2027 Recruiting Thread

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
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Ignored may not be the right word but failed or underperformed could be the right label. Ever since Parker Washington we have not had a productive WR so that is 3 years. LB has been middling and we saw the collapse with Rojas going down. Not great depth. DTs same story, inability to get a good pass rush or make disruptive plays, average.
The insistence of featuring small highly athletic DTs plagued the defense throughout most of Franklin’s tenure. Mustipher was an exception (never the same again after the injury), but other than him it was mostly smaller athletic DTs. That style worked very well to beat lesser competition, but if stronger conference opponents wanted to run the ball down our throats nearly every down to put us away like Michigan in 2023 or Illinois in 2021, they could do so. We always feared in big games we would start wearing down in the fourth quarter. The twitchy guys are fine if paired with a large DT.
 

Alphalion75

All-Conference
Oct 24, 2001
14,992
4,038
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You don't agree that those who thought Freeman, Cignetti or DeBoer were coming here are "special needs" fans?
I think it's fair since I didn't specify an individual. In fairness (to your criticism) there are 2 or 3 here than qualify. So, I wear the guilt.
What I disagree with is the name calling. We can all have our opinions. Disagreement is no reason to label someone a "moron".
 
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Marshall2323

All-Conference
Aug 7, 2024
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Does he not get a dozen years to find out?
Franklin won the conference in 3. I don't see HCMC getting more than that in this era of "college football." I'd like someone to wager that if "excellence at the highest level" and the "NC our fans deserve" are not achieved by year 12 that either will be at PSU.
 

bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
4,630
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Every school has a Addidas or Nike agreement. This does not set PSU above the top 10 spenders. Why would Addidas give PSU a better offer than it would be willing to give OSU or UM? Oregon is flush with NIke bucks.
It comes down to NIL money. PSU is not in the top 10. Perhaps not even 15. This was not the appropriate time to build luxury boxes. Too much on the landscape of college football is unsettled. The donations could have put more talent on the field.
Of course I understand that the every major school has an Addidas or Nike deal but the PSU deal was quite large. That might be because it's one of the newest. It's probably also because PSU has a top 10 fan base which should get them a better deal with outfits like Addidas than most schools.

I agree that I would have liked to see the $700 billion stadium redo scaled back to $500 billion with the other $200 billion going towards players. $200 billion would provide a lot of NIL money for a decade or so. Unfortunately I don't think it works that way. Donors would prefer to sponsor a facility with a long lifespan instead of an unproven player who will be gone in a few years. I also don't think it's legal. The university can only spend $20.5 million directly and I don't know the rules for direct donor payments to athletes. Besides, PSU doesn't have $700 million for stadium renovations. They're borrowing most of the money and expect to make it back over time with higher revenues from tickets, suites, and other events. I think they've "only" received $50-$100 million or so in donations (Misitano Family, Founders, etc) so the rest is being financed.
 

Roar More

All-Conference
Oct 30, 2021
790
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Of course I understand that the every major school has an Addidas or Nike deal but the PSU deal was quite large. That might be because it's one of the newest. It's probably also because PSU has a top 10 fan base which should get them a better deal with outfits like Addidas than most schools.

I agree that I would have liked to see the $700 billion stadium redo scaled back to $500 billion with the other $200 billion going towards players. $200 billion would provide a lot of NIL money for a decade or so. Unfortunately I don't think it works that way. Donors would prefer to sponsor a facility with a long lifespan instead of an unproven player who will be gone in a few years. I also don't think it's legal. The university can only spend $20.5 million directly and I don't know the rules for direct donor payments to athletes. Besides, PSU doesn't have $700 million for stadium renovations. They're borrowing most of the money and expect to make it back over time with higher revenues from tickets, suites, and other events. I think they've "only" received $50-$100 million or so in donations (Misitano Family, Founders, etc) so the rest is being financed.
Good news, my friend. The redo has been scaled back. It is now $700 million. ;)
 

bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
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What LB did we get that you are referring to? Bacon?
I think Bacon and Campbell are both a seniors so neither are part of a long term rebuilding plan. It would have been nice to have both players this fall because Rojas is the only other highly rated LB and who knows how he'll be after surgery.

My guess is that coach would have liked both players but he couldn't justify paying Campbell more than Bacon. There has to be some parity or you risk conflict between players.
 
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bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
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There is a limit on how much those wealthy donors are willing to give. Money going to one purpose isn't going to another.
That's how I've felt from the beginning but the problem isn't that our stadium is too nice. It's that you can only get so much from the donors.
 

PSUFTG

All-Conference
Nov 1, 2021
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Of course I understand that the every major school has an Addidas or Nike deal but the PSU deal was quite large. That might be because it's one of the newest. It's probably also because PSU has a top 10 fan base which should get them a better deal with outfits like Addidas than most schools.
If you believe the folks at PSU who were promoting the Adidas/PlayFly etc deals, and accepted all that at face value, then you believe that PSU got a "deal" that was orders of magnitude more profitable than deals for the likes of Ohio State (and anyone else).

Did you believe that?

Your concerns expressed wrt all of the other financials are likely well-founded, and cause for even more significant concern.
 

rigi19041

Freshman
Apr 1, 2026
192
77
28
You don't agree that those who thought Freeman, Cignetti or DeBoer were coming here are "special needs" fans?
I think it's fair since I didn't specify an individual. In fairness (to your criticism) there are 2 or 3 here than qualify. So, I wear the guilt.


Psu probably backed off cignetti since he ignored dt. Only had one dt over 305 lbs.
 

rigi19041

Freshman
Apr 1, 2026
192
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Sure but you can say that about every position. Who’s going to throw the ball? Who’s going to catch the ball? Who’s going to run the ball? Who’s going to lock down opposing WRs? Who’s going to shut down the run game? We got a lot of those answers. I do hope we can land some quality edges. But don’t act like we aren’t taking care of things pretty much all around. Remember, BGJ ignored WRs, LBs, and DTs for years which contributed to his team imploding when it did.


No. You can't say it about every position. When a school has 4 CB commits and 0 DE commits it is not the same. CB is a question mark. DE is a HOLE.

. You might want to wait for Big Game Campbell to actually coach a game before you build a statue. He has one LB and one WR.
 

RolexKong

Senior
Aug 15, 2025
502
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If you believe the folks at PSU who were promoting the Adidas/PlayFly etc deals, and accepted all that at face value, then you believe that PSU got a "deal" that was orders of magnitude more profitable than deals for the likes of Ohio State (and anyone else).

Did you believe that?

Your concerns expressed wrt all of the other financials are likely well-founded, and cause for even more significant concern.
Ohio State's deal with Nike, at about $16.5 million per year, was signed ten years ago. Landscape has changed. Nike is retrenching and Adidas is simply throwing money around. Was Penn State lucky to be on the receiving end? Maybe. If so, how much is in cash?
 

bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
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If you believe the folks at PSU who were promoting the Adidas/PlayFly etc deals, and accepted all that at face value, then you believe that PSU got a "deal" that was orders of magnitude more profitable than deals for the likes of Ohio State (and anyone else).

Did you believe that?
Partially. A couple of years ago Sports Illustrated did a study to determine the largest fan bases:
  1. OSU
  2. Notre Dame
  3. Texas
  4. Penn state
  5. Michigan
  6. Oregon
  7. Florida
  8. Alabama
  9. Wisconsin
  10. USC
Why wouldn't Addidas be willing to pay top dollar to gain access to the #4 fan base in the country? You asked why PSU would expect a deal orders of magnitude greater than OSU. They wouldn't but I would expect them to get a very good top 10 deal. The other thing is that the value of these deals goes up just like coaches salaries. The next big contract is typically higher than the previous big contract. PSU's deal with Nike expired and they got one of the newer deals.

New study reveals biggest fan bases in college football
 

bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
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Remember, BGJ ignored WRs, LBs, and DTs for years which contributed to his team imploding when it did.
Did he ignore those positions or did he just lose the recruiting battles?

It seemed to me that he considered DBs more important than LBs but other than that I think he tried and missed.
 

bdgan

All-Conference
Oct 12, 2021
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No. You can't say it about every position. When a school has 4 CB commits and 0 DE commits it is not the same. CB is a question mark. DE is a HOLE.
Kemajou, Granville, and Arrington are sophomores. Burnett, Reeder, and Ford are freshmen. We should be OK at DE if we can hold these kids.
 
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LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
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Kemajou, Granville, and Arrington are sophomores. Burnett, Reeder, and Ford are freshmen. We should be OK at DE if we can hold these kids.
Ford is going to be a beast. He looked impressive in spring and he is already sized to play at a college level coming in at 240 and already at 252 through the s&c program. Reeder, a super athlete dual sport guy, has potential to be elite too, just needs to grow into his frame with a year of s&c.
 

LMTLION

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2008
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I think Bacon and Campbell are both a seniors so neither are part of a long term rebuilding plan. It would have been nice to have both players this fall because Rojas is the only other highly rated LB and who knows how he'll be after surgery.

My guess is that coach would have liked both players but he couldn't justify paying Campbell more than Bacon. There has to be some parity or you risk conflict between players.
I wanted Campbell to stay but Amare wanted extreme money (more than the mill on the table) and the staff were unwilling to give more as they had to reconstruct a team. Rojas took his deal despite overtures from Miami because his heart is here at PSU. Some of you are addicted to numerical ratings. Amare got a final transfer portal rating of 0.91 and Bacon got a 0.93 from 247. Amare was more consistent than most on the defense, but still our defense got gassed up the middle much of the season last year.
 

RolexKong

Senior
Aug 15, 2025
502
461
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Partially. A couple of years ago Sports Illustrated did a study to determine the largest fan bases:
  1. OSU
  2. Notre Dame
  3. Texas
  4. Penn state
  5. Michigan
  6. Oregon
  7. Florida
  8. Alabama
  9. Wisconsin
  10. USC
Why wouldn't Addidas be willing to pay top dollar to gain access to the #4 fan base in the country? You asked why PSU would expect a deal orders of magnitude greater than OSU. They wouldn't but I would expect them to get a very good top 10 deal. The other thing is that the value of these deals goes up just like coaches salaries. The next big contract is typically higher than the previous big contract. PSU's deal with Nike expired and they got one of the newer deals.

New study reveals biggest fan bases in college football
Why? Because they didn't have to.
 

RolexKong

Senior
Aug 15, 2025
502
461
63
I'm not sure what you're saying. It sounds like you think PSU only got a middle of the road deal in spite of having one of the biggest fan bases.
Let me be perfectly clear: Adidas did not have to pay Penn State $30 million a year.
 

psuno1

All-Conference
Feb 4, 2004
983
1,218
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Kemajou, Granville, and Arrington are sophomores. Burnett, Reeder, and Ford are freshmen. We should be OK at DE if we can hold these kids.
The kid from Colorado is spose to be pretty good as well, wish Arrington would have red shirted he needs to gain weight if he want's to make an impact at DE.