to be a mistake.
Reminds me of paying Liam Clifford and keeping Howard on the bench....
There's a reason Giger squats on a lonely commode in Altoona.
The way to fire BGJ was 2 years before they did.
What head coach candidate bailed because he would have to retain Terry Smith? I never heard anything like that.
3 did...all 3 are first year coaches at other schools right now.
Ignore it being Smith for a second...how many established coaches are going to accept a role where the AD is dictating who they hire/retain?
Giger has been, and it seems always will be, a PSU hater. I couldn’t care less what he thinks. It feel like he uses that contrarian approach to try to differentiate himself from other beat writers. Pfft.
Can't verify. But most HC want to make the decisions on who they bring in and who they keep from the previous staff.
Disagree. Cignetti came in at Indiana and went to playoffs both years and won the championship in year 2. Teams are showing you can turn around in Year 1 with the right transfers. You can't tell me Indiana was that close and he out them over the top.
Sometimes things just fall into place well
They had a schedule that was fairly weak (avoided Oregon and us) and got slaughtered by Ohio State. A 7-5 Michigan was their best win.
Rourke did what we hoped Rocco would do but it didn't work out for us. I still maintain with Howard we're 4-1 right now with a chance in every game moving forward. Northwestern is probably the best team we'll play this year--maybe USC.
Then they got Mendoza--so if we can go find a top 5 NFL pick to play QB next year for us that would obviously help
Cignetti > Campbell though--Cignetti's earned that--so that helps. Cignetti was also hired timely and wasn't restricted by his AD
Giger is a buffoon that fact aside anybody can now make proper assessments of the PS program.
You have no idea what Rocco is being paid--all we know is Roberson wasn't being paid (legally anyway)
You can't ignore Rocco's entire career because of 2 games--it's illogical
No other fan base does this where they pretend the transfers they get have never played before
Are you Pat Kraft? Matt Seneca is very similar to Rocco
Are you doubling down on ignoring the prior 4 years of his career?
To help you, Rocco has over 10k passing--Seneca had less than 1k--try again dude
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