And? Most of the team was made up of scholarship players, and run ons were added for depth. You're trying to make it sound like he was putting a bunch of walk on players out on the field.
- 2013 Season: Penn State added a crop of 17 new "run-ons" (walk-ons) to the team.
- 2014 Season: The team welcomed another 12 new walk-ons who began their careers in the summer of 2014.
Throughout 2013 and 2014, walk-ons played significant roles, including notable players like linebacker Von Walker, kicker Chris Gulla, and defensive end Carl Nassib, who eventually earned a scholarship.
He didnt inherit walk ons, his starters were 3 and 4* guys
As I said BoB had the #33 and #24 recruiting classes his last 2 years.Penn State Football’s 2014 Official Roster: 20 Players Remain From Paterno Era.
These 20 players were good from the JoePa years but freshman and walk-ons is what James Franklin walked into. I don’t remember BOB being that good at recruiting either but I didn’t keep up with recruiting back then like I do today I depended on Homer and a few others for information and I don’t remember anyone being that optimistic about Bob and his recruiting.
Also, pick any team and they won't have much more than 20 players leftover from 3 years prior so what does that prove?
Franklin didn't inherit walkons or bad players. He inherited depth problems.
@roaminglion if I remember correctly we had to take DL players and put ‘em on the OL and I also thought we had around 40 players on scholarship. I agree we still had some studs on the team but the team was hit very hard with sanctions and some sports people thought it would take 10 or more years to recover and it took James Franklin 2 years
In three years at Vandebuilt, JF beat three teams that had winning records; Georgia in a GA down year, NC State, and Houston. Had a few big name wins so to speak, but those teams sucked the year that Vandy won.
He's a pretty good HC but by no means a savior or top tier. At PSU he won a lot of games because he had better players than the other teams, and lost games with better PSU players, due to poor in game coaching decisions, not playing the best players and hog tying his OC. Good riddance and best of luck at VT.
We had over 65 players on scholarship, so no not 40.@roaminglion if I remember correctly we had to take DL players and put ‘em on the OL and I also thought we had around 40 players on scholarship. I agree we still had some studs on the team but the team was hit very hard with sanctions and some sports people thought it would take 10 or more years to recover and it took James Franklin 2 years
He did not inherit walk ons
@roaminglion https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/james-franklin-penn-state-down-to-41-scholarship-players/#
They were down to 41 scholarships players but they did start the season with 65. The sanctions were brutal and James Franklin is who had to coach the team through them and he did fantastic job not having a losing season I’ll just leave it at that.
None of this surprises me...The only thing that surprises me is that he got away with this for as long as he did...I think all of us in this forum knew something wasn't right and I think this shines the 10 million candle power Q-beam spotlight on the situation that was going on in the building...I don't remember who was the first one to identify this but whoever you are Roam, Homer or whoever hit the nail on the head and was clearly ahead of the curve regarding the meddling with the coordinators and staff...Truthfully it all makes sense that EVERY coordinator that came (especially the offensive coordinators) seemed to be handcuffed by this guy...I believe it was the kid who said he wasn't a very popular figure in State College and now it is clear as to why he wasn't...There was a couple of years he had teams that were in my opinion the best and most complete teams in the country from a talent standpoint and simply didn't get it done...I for one am excited to see what Campbell can do with this program as he seems to "get it" and by all accounts is one hell of a guy as well as one hell of a coach...I really believe the kids will enjoy playing for this guy...One other observation that was made here is that Terry saw the issues and changed around some key things internally because it was obvious to me the team really played better and improved under his tutelage...Terry did a superb job with that team...It also isn't a surprise that Campbell had the wisdom to put his ego to the side and keep Terry around...It is a testament to his character, intelligence and wisdom...From what I see he has made all the right moves so far with the program...I believe in this guy and believe he will bring the program back to where it needs to be and will win a natty before his tenure is done...I honestly believe he was the best hire of this cycle...
