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Is it time for Penn State to make a coaching change?

madinsomniac

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Do you think Franklin can reload and get it done in the near future or is it just time to move on….
 

topseed

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Franklin is now 2-12 against top ten opponents. Eerily reminiscent of a certain pro coach who hasn't been getting it done against playoff teams lately.

I would say it's time to move on, but he did manage to bring in a 5-star QB recruit, so I don't know if parting ways with the head coach would jeopardize that situation. Retaining that kid's commitment would be the one and only reason I'd have Franklin stay.
 

stillerfaninfl

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He can't leave Happy Valley fast enuf. 2 And 12 against top 10 opponents.... that says a lot on its own. The fake FG today. Not having a backup prepared when they lost Clifford in the Iowa game, not realizing Clifford didn't have it against Illinois, crappy play calling in the OTs with Illinois, the loss to OSU IN 2017 when leading 21-3 and 35-20 and on and on and on. He needs to move on.
 
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tapeANaspirin2it

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Funny how people want Franklin to go and at the same time, he would be the hottest coaching candidate for USC or LSU or many others.

fact is, he really is building up the program. The recruiting classes have been getting better. They are starting to have depth. People don't realize how much the sanctions set the program back. It's just that they were lucky enough to have some tremendous playmakers like Allen Robinson, Saquon, Chris Godwin, Mike Gesicki, Miles Sanders, and KJ Hamler that covered up for a lot of flaws.

If this year's team had Saquon, they'd be undefeated right now. But they don't. Instead they have a bunch of RBs who were pretty high recruits and none of them have stepped up.

What i like about Franklin is that he has made tough decisions with his staff. I mentioned in the other thread that OC Mike Yurcich was a great hire. His system is complex and takes time to get going. It has looked good at times and rough at other times. I do think this offense will be quite a bit better next year.

A few years ago, Penn State won the big 10 with OC Joe Moorhead. He recruited a young QB names Justin Fields who committed to PSU. After some great seasons, Moorhead was hired as HC at Miss State. Fields decommitted and went to Georgia, who was then dumb enoug to start Jake Fromm ahead of him.

If Justin Fields sticks with PSU, maybe things are much different right now.

My point is that Franklin has this team close. Moving on from him now would be stupid. Unless Urban Meyer decides he hates the NFL and reaches out for the PSU job, you stick with Franklin for now. Let's see what this great recruiting class coupled with hitting the transfer portal harder can do.
 

TDX27

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Franklin is now 2-12 against top ten opponents. Eerily reminiscent of a certain pro coach who hasn't been getting it done against playoff teams lately.

I would say it's time to move on, but he did manage to bring in a 5-star QB recruit, so I don't know if parting ways with the head coach would jeopardize that situation. Retaining that kid's commitment would be the one and only reason I'd have Franklin stay.
I was going to post the same thing. He can't win the big games. He currently still has the No. 1 QB recruit for next year. If he doesn't play him, he will probably be in the transfer portal before the end of the year. The No. 1 QB recruit in the country doesn't pick a school to be a backup for a year or two.
 

SteelerFan448

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I was going to post the same thing. He can't win the big games. He currently still has the No. 1 QB recruit for next year. If he doesn't play him, he will probably be in the transfer portal before the end of the year. The No. 1 QB recruit in the country doesn't pick a school to be a backup for a year or two.
This is about it. He's a great recruiter with an average class that ranks in the top 15 nationally and gets some of the best prospects at their position to go to Happy Valley. As you said, he hasn't shown he can consistently win the big games and many of them he has the advantage of playing at home in prime time. He's still averaging nearly 9 wins per year over his tenure at Penn State and has three 11-win seasons over the past six years. They could potentially hire a better coach, but they could find a lot worse as well. It's not like they're one of the elite teams each year, but Franklin at least puts his team in position to finish near the top of the conference each year.
 

TDX27

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They totally flopped this year. I have no idea how the O-line could be this bad all year. At one point, they were being talked up as a potential playoff team. They almost definitely will lose in 2 weeks at Michigan State and I'd be surprised if they can even hold of Rutgers this week. That would put them at .500 for the year. Terrible. They will go to a bowl. I can see them playing Pitt in a bowl. It would be a huge draw.
 

FAB802

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He got out coached by Harbaugh, so, yes.
 

topseed

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If this year's team had Saquon, they'd be undefeated right now.
That is a complete bullshit statement. Their offensive line is terrible, and you know it. They weren't beating OSU with Gale Sayers in his prime.
 

Sarge

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That is a complete bullshit statement. Their offensive line is terrible, and you know it. They weren't beating OSU with Gale Sayers in his prime.
Agree. For being such a great recruiter, he has struggled the last 3-4 years to build an offensive line that does anything well with consistency. This year's version is nothing short of trash.

The defense has some fantastic players, but they are suffering from a season's worth of fatigue starting with being on the field 96 plays against Wisconsin and not getting much of a break the rest of the way. Only a matter of time until they broke.

Penn State's biggest problem is that they can't run the ball, and that O-line is why. If they were average at running the ball, they'd be 9-1 at worst right now and quite possibly undefeated. Instead, it's another mediocre season for Franklin, all of his own doing.
 

ExUSAF

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The Tomlin of college football. He may have the top QB recruit but he'll probably start the veteran anyway. I'd be shocked if USC or LSU would beat down his door.
 

tapeANaspirin2it

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That is a complete bullshit statement. Their offensive line is terrible, and you know it. They weren't beating OSU with Gale Sayers in his prime.

The OL was even worse when Barkley played. Barkley's average yards before contact was NEGATIVE half a yard. Meaning that on the average play he was touched by a defender behind the LOS. Barkley was that ******* good that it didn't matter. He created a run game from thin air and he was a huge factor in the passing game, being able to motion out to WR and catch balls 50 yards downfield.

Also that year, the other half of the offense was McSorley throwng up jump balls that Godwin and Gesicki went up and got.

Penn State lost to Michigan because they didn't have a playmaker other than Dotson. Michigan's defense didn't play that great. Penn State's drives were stalled on dropped balls, bad passes or penalties most times.
 

stillwright

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Do you think Franklin can reload and get it done in the near future or is it just time to move on….
Yep...Offer Tomlin $20 million a season for 20 years. That should get him to leave Pittsburgh hopefully.
 

tapeANaspirin2it

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Agree. For being such a great recruiter, he has struggled the last 3-4 years to build an offensive line that does anything well with consistency. This year's version is nothing short of trash.

The defense has some fantastic players, but they are suffering from a season's worth of fatigue starting with being on the field 96 plays against Wisconsin and not getting much of a break the rest of the way. Only a matter of time until they broke.

Penn State's biggest problem is that they can't run the ball, and that O-line is why. If they were average at running the ball, they'd be 9-1 at worst right now and quite possibly undefeated. Instead, it's another mediocre season for Franklin, all of his own doing.

Ross Tucker does some Penn State podcasts and before the season, he predicted the OL would struggle this year. That's because the new system they are installing takes time to learn. It also counts on TEs and even WRs in the scheme. The TE blocking has been awful and that is part of the struggle as well.

They've had some recruits that didn't pan out and they had some transfers. They also have a 3rd different OC in 3 years.

OL takes time to build. The depth was awful a few years ago. It is slowly building. You want to get to the point where you have almost all Jr and Sr starters. Then you have your underclassmen get a few years in the strength program before they step on the field.

If the OL is terrible again next year with the new system in place for 2 years then you start to panic.
 

topseed

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The OL was even worse when Barkley played. Barkley's average yards before contact was NEGATIVE half a yard. Meaning that on the average play he was touched by a defender behind the LOS. Barkley was that ******* good that it didn't matter. He created a run game from thin air and he was a huge factor in the passing game, being able to motion out to WR and catch balls 50 yards downfield.

Also that year, the other half of the offense was McSorley throwng up jump balls that Godwin and Gesicki went up and got.

Penn State lost to Michigan because they didn't have a playmaker other than Dotson. Michigan's defense didn't play that great. Penn State's drives were stalled on dropped balls, bad passes or penalties most times.
Really? Is that a fact? Barkley's average yards before contact was (0.5) for his entire career? For all 671 of his carries? You sure you're not just pulling that out of your ***?

It'd be great if you would provide a link to that information.
 

Djfan

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Maybe Tomlin wants the job?
 

tapeANaspirin2it

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Really? Is that a fact? Barkley's average yards before contact was (0.5) for his entire career? For all 671 of his carries? You sure you're not just pulling that out of your ***?

It'd be great if you would provide a link to that information.

I remember the stat from draft eval time a few years ago and it stuck with me. I’m not scouring the internet for it. The exact number doesn’t matter anyway. The point is the OL was crap. Nobody who watched Barkley play would dispute that. They were able to run because he was great at making people miss and turning nothing into home run plays. Penn State currently does not have a RB even close to that so the problems of the OL are magnified.

Franklin’s Big Ten Championship team gave people the impression that PSU was all the way back from sanctions and ready to take the next step, but that wasn’t true. It was a few great individual playmakers who masked the deficiencies.
 

FordFairLane

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Great recruiter but can’t get it done when it matters. He actually reminds me a bit of Tomlin in that aspect.

USC can have him.
 

tapeANaspirin2it

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This is a great video that details why Penn State is struggling this year. It gets into transfers and also the coaching turnover. I don’t think people realize just how many assistants PSU has had hired away in recent years. It all adds up. It’s worth a watch to get a feel for how transfer portal is changing the game.

 

madinsomniac

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This is a great video that details why Penn State is struggling this year. It gets into transfers and also the coaching turnover. I don’t think people realize just how many assistants PSU has had hired away in recent years. It all adds up. It’s worth a watch to get a feel for how transfer portal is changing the game.


That transfer portal isn’t going away… it’s definitely annoying because so many of this generation are inpatient and overly entitled and can’t handle not being a centerpiece of attention…
 

topseed

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I remember the stat from draft eval time a few years ago and it stuck with me. I’m not scouring the internet for it. The exact number doesn’t matter anyway. The point is the OL was crap. Nobody who watched Barkley play would dispute that. They were able to run because he was great at making people miss and turning nothing into home run plays. Penn State currently does not have a RB even close to that so the problems of the OL are magnified.

Franklin’s Big Ten Championship team gave people the impression that PSU was all the way back from sanctions and ready to take the next step, but that wasn’t true. It was a few great individual playmakers who masked the deficiencies.
Of course you can't provide proof, because you pulled it out of your *** from a "draft eval" years back. Right. Don't post **** you can't back up with facts.
 

madinsomniac

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So obviously Penn State opted to bet on Franklin while his value was low

I just don’t think there was a better option out there for them that was willing to talk

I think Penn State has come to grips that tgey are a very good program but not an upper tier elite program anymore… that died with Joepa. Coaches going there aren’t often going there as a destination as much as a stepping stone.. they had a chance to get a commitment with a guy that at least recruits well.

Had ucla or usc came calling for real, perhaps he does bolt, but his stock is down a lot this year… its a good time to sign him, though in the back of your head ypu have to think if he does start having some premium seasons, those calls are going to come back… ncaa contracts shouldn’t be as easy to break as they are
 
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