2027 Recruiting Thread

Bison13

All-American
May 26, 2013
3,422
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I actually think they were squarely in the mix for Spell. You don’t visit a place that many times unless you are interested. The coaching change may have changed the course with him, but he certainly gave PSU every opportunity to seal the deal. I’m guessing NIL was a major factor too.
Yes but i think he was the only RB on that list that they actually wanted. Same with Taylor and the WR
 
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psuslu

Sophomore
Dec 29, 2012
44
107
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This is false. I see no evidence of Franklin bots. I see anti-Franklin bots (who've been around for years) and I see whatever-PSU-has-right-now-bots, but I don't see anyone deifying Franklin. I see burgeoning Campbell-bots, and he hasn't even done anything yet. I see people who ignore reality and facts, and then claim reliance on rankings to justify and promote a recruiting eventuality. Then I see those same people turn around and denounce other rankings, and defer to the coaching staff, when it makes that recruit look better.

"What, am I supposed to go against rankings?!? Pshaw!"
"Well, look at these rankings, which say the opposite of what you claim"
"Obviously, these folks know more than the rankings ... listen to them!"
And then, when "those folks" generally don't support a contention (via offers, or lack thereof), these folks say to ignore even that, and only trust in one particular person.

Can't we just be reasonable?
Of course there are Franklin-bots and I don't think it fair to paint most with a broad brush. Most posters gave Franklin his praise for what he had accomplished at PSU. I think most believe if JF was not so stubborn and "thinking he was always right" we may have played in and maybe even won a championship. I think that is where the vitriol lies for JF. As to recruiting, I said it in an earlier post JF was a good recruiter but not great or elite. I don't trust any ranking service. An ex-mailman heads up Espn rankings and no offense to anyone on this site or others, but what is their background to suggest they can evaluate football talent. I respect the work that Greg, Ryan put into evaluating players more then most but understand that it is only their opinion. I believe offers as the final arbiter most but when coaches show the ability that Campbell has to take players with "so called" lessor talent and make them better I begin to trust that coach's eval abilities. By the way I think JF had that ability with lower rated players as well he just had a hard time translating that to 4/5 stars.
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
1,526
3,153
112
I actually think they were squarely in the mix for Spell. You don’t visit a place that many times unless you are interested. The coaching change may have changed the course with him, but he certainly gave PSU every opportunity to seal the deal. I’m guessing NIL was a major factor too.
We took a big L with a Spell. We gave him market rate as one of the top recruits in the country, Kraft found addt’l NIL money for Spell specifically. And we still lost the bidding as Georgia went ridiculously high to beat us. Day 1 starter in college and projects into NFL 1st round pick. I normally don’t agree with your doom and gloom, but that was an unfortunate loss. We have ac actual market rate offer for Sesay as well. Hopefully that’s enough.
 
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LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
10,209
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We took a big L with a Spell. We gave him market rate as one of the top recruits in the country, Kraft found addt’l NIL money for Spell specifically. And we still lost the bidding as Georgia went ridiculously high to beat us. Day 1 starter in college and projects into NFL 1st round pick. I normally don’t agree with your doom and gloom, but that was an unfortunate loss. We have ac actual market rate offer for Sesay as well. Hopefully that’s enough.
I don’t normally agree with your endless cheerleading, but thanks for the response.
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
1,526
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I don’t normally agree with your endless cheerleading, but thanks for the response.
I have not been this optimistic about PSU football since 2017 season, and then the collapse vs OSU happened that year, with the crazy loss to msu to then immediately follow. That bad loss to OSU helped define the rest of Franklin’s tenure, with the ND loss cementing it.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
10,209
14,902
113
I have not been this optimistic about PSU football since 2017 season, and then the collapse vs OSU happened that year, with the crazy loss to msu to then immediately follow. That bad loss to OSU helped define the rest of Franklin’s tenure, with the ND loss cementing it.
I want a team that not only competes in this conference, but wins it…routinely. I don’t currently look at the recruiting class and think they will accomplish that. You can’t deny that very few currently committed recruits have offers from OSU, Michigan, ND, Oregon, USC, Bama, etc. They don’t possess those offers, pretty much across the board. That’s disappointing. They also don’t seem to be able to get any of the top recruits from the traditional PSU recruiting foot print of PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA, or D.C. I also don’t understand the sentiment that they are getting kids to play “Iowa style”? Iowa football hasn’t won jack sh^t. Ever. They hang banners for making bowl games, even if they lose. That isn’t the goal here. If you recruit Iowa level players, then you can expect Iowa level results, which is 7-9 wins per year max. You can say our recruits are underestimated all you want, but their offer lists tell another story…or Campbell is a recruiting genius and far better than evaluating talent than any other coach out there. I hope you are right. As I said before, is sure feels like PSU took a big step forward in coaching and a big step backwards in recruiting.
 
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LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
1,526
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Here’s an x post with a screenshot of the national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn posting that Wood has been our guy over Bourque.
 
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rigi19041

Freshman
Apr 1, 2026
126
51
28
I always wondered if Franklin put too much emphasis on "measurables" (ie "length", 40 yard dash times, ect), and not enough on whether a recruit was actually a good football player. Best example, i remember a lineman back in the early franklin years (Sterling Jenkins?) who was a huge, fast 5 star but for some reason was not even all-conference in high school. Never saw the field at Penn State.
Weak point.

When any school recruits 25+ players and has a roster with 125 players there are players at EVERY school that dont see the field.

Ironic that many fans want to get bigger.

How about you name a few smaller, slower lower ranked players we should go after.
 

PSUForever

All-Conference
Feb 17, 2007
1,460
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Great to have it official with Will Wood. I trust the staff. They prioritized Wood and got their guy. I really like his size at 6'2" 220 AND the fact that he is mobile with a strong arm. This commit should open the door for others to commit. Would love to get Taylor on board.
 

Corner Room Breakfast

All-Conference
Oct 27, 2021
1,610
2,276
113
Why are we fighting with each other? Shouldn’t we be fighting with the a$$ clowns on eleven worriers or the um dickheads?
Several posters in this thread are down on everything, every recruit , or target recruit. They are down on the present coaching
staff and swear the old staff was gettin' er' done. Not worth arguing with .
 

psu0408

All-Conference
Oct 28, 2004
429
1,156
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If we only hadn't started the stadium renovation project, had more NIL buy-in sooner, had more alignment, a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator, a new AD, and paid him more money after the ND loss, James Franklin would have won a national championship at PSU. Did I miss any other excuses?
 
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bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
4,382
4,334
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You don't know how things will play out. You already are assuming we will lose 4 -5 games each of the next two seasons. A lot of unknowns. None of us know Campbell and what he really can do.

As for firing BGJ, needed to happen when it did. Criticize that the search took too long, that is your perogative and complain that we lost some high end recruits that also is your perogative. I think no matter how seamlessly the firing and subsequent search went we were going to lose recruits.

I am very pleased we got Campbell. We did well to get him. Elko, Cignetti, DeBoer were never coming. We are doing pretty well in recruiting eastern guys. We should land Will Wood today who is from Mass. I think the RB we just got is from NJ. It is early days, excited for a new and refreshed day with PSU football.
I never said we would lose 4-5 games each of the next few years. I predicted 9-3 this year because of the Iowa State guys we brought over at QB, TE, WR, LB, etc. I even gave us an outside chance of 10-2. I think the bigger problem will be 2027 & 2028 because most of the Iowa State transfers are one and done. I know things can change fast with the portal but if I had to make a way too early prediction it would be 9-3 this year followed by a couple of 8-4 seasons. Yes, I think it will take a few years to get back to the top 10 unless things come together this year.
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
1,526
3,153
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Several posters in this thread are down on everything, every recruit , or target recruit. They are down on the present coaching
staff and swear the old staff was gettin' er' done. Not worth arguing with .
Exactly. I’m going to disengage as well because it’s not worth the effort as it is clearly mental health with some of them. We are way ahead of schedule and doing great.
 

rigi19041

Freshman
Apr 1, 2026
126
51
28
I never said we would lose 4-5 games each of the next few years. I predicted 9-3 this year because of the Iowa State guys we brought over at QB, TE, WR, LB, etc. I even gave us an outside chance of 10-2. I think the bigger problem will be 2027 & 2028 because most of the Iowa State transfers are one and done. I know things can change fast with the portal but if I had to make a way too early prediction it would be 9-3 this year followed by a couple of 8-4 seasons. Yes, I think it will take a few years to get back to the top 10 unless things come together this year.
Psu only plays one team.ranked ahead and that team is only one spot ahead. You have psu winning 0 games to higher ranked teams and losing two to lesser teams
 

Patterson825

Junior
Jan 28, 2016
133
237
43
Exactly. I’m going to disengage as well because it’s not worth the effort as it is clearly mental health with some of them. We are way ahead of schedule and doing great.

You should disagree because you’re an absolute moron. They’re only ranked 5th because of the total number of kids who have committed. You should be looking at average rating instead—once the other schools finish filling their classes, they will pass Penn State easily.
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
1,526
3,153
112
You should disagree because you’re an absolute moron. They’re only ranked 5th because of the total number of kids who have committed. You should be looking at average rating instead—once the other schools finish filling their classes, they will pass Penn State easily.
Perhaps you should consider that we are aiming toward a much larger class of 30 to 35 recruits because of the coaching search debacle, 70 departures, and a missed recruiting class. Obviously not all those recruits can be super highly rated at that volume, as such a slightly lower average. On ignore you go.
 

Moogy

All-Conference
Jul 28, 2017
5,459
3,833
113
Of course there are Franklin-bots and I don't think it fair to paint most with a broad brush. Most posters gave Franklin his praise for what he had accomplished at PSU. I think most believe if JF was not so stubborn and "thinking he was always right" we may have played in and maybe even won a championship. I think that is where the vitriol lies for JF. As to recruiting, I said it in an earlier post JF was a good recruiter but not great or elite. I don't trust any ranking service. An ex-mailman heads up Espn rankings and no offense to anyone on this site or others, but what is their background to suggest they can evaluate football talent. I respect the work that Greg, Ryan put into evaluating players more then most but understand that it is only their opinion. I believe offers as the final arbiter most but when coaches show the ability that Campbell has to take players with "so called" lessor talent and make them better I begin to trust that coach's eval abilities. By the way I think JF had that ability with lower rated players as well he just had a hard time translating that to 4/5 stars.

Spell out for me the characteristics of a Franklin-bot. Specifically, what things make someone a Franklin-bot.

I can do that for a Joe-bot ... it's easy. Refuses to accept any/most criticism of the Paterno era. Deifies him, to the point where it's more important to say something good about him, than it is to do positive things for the program, currently. Focuses on statues and other reverences of Paterno, rather than present day considerations. Considers it heresy to even mention that anything other than Joe Paterno's complete innocence and lack of any wrongdoing in the Sandusky debacle is acceptable. Will look at any PSU football issue, past or present, with the thought of "how does this reflect on Paterno's legacy?" or "how did Paterno do it better?" first, and then only proceed to consider what's happening now. Is angry at O'Brien and/or Franklin because they didn't say/do the right things (in their opinion) regarding JoePa. Was excited and suddenly considered him a possible HC candidate, when Terry Smith wore a JoePa pin.

What's the definition of a Franklin-bot? Didn't hate him while we were playing in the Natty semifinal, one play away from playing for the Championship? Isn't looking for every reason to put him down, now that he's been fired? Is fine with him not being here, and also isn't sure everything is going to be super awesome going forward? Again, I haven't seen a single person who could be labeled as a Franklin-bot. There are people who object to the anti-Franklin-bots continual onslaught of negativity toward him (including being very unreasonable and looking for things to complain about) ... but that's it.

And now those anti-Franklin-bots appear to feel the need to unnecessarily paint everything that's happening since he was fired in a completely unreasonable positive light.

Now you try.
 

Moogy

All-Conference
Jul 28, 2017
5,459
3,833
113
Great to have it official with Will Wood. I trust the staff. They prioritized Wood and got their guy. I really like his size at 6'2" 220 AND the fact that he is mobile with a strong arm. This commit should open the door for others to commit. Would love to get Taylor on board.

No doubt. Everyone's clamoring to play with a guy who passed up the opportunity to play for BC to come here. They lost their guy, and settled for Wood. Here's hoping he surprises.

But don't worry ... I'm sure someone will be by shortly to tell me how teams of top level D1 recruits are lesser competition than teams with filled mostly with regional D3 talent and kids who won't play in college.
 

psuslu

Sophomore
Dec 29, 2012
44
107
33
Spell out for me the characteristics of a Franklin-bot. Specifically, what things make someone a Franklin-bot.

I can do that for a Joe-bot ... it's easy. Refuses to accept any/most criticism of the Paterno era. Deifies him, to the point where it's more important to say something good about him, than it is to do positive things for the program, currently. Focuses on statues and other reverences of Paterno, rather than present day considerations. Considers it heresy to even mention that anything other than Joe Paterno's complete innocence and lack of any wrongdoing in the Sandusky debacle is acceptable. Will look at any PSU football issue, past or present, with the thought of "how does this reflect on Paterno's legacy?" or "how did Paterno do it better?" first, and then only proceed to consider what's happening now. Is angry at O'Brien and/or Franklin because they didn't say/do the right things (in their opinion) regarding JoePa. Was excited and suddenly considered him a possible HC candidate, when Terry Smith wore a JoePa pin.

What's the definition of a Franklin-bot? Didn't hate him while we were playing in the Natty semifinal, one play away from playing for the Championship? Isn't looking for every reason to put him down, now that he's been fired? Is fine with him not being here, and also isn't sure everything is going to be super awesome going forward? Again, I haven't seen a single person who could be labeled as a Franklin-bot. There are people who object to the anti-Franklin-bots continual onslaught of negativity toward him (including being very unreasonable and looking for things to complain about) ... but that's it.

And now those anti-Franklin-bots appear to feel the need to unnecessarily paint everything that's happening since he was fired in a completely unreasonable positive light.

Now you try.
No need you just said it for me. Thanks
 

searay26

Sophomore
Feb 13, 2016
48
114
33
I checked JF's average class ranking on ON3 for his 12 years at PSU. I got an average of 14.3. With highs of 5, 7, and 10, and lows of 18, 22, and 23. So if this the typical class at PSU, why do people expect a national championship? Or B10 championships? For comparison, Campbell is currently ranked 15 for 2027. (Campbell averaged 51 for his time at Iowa State) It has to be coaching that gets PSU over the hump.
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
1,526
3,153
112
Just an interesting little tidbit that Bourque and Wood have gone through the same qb training academy in Massachusetts. Vargas, a 2028 5 star who Wood beat in the 2025 hs champ game, is in the same academy.

 
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rigi19041

Freshman
Apr 1, 2026
126
51
28
You should disagree because you’re an absolute moron. They’re only ranked 5th because of the total number of kids who have committed. You should be looking at average rating instead—once the other schools finish filling their classes, they will pass Penn State easily.

False. The rankings are the rankings.
 

PSUForever

All-Conference
Feb 17, 2007
1,460
1,489
113
I never said we would lose 4-5 games each of the next few years. I predicted 9-3 this year because of the Iowa State guys we brought over at QB, TE, WR, LB, etc. I even gave us an outside chance of 10-2. I think the bigger problem will be 2027 & 2028 because most of the Iowa State transfers are one and done. I know things can change fast with the portal but if I had to make a way too early prediction it would be 9-3 this year followed by a couple of 8-4 seasons. Yes, I think it will take a few years to get back to the top 10 unless things come together this year.
We sit here in May of '26 and you already know we lose 4 games in '27 and '28. And if you try to backpedal and say this is just an early prediction then how about just not making the early predictions for a season that starts in 16 months. They are useless. By the way, what stocks will do well in '27 and '28?