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Football Franklin: “I’m not going anywhere”

Bullshit. He had a chance to become the cream of the crop in the B1G and he blew it. He blew it with the MSU losses. He blew it at Minnesota. He blew it at Iowa. He blew it at home vs Illinois. He blew it in the Rose Bowl. And he blew it twice in the 4th quarter in back to back years vs tOSU. Are facility improvements needed? Absolutely. And it starts with tearing down those 100 year old bolted together bleachers and building a cathedral worthy to be called Paterno Stadium. That said, anyone who thinks the list of blown games was due to facilities needs their head examined.
+1000%....Those pissed away games against OSU and USC, let alone Kentucky had a big time impact on this team. The one Ohio DE was practically signed, sealed, and delivered until the loss at the shoe when we were up 28-7. If you recall, in the 4th quarter, we had the ball first down and OSU's 7 YL. Three insane RPO calls later, we were 4th down on the 7 YL. We didn't gain an inch. Kicked the FG to go up by 10 and lost the game.
 
No, the unlucky break was not when SC went down. It was when Will Levi’s left and we had no backup QB. They say “ Luck is the residue of design.” Our QB room when Will left did not have anyone at that time who could play QB at a top tier B1G level. That’s on CJF for not having a good QB room 3 deep who could play.

Didn't that happen last WINTER??? TRob had 6+ month to get ready and now we find a TR FR is AHEAD of him.
 
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Per Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror, James Franklin told the State College Quarterback Club, “I’m not going anywhere”.



Will be interesting to see how any extension will impact assistant salary pool as well as funding to improve Lasch and Beaver Stadium.

Yep on our way to a 7-5 season, now big programs are passing on Franklin. Suddenly when CJF finds the market for him making a couple of million more dies up, "I'm staying". I doubt we would have heard that if we were 8-2. Funny how thing work out when you find out you have no leverage.
 
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Drunk typing. BLUF under franklin offensive coaches come to die. His slow developing plays don’t work and he refuses to do any quick hitters. With the exception on quick pass the the outside. Big teams have figured out his plays and he is unable to adjust. He has no idea how to run the ball. Running the ball wins games and he has no idea how to have an effective running game.
 
If you can't beat Illinois with your backup -- or even a hobbled QB1 -- you have problems. Roster management/recruiting problems. Player development problems, perhaps. But problems that the coaches must take responsibility for.

Last I checked, Sean Clifford's sore ribs didn't allow Illinois to run over and past our defense like we were wearing cement boots. The lack of defensive adjustments was embarrassing.

Scoop-and-scores happen. Our offensive line got blown the F up, and that's an indictment of this staff's repeated failure to build a reputable OL.

That fake FG call against Michigan was embarrassing. The 4th and 2 call down the stretch was embarrassing. Blame it on player execution, but Franklin is all about "putting players in the best position to succeed". Clearly he/the staff is not doing that with some of these boneheaded calls.

And it's hardly an isolated event. Don't need to relitigate the history of stupid calls.

And after all these years, if we're still using the whole "players failed to execute" excuse, then it begs the question as to why this is such a consistent pattern. It's almost as if the coaches are being paid to maximize the likelihood of success in executing plays.


All that said.......we're not getting Fickell. Rhule isn't coming back. I'm not sold that Matt Campbell would be an upgrade . So in that sense, Franklin staying might be our best option.
Don’t state facts. Franklin Fan Boys will never understand.
 
Neither will CJF haters.

But hey, you are ranting pretty well today, so have at it. It's your party.
Not a Franklin hater. Just a realist who don’t make excuses like the facilities or recruits for Franklin.
 
I don't think CJF ever had any intention of going anywhere. The noise about him leaving never came from him, it came from talking heads. CJF, to both his credit and detriment did not answer those rumors right away. Those reasons are unknown to me (but if someone knows why he didn't come and say it, I would like to see a link to that information).

There is no question the rumors have been a distraction and therefore no reason not to squash them early except either: A) they were valuable as leverage in negotiating a better deal; or B) he was interested in potential opportunities elsewhere and didn't want to shut the door on them.

The equation changed over the last several weeks. Judging by fan chatter, team blogs, and media buzz, the enthusiasm for Franklin went way down. 1-4, to include a horrible loss to Illinois, will do that.

Personally, I'm glad he's staying. But I really hope this marks the end, once and for all, of this annual will-James-stay-or-leave circus, featuring word games from the coach himself. It's not helping the team, that's for sure.
 
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Except for the facilities part.

Our stadium is awesome. There's no recruiting benefit in upgrading it. None.
The stadium isn’t “facilities” it’s a facility. The problems are the rest of the buildings that make up “facilities”.
 
I'm glad he finally cleared that up.

A day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes, but at least done.

However, just based on this board, Franklin's lost about half the fans.

Not a small percentage.

Just because you don't want him go doesn't mean the world agrees.

They may be wrong, I'm not sure, but I know a lot of the fan base has had enough.
Hardly half the fan base.
 
AGREE 100%

Stadium stuff is stupid and all perception with that $#!! and I wear Canali and love Michelin star restaraunts!
Stadium as a whole is garbage except for big games where it really gets rocking. CJF is getting the parts that matter to the recruits upgraded though. The recruit lounge is way behind. The locker room in Lasch is awesome. No need to make stadium locker room like that, but still more that can be done. The blue tunnel lights are a wow players/recruits like. I think that one other thing recruits would like are doing stadium lights similar to Bama and Georgia. There are things that should be done in stadium that can attract recruits, but no need to upgrade things that recruits don’t care about.
 
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It has nothing to do with the stadium. When a local kid who happened to be the #1 recruit a few years ago was getting recruited I saw every big time coach in the country. He and I talked about all of his visits and he said that out of all the places he went, PSU had the least appealing practice set up, locker rooms, workout/therapy rooms, etc. Saturdays are better but Sunday - Friday are not up to any of the other top programs.
In addition to facilities, wasn’t the financial aid package for this recruit’s girlfriend at the time one of the deciding factors? Didn’t Penn State tell this recruit that they were not willing to play ball, which effectively ended Penn State’s recruiting of this recruit?
 
No doubt that the facilities need upgrades, and recruits do care about that.

I'd bet that recruits care even more about winning big games. It's no coincidence that our recruiting skyrocketed after the 2016 season -- netting the 2018 class -- and then tailed off a few seasons later. Repeated losses in big games with the whole country watching.

I'm not saying we don't invest in facilities. But the return on investment isn't going to be as high as some people suggest, IMO. I could be wrong, though. Kids make college choices for any number of reasons. But I do believe that being "elite" and winning the big games is usually at or near the top of that list.

We'll have a borderline top-10 class coming in next year, which is a good start. But if we want to carry that momentum forward, got to start winning big games.
 
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In addition to facilities, wasn’t the financial aid package for this recruit’s girlfriend at the time one of the deciding factors? Didn’t Penn State tell this recruit that they were not willing to play ball, which effectively ended Penn State’s recruiting of this recruit?
That was Brian Bresee, I believe. Not that I think he was headed to PSU anyway. Sounded like we came in third (at best) behind Clemson and OSU. Was in a solid position early (in part due to location), but when the elites put pressure on him, that was that.
 
In addition to facilities, wasn’t the financial aid package for this recruit’s girlfriend at the time one of the deciding factors? Didn’t Penn State tell this recruit that they were not willing to play ball, which effectively ended Penn State’s recruiting of this recruit?
Their dline coach was the deciding factor. Not sure osu was number two, more like uga.
 
If you can't beat Illinois with your backup -- or even a hobbled QB1 -- you have problems. Roster management/recruiting problems. Player development problems, perhaps. But problems that the coaches must take responsibility for.

Last I checked, Sean Clifford's sore ribs didn't allow Illinois to run over and past our defense like we were wearing cement boots. The lack of defensive adjustments was embarrassing.

Scoop-and-scores happen. Our offensive line got blown the F up, and that's an indictment of this staff's repeated failure to build a reputable OL.

That fake FG call against Michigan was embarrassing. The 4th and 2 call down the stretch was embarrassing. Blame it on player execution, but Franklin is all about "putting players in the best position to succeed". Clearly he/the staff is not doing that with some of these boneheaded calls.

And it's hardly an isolated event. Don't need to relitigate the history of stupid calls.

And after all these years, if we're still using the whole "players failed to execute" excuse, then it begs the question as to why this is such a consistent pattern. It's almost as if the coaches are being paid to maximize the likelihood of success in executing plays.


All that said.......we're not getting Fickell. Rhule isn't coming back. I'm not sold that Matt Campbell would be an upgrade . So in that sense, Franklin staying might be our best option.
Perhaps my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I recall that Illinois scored a whopping ten points in regulation time.
 
If you think rosters everywhere are really 3 deep at QB, you're out of your mind. QB's transfer as there is only one guy getting snaps and you have 5 years to play 4. That is on every coach in the nation if you think a large percentage are 3 deep there. It's one thing to be critical, but it's another to be objective.
You sound like the wife of the Admiral making excuses for the CO at Pearl Harbor on 12/8/41 after the Japanese cleaned out clock that day.
If you are a top 10 program, you better recruit players who have the initial potential to be able to take a snap as a third team guy and to be able to manage a portion of a game. If not you have failed your program and the team in recruiting.

The ability to get 1st downs and a few points is all that is needed as the third QB.

If you recruit a Stud QB every other year, 1/3/5 and in years 2/4 or you recruit a Roberson or Velleux in even years, you will not have issues. You will at least avoid a catastrophe. Losing a Clifford should not have been a catastrophe for PSY because his injury was not season ending

All we needed was a game mgr or someone who could successfully run a few sets. If we did have such a guy we are either undefeated or have 1 loss. Look back to the QB room and don’t say that TR was a 4 star or so and so was a 3 star etc. it’s about the numbers and space between the signing QBs. CJF failed us in not recruiting QBs who would or could be successful at this program.
AND CJF was a damn good QB in College
And he saw the future in Trace
He and SC were his only successes in 8 years. Hack regressed under his tutilege.

It’s a lame excuse blaming the portal. UGA has 2 QBs who could start for that program. So do other programs.
 
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Perhaps my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I recall that Illinois scored a whopping ten points in regulation time.
Yeah, and they ran for 360 yards and dominated time of possession. They didn't convert that into many points, but they certainly limited our opportunities on offense. That's part of the game.

Our repeated failure to make adjustments to their overloaded front was pretty ridiculous.
 
Drunk typing. BLUF under franklin offensive coaches come to die. His slow developing plays don’t work and he refuses to do any quick hitters. With the exception on quick pass the the outside. Big teams have figured out his plays and he is unable to adjust. He has no idea how to run the ball. Running the ball wins games and he has no idea how to have an effective running game.
Penn State averaged 174 rushing yards per game last year, 192 yards per game in 2019, 204 yards per game in 2018, 170 yards per game in 2017, and 175 yards per game in 2016. This year they’re averaging 106 yards per game. I know this may sound crazy, but perhaps it’s the players’ fault?
 
Yeah, and they ran for 360 yards and dominated time of possession. They didn't convert that into many points, but they certainly limited our opportunities on offense. That's part of the game.

Our repeated failure to make adjustments to their overloaded front was pretty ridiculous.
They didn’t convert that into points…….

So you’re saying PSU’s defense did it’s job? Sorry, I’m not following.
 
You sound like the wife of the Admiral making excuses for the CO at Pearl Harbor on 12/8/41 after the Japanese cleaned out clock that day.
If you are a top 10 program, you better recruit players who have the initial potential to be able to take a snap as a third team guy and to be able to manage a portion of a game. If not you have failed your program and the team in recruiting.

The ability to get 1st downs and a few points is all that is needed as the third QB.

If you recruit a Stud QB every other year, 1/3/5 and in years 2/4 or you recruit a Roberson or Velleux in even years, you will not have issues. You will at least avoid a catastrophe. Losing a Clifford should not have been a catastrophe for PSY because his injury was not season ending

All we needed was a game mgr or someone who could successfully run a few sets. If we did have such a guy we are either undefeated or have 1 loss. Look back to the QB room and don’t say that TR was a 4 star or so and so was a 3 star etc. it’s about the numbers and space between the signing QBs. CJF failed us in not recruiting QBs who would or could be successful at this program.
AND CJF was a damn good QB in College
And he saw the future in Trace
He and SC were his only successes in 8 years. Hack regressed under his tutilege.

It’s a lame excuse blaming the portal. UGA has 2 QBs who could start for that program. So do other programs.

LOL...your reference and time period are noted....that is where you are stuck in time wise. I'm sure you have it all figured out as 90% of college football is stacked with studs 3 deep at QB. Sure they are.....let us put on our boots if you're going to spray BS around. Recruiting and landing stud QB's is so much easier to talk about than actually doing. You pointed out one program....there are 120+....so you're going the 1% route to make your point.

Nobody is thrilled about the QB room, but an ounce of objectivity isn't too much to ask for. Sorry I think your FOS here as QB's transfer all the time. Hack also failed in the NFL under different coaches....so maybe it wasn't just his coaching in college. The ability to get first downs is hard on our 1st string QB with no ground game.....but sure the 3 deep can all do it. LMAO....honestly...just pure nonsense.

Let me know the time in Joe's 60 years where he was stacked 3 deep at QB and they all stuck around with no issues ever. I mean there should be countless examples of this the way you're talking.
 
Give Franklin credit -- he's orchestrated this drama year in and year out to his financial benefit. Clearly, it
I know you're being facetious but we should give him some credit for it. While it is also annoying as fans to deal with the constant rumors and uncertainty, he is dragging the program into the modern age and is forcing the administration to decide if they want to play big boy football or not. If they say no, Franklin will leave. But so far by giving in to at least a portion of Franklin's demands they are saying that yes, they do have some interest in competing with other top programs. We obviously won't get there overnight but Franklin is helping us get there, despite it being frustrating for us on the outside looking in.
 
It has nothing to do with the stadium. When a local kid who happened to be the #1 recruit a few years ago was getting recruited I saw every big time coach in the country. He and I talked about all of his visits and he said that out of all the places he went, PSU had the least appealing practice set up, locker rooms, workout/therapy rooms, etc. Saturdays are better but Sunday - Friday are not up to any of the other top programs.
How many hours are athletes spending in the stadium vs. in other facilities? I'd imagine it's not even close. The stadium is more for the fans. I'd think the practice facilities, weight rooms, training tables, dorms, etc. are far more important to the average recruit than a stadium where they spend maybe 10 hours a week.
 
I know you're being facetious but we should give him some credit for it. While it is also annoying as fans to deal with the constant rumors and uncertainty, he is dragging the program into the modern age and is forcing the administration to decide if they want to play big boy football or not. If they say no, Franklin will leave. But so far by giving in to at least a portion of Franklin's demands they are saying that yes, they do have some interest in competing with other top programs. We obviously won't get there overnight but Franklin is helping us get there, despite it being frustrating for us on the outside looking in.

I actually like what Franklin is doing, I just don't think he is the right coach to be doing it. This entire thing comes down to whether you will commit everything to winning championships or not. Say what you will, but there is no doubt that OSU, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, are committing EVERYTHING to top level coaches, facilities, NIL opportunities, etc. Franklin is basically saying "is penn state going to do it or not" if the answer is "no" then why should I stay? I want to win a championship. I keep going back to this idea of why you would pay your coach top 5-10 money, but let your facilities degrade to not even being considered top 25? Why update the lockerrooms if you are not going to pay top dollar for assistant coaching? Pick a damn lane. Why pay your coach top 5 money and then tell him that his football program has to support 31 other varsity sports? Just be a school and devalue football, or go all in, one or the other. Franklin is right, college football has changed, its an arms race, and we don't have anyone with a gun to our head demanding we play. Nor is anyone suggesting we have to like the direction of the sport. But if you want to participate, why not do everything to win championships? Now, all of that said, I don't think Franklin is a top 10 coach even when we have top 10 facilities and NIL opportunities and assistant salaries. But you know what the BIG BOYS do? They provide their coaches with everything they need to win big and if they don't, they have eradicated all excuses and the leash becomes shorter. Penn State should not/will not accept losses to Illinois once Franklin gets his wish list.
 
I don't think CJF ever had any intention of going anywhere. The noise about him leaving never came from him, it came from talking heads. CJF, to both his credit and detriment did not answer those rumors right away. Those reasons are unknown to me (but if someone knows why he didn't come and say it, I would like to see a link to that information).

I feel like he’s addressed it previous years. He’s not going to waste time addressing rumors because they’re never ending. Internally everyone knows where he stands, or something like that.
 
Penn State should not/will not accept losses to Illinois once Franklin gets his wish list.
I understand your point that there is less room for excuses if everything is in place, but upsets still happen. Should OSU fire Day the next time they lose to Purdue because that's "unacceptable" given the investments in their program?
 
They didn’t convert that into points…….

So you’re saying PSU’s defense did it’s job? Sorry, I’m not following.
Let me make this easier.

If we make actual adjustments to the Illinois offensive front, Illinois scores less than 10 points. There is no OT. We win.

But we didn't. And they scored enough. Enough to beat us. We lost.
 
I understand your point that there is less room for excuses if everything is in place, but upsets still happen. Should OSU fire Day the next time they lose to Purdue because that's "unacceptable" given the investments in their program?

There is nuance, an I fully believe you are smart enough to understand that it isn't that rudimentary. Who has been the best team in the BIG 10 since Ryan Day has been there? A slip up is just that, a slip up. Difference at OSU is a slip up to Oregon(!) results in a demotion of their DC and day get that team totally back on track. Loosing to Indiana and Nebraska one year, then losing to Iowa and Illinois the very next year does not represent a slip up, but rather or trend. If Franklin has a modicum of Day's success, no, he should not nor will be terminated for losing 1 game as a heavy favorite.
 
LOL...your reference and time period are noted....that is where you are stuck in time wise. I'm sure you have it all figured out as 90% of college football is stacked with studs 3 deep at QB. Sure they are.....let us put on our boots if you're going to spray BS around. Recruiting and landing stud QB's is so much easier to talk about than actually doing. You pointed out one program....there are 120+....so you're going the 1% route to make your point.

Nobody is thrilled about the QB room, but an ounce of objectivity isn't too much to ask for. Sorry I think your FOS here as QB's transfer all the time. Hack also failed in the NFL under different coaches....so maybe it wasn't just his coaching in college. The ability to get first downs is hard on our 1st string QB with no ground game.....but sure the 3 deep can all do it. LMAO....honestly...just pure nonsense.

Let me know the time in Joe's 60 years where he was stacked 3 deep at QB and they all stuck around with no issues ever. I mean there should be countless examples of this the way you're talking.
Hack is a story in and of himself. Really not related to my point. Why does Bama never have problems with Backups. How about UGA. Hell ND has 3 QBs better than our Backups now. You must be a paid publicist for CJF. I see that he has very definable Achilles heels. One is OL Coach turnover/ probably coaching turnover in General. I am not one to say CJF needs to go however this season is a huge disappointment. So was 2019. I don’t count 2020.
When you make so much money and the stakes are very high, much is expected.
He is not earning his money. He is the Mark Richt of PSU.
Hopefully all players stay around next year. Same with Staff. Then our new QBs can have time to grow. 1year.
 
Yep on our way to a 7-5 season, now big programs are passing on Franklin. Suddenly when CJF finds the market for him making a couple of million more dies up, "I'm staying". I doubt we would have heard that if we were 8-2. Funny how thing work out when you find out you have no leverage.

Funny how you just make shit up and act like it's a fact.
 
Let me make this easier.

If we make actual adjustments to the Illinois offensive front, Illinois scores less than 10 points. There is no OT. We win.

But we didn't. And they scored enough. Enough to beat us. We lost.
Are you saying that PSU’s defense fails if they don’t shut the opponent out? It sounds like you are?
 
Hack is a story in and of himself. Really not related to my point. Why does Bama never have problems with Backups. How about UGA. Hell ND has 3 QBs better than our Backups now. You must be a paid publicist for CJF. I see that he has very definable Achilles heels. One is OL Coach turnover/ probably coaching turnover in General. I am not one to say CJF needs to go however this season is a huge disappointment. So was 2019. I don’t count 2020.
When you make so much money and the stakes are very high, much is expected.
He is not earning his money. He is the Mark Richt of PSU.
Hopefully all players stay around next year. Same with Staff. Then our new QBs can have time to grow. 1year.
Bama probably has 4-5 star recruits 3+ deep at every position. If they lose one it's not a big deal. PSU and most other programs don't have that luxury.
 
LOL you don't know our fan base. People I know would not feel all that bad if JF moved on.
Well given some of your posts, glad I don’t know the people you know. I would not feel bad if you moved on (from the board, not life).
 
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