Someone else brought this up in another thread about the coordinators are lousy and maybe other position coaches. I think there is something to this assertion.
That is the problem. PSU cannot afford the best players.
It would be 3 or 4 years until players recruited could impact play. I don't think any coach in the NIL/RS and portal era can get that. Especially, at Penn State. With #20 type roster money, perhaps throwing 80% at difference makers in the portal and backfilling with low cost "projects" could turn the tide temporarily. You'd need to get lucky on the injury front with no depth. But regardless, only a bold strategy is going to reverse this mess quickly.
Knowing there isn't a lot of talent on the DLine, Lynn may think he gets more bang for the buck with the extra defensive back. I think it's a matter of pick your posion.
There are no RBs, Edge rushers and a lack of talent on the front D 7 (with the exception of Rojas) and to boot they are incredibly slow. The offensive line seems just ok on pass pro, but run blocking isn't very good. In addition, there is little depth for experimentation. One must wonder how long it will be till the opt outs begin. Guys like Quinton Martin, must be looking around by now.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't so I get it, but at least rush 4 and hope one accidently trips into pressure somehow. That last TD was a hard watch in terms of seeing 33 drop back, no pressure, and an easy TD for what I believe was 3rd and goal from around the 8 or 9 (could be off there). My real point is yes there is a pretty big talent issue and if PSU wins 6 this year it will be surprising. People will go on and on about firing the HC which won't happen, but PSU hasn't wanted to be elite for decades now....just good enough to keep the stadium and money rolling in.
Here's the deal. Lynn can't get any pressure with his DL. So the next logical thing is to blitz. Understand that a Blitz is a gamble. You are vacating an area betting that the Safety, corner or LB will get "home" before the QB hits the "hot" receiver. USC was excellent in pass pro, including blitz pickup. Leaving their QB plenty of opportunity to hit the open receiver. USC QB had a clean pocket and site lines and the luxury of stepping "in" to his throws. The only alternative you have when you can't pressure the QB effectively is to drop into coverage and hope your guys make a play on the ball. Lynn is no dummy. He's working with one hand tied behind his back (no edge rushers).
The big "run stuffing" DT everyone celebrated are fat and slow. They are a non-factor in a pass rush. To add insult to injury, they can't even collapse the pocket a bit.
The talent on defense is Dark Years level. And even then there were some athletic guys like Tamba Hali who wound up being high level players. There is nobody like that on the DL or front 7.
Parting ways with James wasn't the biggest mistake. The timing, the mismanagement of the roster, the recruiting class and failing to find a coach for 54 days was a bigger blunder. Sources will tell you that while Campbell was successful to a degree at ISU , many had doubts he was built for Penn State. There is a very real reason (not a phone #), he wasn't at the top of the list early on in the search.
Pat Kraft wanted a roster "cleansing." He over estimated the appeal of the Penn State brand and thought the likes of Marcus Freeman, Kalen DeBoar etc. would rush to fill the vacancy (bringing rich resources of players with them). Most big name coaches disengaged when they saw the NIL war chest. By the time reality had set in, he had squandered most of the players on the current roster and an entire recruiting class. He thought he finally had someone who could accept PSU resources in Sitake (who had a tentative list of players he felt would follow him to PSU) He blew that with a rookie mistake.
That is a very important question now: can he recruit at the level required for championship caliber teams, both through the portal and high school?
Agreed. The talk about a lack of blitzing ignores the fact that we don't have the athletes to blitz and chase. It is a slow defense and Ebel epitomizes that problem.
Singling him out is the problem tracks for the lack of a DL. Annual punching bags never get old.
Give me a break, Krafty The Clown is paying Campbell MORE than he paid Franklin. Campbell's CHOSEN roster is being paid MORE than Franklin's rosters - we're spending $30-$32 million on this roster for a significant DOWNGRADE in player quality and COMPETITIVENESS. We may well be proven to be the worst team in the b1g and not win a b1g game, but some of you laughable apologists keep telling us that this is exactly what empty-suit hack Krafty The Clown promised us when he fired Franklin nuking our entire roster and 2026 recruiting class.... then presided over a complete crap-show of a search that only made matters worse as Kraft made PSU the laughingstock of Professional CFB as candidate after candidate used Krafty The Clown to leverage massive raises, guarantees and extensions from their current employers only to turn Krafty down (i.e., they "shopped" Krafty The Clown's Offers for use as leverage - IOW, they made Kraft look like the empty-suit, bloviating clown Prince of Fools that he is and turned PSU into an embarrassing laughingstock in the process).
You apologists who supported this bs a year ago are now telling us that it is perfectly acceptable and in line with what Kraft promised???? Kraft promised downgrades across the board for way more $$$???? Really??? I'm pretty sure this is the diametric opposite of what Krafty The Clown promised when he fired Franklin setting off this utter crap-show of a circus which has caused only massive destruction and damage to PSU's franchise and tradition -- but Krafty The Clown, who is being paid multi-millions for this absurdity, shouldn't be held accountable for his actions or the direct result of his actions which are the DIAMETRIC OPPOSITE of what he publicly promised (in his ever-endearing bloviating style) when he very pompously and publicly fired Franklin.
You apologists are so laughably absurd (especially the crap about PSU Alumns shelling out huge sums going forward to support this irresponsible bs) - it's just ridiculous.
Iowa over the past few years isn’t close to the standard needed at Penn State.
Take a closer look at Lynn.Lynn seemed to do very well at ucla and usc. Why does he suck here?
Anyway, Campbell says that he has great humans.
I attended my first PSU game in 1975 and this may be the least amount of talent that I've ever seen on a PSU defense. Based on that, he actually may be doing a great job and we just don't know it. Right now, he needs to be a better recruiter than a coach because it appears as if there's very little that he can do with this group; like with most if not all positions on this team, the defense needs to be infused with much better talent ASAP.
Can you still call it a "rookie mistake", when the same guy does it repeatedly?
He can redeem himself by doing what he purportedly is supposed to be good at, and that's being successful in getting people to empty their pockets, which then can be used for NIL money. I'm at the point now with him that if he fails in this, he should be replaced, because it appears as if most of the athletic program right now is a mess both on and off the field and court.
Definitely true - and makes EVERYTHING more challenging.
)Sadly, his $$ tasks make his "success" in coaching hires look great, in comparison.
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