8 years ago today, the program was left for dead!!!
- Thread starter RTRMR
- Start date
i wish more fans in general would understand this... ESPECIALLY when they talk about how an 11-2 season is a disappointment...
So not FIRE. FRANKLIN.? Huh. I need some time to figure this out.
i'd say no, not until the first punt of the season. or the first opponent 3rd down conversion. then, fire away
and while we're talking about it, why do we not have 6 natty's so far???
now see.... i just talked myself into it....
FIRE. FRANKLIN.
I believe it was a Monday (last time I was in State College). I came in the early AM to pay my respects to my beloved coach (Joe Sarra). I wanted to arrive at the funeral home long before anyone else would arrive ( he was beyond a coach to me and having recently lost my wife.....I didn't trust my emotions in public) and sneak away. I signed the guest book with no one else in the facility, save for an employee. I noticed that the last visitor was Dottie Sandusky.
The mood in the town was one of impending doom. As I headed home to NY, I listened to the sanction announcement and the subsequent opinions of pundits who predicted that PSU football would require 10-20 years to recover. I buried my coach and PSU football in my mind that day.
I'm blessed to have witnessed the "resurrection at Yankee Stadium, the thriller in Pasadena and wonderful victories, at the Fiesta and Cotton Bowls. Joe built a program on granite. No force from outside and certainly the Surma led bullshit from the inside, didn't lay a glove on it. Thanks to James Franklin for adding his frame on top of Joe's Foundation. Some here whine about top 10 finishes and 11-2 seasons.....
The mood in the town was one of impending doom. As I headed home to NY, I listened to the sanction announcement and the subsequent opinions of pundits who predicted that PSU football would require 10-20 years to recover. I buried my coach and PSU football in my mind that day.
I'm blessed to have witnessed the "resurrection at Yankee Stadium, the thriller in Pasadena and wonderful victories, at the Fiesta and Cotton Bowls. Joe built a program on granite. No force from outside and certainly the Surma led bullshit from the inside, didn't lay a glove on it. Thanks to James Franklin for adding his frame on top of Joe's Foundation. Some here whine about top 10 finishes and 11-2 seasons.....
F Emmertt.
F the NCAA
F Freeh
F the OGBOT
F. THEM. ALL.
F the NCAA
F Freeh
F the OGBOT
F. THEM. ALL.
The "Gettysburg" Address equivalent in my mind! Well done.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
They tried in vain to burn it all to the ground... Only the house that Joe built was made of granite
It's a good time to appreciate that Bill O'Brien and the players who stayed kept the wheels from falling off the cart during the seasons immediately following the sanctions. BOB clearly wasn't in it for the long haul but the sanctions period could have been so much worse and the team wouldn't be where they are today without that "modest" success.
That 2012 squad was a really great group of young men, as good as we have ever had or will have at PSU.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
Yes ... Those players that stayed should be forever remembered and I didn't always agree with him but BOB deserves credit as well for keeping it all together when most people were trying to burn it all down...
Where you stand has a great deal to do with what you see.Perspective.
There's no forgetting or forgiving what was done to our fine program.
I'll never forget the humiliation of discussing college football with my co-workers from Florida knowing we were ineligible to compete for a title.
I'll never forget the humiliation of discussing college football with my co-workers from Florida knowing we were ineligible to compete for a title.
Scum of the earth......every one of them.....Suhey, Tsar Ira the Terrible, One Term Tommy
I’ll be honest, I think a lot of coaches could have kept that team together because the players were already together. It was the character of the players in the program that kept it going. It may not be a popular opinion, but that’s always been my take. He deserves credit because he was the one who was there and did it, but I don’t think he was so unique that others wouldn’t have accomplished the same.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
I agree with that and I also think he was a good choice for coaching as well... he had to be creative to fill in those gaps and holes on that team.
...and how much work still needs done to hold the 11/9.11 home-grown BOT terrorists accountable.
When we see the large $ pledged to PSU, as Barron announced last week, it, sadly, seems most alums have forgotten about 9.11...as Peetz predicted would eventually happen.
One has to wonder what would have happened if ALL alumni donations stopped when the terrorists attacked...there have been some who have stopped giving, clearly not enough....and many new donors ignorant/ignoring the past, seeking personal recognition (name on a building, program, chair, etc) in exchange for their $...it's about them...not Penn State....a true reflection of the society we live in today. As Chief Seattle said to President Franklin Pierce, "you (white man) will one day suffocate in your own waste."
This is probably the one area that got us in trouble during the transition from O'Brien to Franklin. O'Brien wasn't recruiting a lot of O-linemen because his offense was going to survive with a strong armed QB and skill players. Franklin's offense needed a more well rounded allotment of players by position. But we survived and are better than we've been since our first few years in the B1G.
This wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been as strong as we are. The resiliency of our football program to survive this mess and come out the other end even better has made it difficult to not want to help out. We can't have it both ways -- we let the place rot while still being proud of our successful programs.
While it pisses me off that Peetz is somewhat correct, we can continue to do things the right way while pointing out who the assholes were that didn't have a clue at the time. PSU being successful doesn't mean they were right.
I'm going to have to disagree with you a little. While the players were a large portion of it there is no denying that the coaching staff played a key role as well.
Besides, JMO, but I think that was the best all around staff we've ever had. Yea there were some coaches I didn't much care for, Ted Roof, cough, cough. But overall they were excellent.
- Bill O'Brien – head coach and offensive coordinator[7]
- Jim Bernhardt– special assistant/player development[8]
- John Butler – defensive backs [9]
- Craig Fitzgerald – strength and conditioning[8]
- Charlie Fisher – quarterbacks coach[10]
- Stan Hixon – assistant head coach and wide receivers[7][11]
- Larry Johnson – defensive line[12]
- Charles London – running backs and recruiting coordinator[12][13]
- Mac McWhorter – offensive line[11]
- Ted Roof – defensive coordinator[11]
- John Strollo – tight ends[11]
- Ron Vanderlinden – linebackers[14]
I didn’t say the coaching staff didn’t play a key role. I’m saying that I think a lot of other coaches could have played the same role.
I think he is as a pro coach but I liked the offense he ran...then.
why do we not have 6 natty's so far???
We are not close enough to Pittsburg.
His resume says he was a journeyman college assistant coach. He took a low paying assistant coach job with the Patriots. To his ever lasting credit, he worked his way up to gain BB's trust and slid into the OC job when JM left to be a HC. During his tenure as OC the Pat's did not win a SB. Before and after yes. Brady was great before, with and after Bill O'Brien. When JM got fired and wanted to come back as OC of the Pat's, BOB was not offered a contract by NE. He was on the market and IRA Scumbag and Judas Joyner had whiffed on their promise of a home run hire. Jaws suggested BOB to the Terrible one and the rest is history. Bill who needed a job, never took his eye off the NFL and the OGBOT used him to quiet the storm. A marriage of convenience. No coach has profited more from "coaching" Tom Brady. I do not dislike O'Brien these just happen to be the facts. What is my opinion however, is that BOB would not have been "popular" long term at PSU. Is it coincidence that he bailed just as the sanctions really started to bite?
Thanks but yea I am aware of his past and no its not coincidence and I don't like the way he was so easily manipulated by a tool like David Jones.
But that does not, at least for me, negate the offense he ran or the coaches he assembled.
How's this for a mental exercise: Where would the program be if the consent decree never happened?
Would the NCAA have simply given PSU the death penalty? Probably unlikely.
Would the NCAA have done nothing? Probably unlikely.
Would the NCAA have started their own independent investigation? Perhaps taking a year or two to complete? This is perhaps most likely.
What would have happened during that year or two?
Would recruits avoid PSU? Probably, at least the more talented ones.
Would the public continually call for punishments? Probably.
Would the media talk about ongoing the NCAA investigation, the public calls for punishment, and their own desires for punishment at every football telecast? Probably. [Instead, we got to see a list of all the sanctions on a graphic 10x during every game in 2012.]
Would we have seen Saquon in the blue & white?
Would we have James Franklin as coach?
Where would the program be right now?
I know, my line of thoughts here are actually supporting the "rip off the band-aid" consent decree. But it's been eight years now. Was it better to have received the sanctions when we did?
What do you guys think?
True BOT leadership without an agenda, and with nothing to hide would have stood up to the farcical investigations and sanctions and fought back (ref: MSU).
The NCAA had no business at all being involved. ZERO!
I was at the Penn State vs Nebraska game after everything went down., all players huddled at midfield prior to the start of the game., stadium was almost silent... we were mid tier and could still hear the Nebraska Assistant Coach’s prayer and comments..
it actually though a cold day.. was a very exciting game lost on OT...PSU came back..
That group of men who stayed along with the Coaches who helped keep the program together will always be special.
Surma , Perez , Erickson , Frazier... cowards and incompetent..
Interesting question. Don't have the answer. I do know based on circumstances at Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan...all sexual assault cases that were many times more tragic (if you calculate # of victims) and clear evidence exists that crimes were hidden to protect brand, not to mention that in two instances the victims were actually student athletes at those universities....it would appear that PSU leadership shit the bed.
I was at that game too. It made Nebraska my second favorite team even after despising them for so long because of 94.
I believed at the time ..... and I still do 8 years later ..... that the correct actions by Erickson and company was "eat the crap sandwich the NCAA and Emmert were forcing down our throats, work behind the scenes for an early end to the penalties, and look toward a brighter future."
I 100% absolutely believe that was correct. Rip the band-off as quick as possible. Don't prolong it.
We were lucky that the likes of Anthony Lubrano and Jay Paterno did not get their way.
