Ok, for fun taking into consideration where the program is now; the good, the bad and the ugly, who do you think would make the next best head coach at PSU? If you respond state a qualifier e.g. proven HC or AC; merits in recruiting and developing players; regional guy/national guy; odd ball who just needs a chance; etc.
I don't honestly don't know but tend to look at development and consistent sustainable success when looking at administrative leadership moves in other organizational models.
Who be it??
If James Franklin decides to leave for the NFL Moorhead would be my guy.
Matt Ruhle
Hey, Franklin is a nice guy and a good recruiter, but he has about a 110 IQ and even a lower football IQ.
Just look at Saturday. Why would you possibly go for it on 4th down in your own territory only down one score?
Then, when we're on their 10 yard line, he is frozen still while we get a delay of game penalty.
Hey........even high school coaches know to keep their eye on the game clock. There may be some times, you would take the delay vs using a time out, but Franklin blew it (again) on Saturday.
Then..........OSU is on our 10 yard line and our defense is obviously confused -- players running on and off the field -- the CLASSIC time to use a time-out (and we had time-outs remaining).
Franklin has these over-sights time and time again. He is just clueless.
Heck, a year ago, after we recovered a fumble and the dude ran onto the field to call a time-out. He had to be physically restrained!
The idiot didn't realize that the clock stops on a change of possession.
On and on and one.
Hey, vs IN, we are up by one, ball on their 10 yard line and 1:47 remaining.
The ONLY ways to lose are: a) turnover; b) score and give IN the ball back with 1:45 on the clock. Again, every high school coach knows to run the ball, use clock (or force time outs) and simply run out the clock...........but not James.......because he is stupid.
This is THE thing(s) that he needed to tell the offense in the last 1:47 -- don't fumble, don't score.......and he failed......again.
The man is just a moron. We are destined to be a mediocre football team as long as Franklin is the head coach.
But (athletic director) "Sandy"..........has the "diversity" she graves. Marvelous, just marvelous.
Now we are 0-2 and unranked.
Keep Franklin as head coach, axe the ST coach (I don't even know who he is, lol) and hire a game management coach (heck, if the ST coach is a nice guy, you could even rehire him for this job, lol). That should take care of the problems that Barry pointed out, make us an elite program, and also keep Sandy happy (she keeps the diversity jiduk).
Little off topic re head coach, but I just took a look at Larry Brown's resume as an assistant with player development and achievements and talk about consistent achievement, that's what I'd like to see in a head coach. The man truly has an outstanding resume that I did not realize. I realize there is a different skill set required for HC and one should be being able to hire and gel a staff of top notch assistants, set the vision and expectations and then make it happen.
Bum Phillips said it best - "There's two kind of coaches, them that's fired and them that's gonna be fired."
@pennstate1976
Barry did you just join this forum to be Debbie Downer? I will take Franklin and a mediocre team. Once again THIS IS A COLLEGE SPORT. Do you think just maybe that losing three of our last years four best running backs might have some affect on this year.
Steve Sarkisian
Who knows? To get a seasoned coach at the top of their game you either have to pay and absolute ton of money, or luck out that their dream job is PSU and they will leave any other position for the chance.
You may get lucky and find a really good head coach looking to make a step up from the lower ranks, or just go hire an assistant and hope they translate into a phenomenal head coach.
James Franklin is a top 5 coach. He’s won 11 games 3 times in 6 years recovering from death penalty sanctions. Penn State is not going to do better than James Franklin because James Franklin is as good as it gets. What coach would come to Penn St if you fired a coach for winning 11 games?
It just dawned on me, Southern. I know why you like JF so much. You both lack in Math. He can't substract seconds and you can't add up votes! It's a mathematical connection you have with him!!!
GO STATE!
#1 look at Vanderbilt since James Franklin left and the man was winning 9 games a year there.
#2 still ain’t figured out how James Franklin won 14 games his first 2 years with a depleted roster when BOB was losing to Ohio with NFL talent all over the field his first 2 years.
#3 Big 10 championship, cotton bowl win, fiesta bowl win and 3 eleven win seasons. Beating Michigan and Ohio st whole dominating Wisconsin and Iowa. I just need to count to 3 and see James Franklin is a great coach and we won’t do better James Franklin, he is just to good to find somebody better. You need to understand Ohio St has an advantage in recruiting and most years they will out recruit Penn St just like they out recruit 99.9% of the teams out there. The greatest Joe Paterno was asked how he beat the great Bobby Bowdon so many times and joe said I had better players.
But good ole JoePa just couldn't beat the Bear (0-4)! As was said about the Bear - He can take his'n and beat your'n and then turn around and take your'n and beat his'n. And remember Lou Holtz on why he didn't have much success as head coach of William & Mary - "The problem was not enough Williams and too many Marys". My point is Southern, IMO Franklin is a pretty good coach, but he's not in the league with any of these guys (JoePa, the Bear, or even Holtz).
@rip not yet but he’s still very young. The Bear and Joe are 2 of the best ever and also a good coach with the best players will usually win but I did see joe beat a lot of teams when his team wasn’t the best one on the field. Like Miami in the 87 fiesta bowl 😁 man how did he pull that one in ? Lol
You're right on all counts, Southern. Time will tell with Franklin. I was lucky to be at the Fiesta Bowl "Duel in the desert". Man what a game! Shane Conlan really got into Testaverde's head.
You're right on all counts, Southern. Time will tell with Franklin. I was lucky to be at the Fiesta Bowl "Duel in the desert". Man what a game! Shane Conlan really got into Testaverde's head.
And there lies within what I have been saying for a long time, PSU doesnt have that type of player that does what Shane et al did. Shocka outta be like that but I don't really see other teams too concerned with him or any PSU player at the moment. Trace and Barkley had it but even Barkley without a line got stuffed and Trace had to run for his life and in doing so made incredible things happen. You just gotta have some players that flat out kick ass on the field and play together.
But good ole JoePa just couldn't beat the Bear (0-4)! As was said about the Bear - He can take his'n and beat your'n and then turn around and take your'n and beat his'n. And remember Lou Holtz on why he didn't have much success as head coach of William & Mary - "The problem was not enough Williams and too many Marys". My point is Southern, IMO Franklin is a pretty good coach, but he's not in the league with any of these guys (JoePa, the Bear, or even Holtz).
Hey Bob, got to disagree. IMO can't look at a guy that has only been a head coach for 9 years (full seasons) and compare his caliber against 3 guys that coached over 33+ years. However, you can reasonably make an assessment by judging him against the 3 you mention looking at their accomplishments in each of their first 9 seasons.
here is the comparison of all 3 in their first 9 years.
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Franklin 6-7 9-4 9-4 7-6 7-6 11-3 11-2 9-4 11-2 9 bowl games 5 wins
Joepa 5-5 8-2-1 11-0 11-0 7-3 11-1 10-2 12-0 10-2 7 bowl games 5 wins
Hotlz 3-7 5-7 5-6 8-3 9-3 9-2 7-4 11-1 9-2 7 bowls games 3 wins 2 ties
Bear 6-2 7-3 8-3 5-3 9-3 11-1 8-4 5-4 7-2 4 bowl games 3 wins
Franklin is the only one of the 4 to make it to a bowl game every year of the first 9 years as a head coach.
3 of the 9 seasons Franklin had the better record of the 4
2 of the 9 seasons Franklin was tied for the best record with the 4
0 of the 9 season Franklin had the worst record
Actually after looking at this Franklin is off to a better career start than Bear and Lou and on par with Joepa!
"Franklin is the only one of the 4 to make it to a bowl game every year of the first 9 years as a head coach."
You are comparing him to coaches from an era that had 1/4th the bowl games we have now or less. 6-6 back then wasn't going anywhere but home, but Franklin went to bowls 3 times with that record.
@roaminglion Yea I get it, different eras. You could pick it apart 100 different ways, Bear made 2 of his bowl games with 8 wins and Holtz made his first bowl game the Tangerine bowl with only 5 wins.
The point I was trying to make with the post is, you can't compare Franklin to the other 3 when he has only been a head coach for 9 years as compared to their 33+ year careers. I was just trying to point out his success for his first 9 years as compared to the 3 coaches Bob mentioned. And in the first 9 years Franklin was just as successful as them. Regardless of the bowl situation back then, IMO it is still pretty impressive that Franklin made a bowl game every year since he has been a head coach with 7 wins or more. Don't think there are to many coaches that have accomplished that.
@navylion When Joe and Bear started their careers there were 7-8 bowl games per year and when JF started at PSU there was 35-40 per year so obviously it was a much bigger accomplishment for the old guys and hardly a comparable stat. Back in the 50's-60's going to a bowl was a reward for an outstanding season and meant you were one of the elite teams in the country and today it means you're not terrible. I find it laughable when programs today brag about going to a school record fifth bowl in a row and then pack their 5-7 record and head to the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl.
If James and his first 9 years at PSU had occurred in the 50's-60's when Bear started his career they probably only get 3 bowl invites.
