Was many people's issue with JF and being small across the lines especially the DLine.... Well that is about to change. Campbell likes to run the ball and stop the run he is bulking up to do both....
Not hard to see Campbell is bulking up in the trenches like many have wanted for years...
- Thread starter Bwifan
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That's how Harbaugh won three straight Big 10 titles and a NC at Michigan, and how UGA won two NCs in a row. I respected the overall job that Franklin did at PSU, but never liked at how PSU under his tenure was more style over substance, and that's why we never could take the last step under him.
Hopefully they retain their quickness and improve their strength with these weight gains.
I saw some recent video of Cooper Cousins from Adam Breneman's podcast - he looks like he completely reshaped his body. Not that he just upped his calories intake, noticeably more muscle mass and athletic looking.
What did ISU win?
Last month we were copying Indiana and this month it is Michigan. Are we bringing in Conner stallions too?
Copycats rarely have the same success. They miss details. They are also late to the party. Everyone else already adjusted.
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To be fair, Goodman, Cousins and Donkoh are Franklin recruits.
Having those huge DT will allow our DE/LB to do so much more. Blitzing, stepping up in to clean gaps or at least having the DL hold ground at the LOS vs getting pushed back a yard. DE should have more 1v1 or teams will need to keep TE in to help and thus have more 2 - 3 man route vs 4-5. I like our CB group, having an extra safety to help in the middle of the field vs two WR vs needing to cover a slot is a big plus
Franklin just didn't understand football. I bet if you asked him to go to Dick's Sporting Goods and get a football bat, he'd ask "what aisle"
He definitely has a plan, It's going to be an interesting year how it works out.. Watching how Grunkmeyer does will be interesting to watch also. He had great statistics going against top talent, will he put up the same numbers at VT?
Personally, I think he will and Franklin will come out of this looking like a great coach, until he gets trounced by Clemson etc. and the big game James start at VT
Personally, I think he will and Franklin will come out of this looking like a great coach, until he gets trounced by Clemson etc. and the big game James start at VT
First of all, what did you expect out of Campbell at ISU; he did a great job there and totally transformed that program? During his tenure, their stadium expanded and he also took ISU to the Big 12 Championship Game in 2024, and beat Iowa the last two seasons. He also produced several NFL players.
Second, wanting to have big and physical lines doesn't mean that he's copying; it just means that he wants at PSU what every team that aspires to a championship in that sport needs.
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Doesn't bother me those were Frankline recruits what I see is their weight has greatly increased and size. Franklin always seemed to want quickness over size. Campbell is a big believer in controlling the line of scrimmage. Running the ball and stopping the run. PSU under Frankline the dline always seemed to get gassed in the 2nd half especially when they needed a stop. The dline would get pushed all over the place. See if Campbells philosophy works any better with mass and size up front.
6.9 wins a season average vs lesser talent. Won a few big games and lost to Northern Iowa, Ohio Bobcats, Memphis, kstate, kansas, WVU(3x) and so on.
So by that logic, Nick Saban would've been a bad hire by LSU after his mediocre tenure at MSU, and I by no means am saying that Campbell is going to do at PSU what Saban did at LSU and Bama.
Campbell went 35-15 at Toledo and 72-55 at ISU. Considering that ISU is second fiddle in its own state and never has been a power, I would say that that was a pretty good tenure there. The guy is a good football coach and probably would've been on the other sideline at Michigan Stadium this upcoming season if PSU hadn't hired him first.
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That’ is how Harbaugh won a NC. Well, that and his players and staff knowing every play the opponent was going to run.
No. That is a bad comparison. We already know Saban won a National Championship. That makes him a great hire.
Campbell on the other hand is still UNKNOWN at PSU. He is not great or even a good hire just because he recruited some 330 lb DTs who have yet to play a game. Last month you had him penciled in as the next Cignetti. This month it is Harbaugh because the players put on weight. Once camp starts a lot of them lose weight. That is kind of a trend.
A good hire at Toledo does not make it a good hire at PSU. It is irrelevant.
He hadn't won a NC when he was hired at LSU.
I clearly remember Northwestern ramming the ball down our throats. I love it.
Or what about when Michigan didn't throw a single pass in the second half of the 2023 PSU game at Beaver Stadium against a PSU team that went 10-2? Controlling the lines of scrimmage is the most important aspect of football.
Being big in the trenches doesn’t necessarily mean effective. They need to be big AND be able to play. If they can’t, they are just bigger bodies getting pushed around. Time will tell.
I'm in agreement that big doesn't always translate to better but PSU former lighter DLs struggled in stopping the run and could not consistently contain blockers to free up LBers for interior tackling. Hopefully the new large bodies also increase strength and quickness. As you wrote, time will tell. The status quo could not continue.
It goes without saying that big guys also have to be talented guys. I have a sneaking suspicion that Campbell isn’t planning on bringing in a bunch of 300 pounders whom he believes can’t play Big 10 football. He knows what it takes to win Big 10 games from his games against Iowa.
Iowa should not be our measuring stick. Iowa is a mid tier B1G team. I keep hearing the Iowa reference from his time at Iowa St. Iowa was a big win for Iowa St. Iowa should not be considered a big win for PSU. I get what you are saying, but I sure hope Campbell has higher aspirations than beating Iowa. Iowa is fine example of having big strong guys in the trenches and never winning anything of significance as a program. Talent wins out eventually.
You totally missed my point, which was only that by playing Iowa, it has given him a reference point for the type of linemen, especially d-linemen, who are needed to compete in the Big 10. Campbell basically had a Big 10 style team in a conference that mostly focused on offense.
I like the move to more bulk and size but do wonder if we have given up some on speed and athleticism. Although last year with Durant and DDS manning the D Line that speed and athleticism amounted to jack.
No. I didn’t. I get it. I wasn’t directing it at you specifically. Maybe I shouldn’t have responded to your post directly. My apologies. I get what you are saying. It just irritates me that people keep saying, well, he beat Iowa when he was at ISU. That doesn’t move the needle for me at all. Beating Iowa should be the expectation at PSU.
Yep, our measuring stick can't be beating the Hawkeyes. They should be what Syracuse and Maryland were to Joe, a guaranteed win for us.
Iowa St averaged 4.1 wins a season in the 10 years prior to Campbell.
They also had 2 AP Top 15 finishes during his tenure. That may not sound like much until you consider how many times they’d done that in program history before he came on — 0.
How many skinny, woefully underweight DE's did Campbell keep from Franklin's formerly vaunted recruiting classes? Hopefully, few others than those who are willing to bulk up.
What we're all learning is that Franklin could bvllshyt some talented athletes into attending PSU, but he didn't know (or refused) to make them better players (intellectually or physically).
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Agreed .... JF became part snake oil salesman to get them to PSU. Then they lacked developing them. We watched the Dline from PSU get pushed around game after game. Time to pivot and make a change to big bodies.
Agree. We could all be making 8 million per year as football coaches......we just choose not to.