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Franklin

Mostly because the internet didn't exist. If you'd had message boards after the 84 and 88 seasons they would have been just an unpleasant. Somehow I doubt everyone was optimistic after losing 3 out of the last 4 in 84 including a 44-7 drubbing against an unranked ND team or losing 5 out of the last 6 (3 to unranked teams) in 88 including games where the offense scored 3 points twice, 7 points and 10 points.

I'd looooove to see this board if Frankin lost to an unranked team by 37 points in a season where they also scored 3 and 0 points in losing efforts earlier in the year and then followed that loss with a 20 point loss to an unranked Pitt team to end the season.

Haha! Yeah, fair point. It was a different world then. Still, the record on the field stands, and I don't think it would have changed regardless of the blathering of all of us on the Internet.
 
Haha! Yeah, fair point. It was a different world then. Still, the record on the field stands, and I don't think it would have changed regardless of the blathering of all of us on the Internet.

and the blathering on the internet today doesn’t change anything either.

With the class coming in, potential for Clifford to be back, and Franklins ability to plug holes with the portal (outside of backup QBs) I don’t see why next year is doom and gloom at this point.

auburn will be breaking in a new starting qb. OSU will be OSU but it’s home during a white out early in the season. Michigan in the big house will be tough but Harbaugh is inconsistent season to season,the cross over games are all manageable on paper. We won’t be top 5 so Purdue isn’t a threat :).

If we bring in a new coach, lose most of the recruiting class including Allar, don’t bring Clifford back it’ll most certainly be ugly. And everyone here can get back to ripping the staff.
 
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James will take another job when his wife Fumi Franklin gives him the signal. Living in the north isn’t her (Fumi’s) first choice.

For those calling yesterday’s loss a 4 point loss, not so fast my friends. The victory formation kneel down prevented an 11 point loss at home.

Sandy Barbour isn’t the Athletic Director who will lead Penn State to football excellence.


Matt Ruhle is my choice.
Rhule is coaching the Carolina Panthers in the NFL in case you missed it. The only way he would be available would be if he was fired. But then again why not? Several people on here want to bring BOB after he was fired by the Texans.
 
Rhule is coaching the Carolina Panthers in the NFL in case you missed it. The only way he would be available would be if he was fired. But then again why not? Several people on here want to bring BOB after he was fired by the Texans.
Agree on Rhule.

Not looking to bring BOB back but I think if he had great recruiting coordinators he could be a very successful college coach. I’d be curious to see a team of his not handcuffed like PSU was.
 
We need to go all in on Rhule. His ceiling is higher than Franklins. It will prob take 3-5 years, but we will be legit, and a playoff team pretty soon, but we HAVE to land Rhule if Franklin leaves.
Why is Rhule’s ceiling higher than Franklin’s? What was Rhule’s highest ranked team? What was his highest ranked recruiting class?
 
Why is Rhule’s ceiling higher than Franklin’s? What was Rhule’s highest ranked team? What was his highest ranked recruiting class?

rhule is the proverbial backup qb that everyone loves. He was 0-11 against ranked teams at Baylor. 2-5 at Temple with the wins being 21st ranked east Carolina and 20th ranked navy.

they got up to number 8 in 2019 but their best win was probably 8-5 Texas. They played 3 opponents (ou x2 and uga) who were ranked at kickoff and lost both.
 
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rhule is the proverbial backup qb that everyone loves. He was 0-11 against ranked teams at Baylor. 2-5 at Temple with the wins being 21st ranked east Carolina and 20th ranked navy.

they got up to number 8 in 2019 but their best win was probably 8-5 Texas. They played 3 opponents (ou x2 and uga) who were ranked at kickoff and lost both.
I think people see what kind of players Ruhle did that with. If I am not mistaken John Lovett was a big part of his last year.....the same John Lovett who shouldn't even see the field for us.
 
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I would stick with Franklin, flaws and all, IF he would JUST GO ALL IN on the program and university and restoring the Paterno way.

1. Stop the stupid rumors, "I'm leaving when they fire me or I pass away, and not before".
2. Don't hire an assistant who doesn't pledge to be here for 7 years - this isn't a stepping stone.
3. Don't hire an assistant you're not willing to keep for at least 7 years unless something unethical happens.
4. Be enthused about the program and show it.
Paterno is gone. He's not coming back. This is not his program anymore. The current coaches should be allowed to run the program as they see fit. We are very fortunate that Franklin happens to stress a lot of off the field factors as Paterno did, but he does it in his own ways and sets his own standards which is exactly what he should be doing.
  1. No coach can ever say something like this and be truthful. And when he eventually does move on then the same people complaining today about him not making a strong public statement will complain that the coach lied in their prior statement. O'Brien was criticized for exactly that.
  2. No assistant will ever make such a commitment. People change jobs, it's a way of life. 7 years minimum is a ridiculous expectation.
  3. PSU is never going to make such a commitment. They need the ability to change coaches if things aren't working out on the field.
  4. Franklin has a ton of enthusiasm, far more than many of the coaches under Paterno had. Perhaps you miss the days of Galen Hall looking like a propped up dead guy in the press box "Weekend At Bernie's" style?
No offense, but this stuck in the past mindset doesn't help the program and if too many fans, particularly those that are influential boosters, have this mindset it's going to prevent some damn good coaches from coming to PSU. The things you are asking for are long gone and are never coming back. Never. If you don't like that prepare to be forever unhappy as a fan.
 
Give me a smart, hard-working, enthusiastic guy who LOVES his players, his job. That type of guy knows that he really didn't lead if he just came in to leave in 3 years.
LMAO, Franklin is exactly that. And lucky for us, I think he also loves PSU and I believe he's willing to take the steps and have the difficult conversations with the PSU admins to move PSU football into the modern times as a program.
 
,
I don't have any input on PSU keep CJM or not, that is for you to decide. But at the risk of catching some heat from here I don't think there is any doubt if he goes he will try to take recruits with him, think back to his hiring at PSU and the kids he brought in that were Vandy commit.
Completely agree. I have ZERO expectation that this recruiting class stays intact of Franklin takes another job.
 
I think people see what kind of players Ruhle did that with. If I am not mistaken John Lovett was a big part of his last year.....the same John Lovett who shouldn't even see the field for us.
Rhule hasn’t shown that he can recruit at an elite level. He may not be great at evaluating talent based upon the Darnold trade.I like Rhule and root for his success. He isn’t an A list coach though.
 
Wow. Being behind the times is one thing, but what an incredibly insensitive and ridiculous comment.
Oh, no doubt it's insensitive. We all need to pretend that it didn't work out PERFECTLY for her, and that she should be happy. There's 50,000 other women who would gladly take her place.

The comment isn't ridiculous, it's just common sense.

She's the beneficiary of a ridiculously successful man (yes, you go ahead and pretend she contributed with her "support", but smart people know that's just bullshit) and really ought to just support him however he needs.
 
,
I don't have any input on PSU keep CJM or not, that is for you to decide. But at the risk of catching some heat from here I don't think there is any doubt if he goes he will try to take recruits with him, think back to his hiring at PSU and the kids he brought in that were Vandy commit.
I think we all would expect he would. That is how recruiting goes nowadays.
 
Paterno is gone. He's not coming back. This is not his program anymore. The current coaches should be allowed to run the program as they see fit. We are very fortunate that Franklin happens to stress a lot of off the field factors as Paterno did, but he does it in his own ways and sets his own standards which is exactly what he should be doing.
  1. No coach can ever say something like this and be truthful. And when he eventually does move on then the same people complaining today about him not making a strong public statement will complain that the coach lied in their prior statement. O'Brien was criticized for exactly that.
  2. No assistant will ever make such a commitment. People change jobs, it's a way of life. 7 years minimum is a ridiculous expectation.
  3. PSU is never going to make such a commitment. They need the ability to change coaches if things aren't working out on the field.
  4. Franklin has a ton of enthusiasm, far more than many of the coaches under Paterno had. Perhaps you miss the days of Galen Hall looking like a propped up dead guy in the press box "Weekend At Bernie's" style?
No offense, but this stuck in the past mindset doesn't help the program and if too many fans, particularly those that are influential boosters, have this mindset it's going to prevent some damn good coaches from coming to PSU. The things you are asking for are long gone and are never coming back. Never. If you don't like that prepare to be forever unhappy as a fan.
I think at $6 million a year we will attract some high level coaches regardless of what the fans expectations may be and great coaches will accept the challenge of equalling or exceeding a legend. $38.2 miilion over 6 years .... yes, I expect to win ... a lot.
 
Oh, no doubt it's insensitive. We all need to pretend that it didn't work out PERFECTLY for her, and that she should be happy. There's 50,000 other women who would gladly take her place.

The comment isn't ridiculous, it's just common sense.

She's the beneficiary of a ridiculously successful man (yes, you go ahead and pretend she contributed with her "support", but smart people know that's just bullshit) and really ought to just support him however he needs.
Way to double down on your misogynistic comments. You've also done an excellent job attributing something to me which I never stated. Your comments indicate you think she should have no voice in her husband's job and career choices simply because her husband has an incredibly successful and high-paying career. And now you insinuate that because other women might enjoy having such a successful husband she should just fall in line and isn't entitled to any opinions on matters that impact her and her family out of some fear of being replaced?

Is the 89 in your handle referring to 1889? Do you have some problem with women having input on their family life when their husbands are wealthy financial providers?

I've been on this board for over 20 years and I've never directly insulted anyone nor put anyone on ignore since I like to hear opinions from all sides. You're the first, congratulations. You're an a$$hole and welcome to my ignore list.
 
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Way to double down on your misogynistic comments. You've also done an excellent job attributing something to me which I never stated. Your comments indicate you think she should have no voice in her husband's job and career choices simply because her husband has an incredibly successful and high-paying career. And now you insinuate that because other women might enjoy having such a successful husband she should just fall in line and isn't entitled to any opinions on matters that impact her and her family out of some fear of being replaced?

Is the 89 in your handle referring to 1889? Do you have some problem with women having input on their family life when their husbands are wealthy financial providers?

I've been on this board for over 20 years and I've never directly insulted anyone nor put anyone on ignore since I like to hear opinions from all sides. You're the first, congratulations. You're an a$$hole and welcome to my ignore list.
That's completely up to you.

I guess that you get a little put off by people who think that it WAS better before hand.

What we are doing now (and I don't mean in the last year, I mean in the last 30 years) is definitely NOT working.
 
I've been one of his biggest fans through thick and thin, but all good things must come to an end. And this good thing has stopped being good. Even James knows that. You can see it in his thousand-yard stare looking at yet another 4th-quarter failure.

Just one stop. Can't do it. One drive. Can't manage it. It's a familiar story.

He accomplished a lot at Penn State and deserves credit for that. But at the end of the day, his trademark is the inability to seal the deal in big games. Is that his fault? Who knows.

The problem I have with those calling for his head on a platter is their naivete in thinking we can somehow get a guy who will return us to the Glory Days. In fact, if he leaves, he may take a good part of next year's top-5 recruiting class with him. The Glory Days will not return anytime soon...and believe it or not, proven ace coaches are not lining up to come to Happy Valley.

Still, it is what it is. At some point, the time comes to shuffle the cards and deal another hand. I'm pretty sure James wants out. But is he still a hot hire at places like USC or LSU?
Agree Jerry.
 
What is the PSU identity since CJF has arrived? There is none.

Other top teams in the big ten have an ID. O$U and UM are exactly what they say they are. Even M$U has an identity now after two years under MTucker. Wiscy, Iowa, Minnesota, NW. You know what they are.

We Are what after 8 yrs?
Soft
 
I've been one of his biggest fans through thick and thin, but all good things must come to an end. And this good thing has stopped being good. Even James knows that. You can see it in his thousand-yard stare looking at yet another 4th-quarter failure.

Just one stop. Can't do it. One drive. Can't manage it. It's a familiar story.

He accomplished a lot at Penn State and deserves credit for that. But at the end of the day, his trademark is the inability to seal the deal in big games. Is that his fault? Who knows.

The problem I have with those calling for his head on a platter is their naivete in thinking we can somehow get a guy who will return us to the Glory Days. In fact, if he leaves, he may take a good part of next year's top-5 recruiting class with him. The Glory Days will not return anytime soon...and believe it or not, proven ace coaches are not lining up to come to Happy Valley.

Still, it is what it is. At some point, the time comes to shuffle the cards and deal another hand. I'm pretty sure James wants out. But is he still a hot hire at places like USC or LSU?
game day coaching has been horrible. Every week there are one or two plays that you can look at and say, 95% of the coaches out there would not make that call. This week, up 3-0, he calls a fake FG. I, and 95% of coaches would have kicked and made it 6-0 at home. He is not a game day coach, and PSU needs to move on! 2-12 against top 10 teams, nothing more needs to be said!
 
game day coaching has been horrible. Every week there are one or two plays that you can look at and say, 95% of the coaches out there would not make that call. This week, up 3-0, he calls a fake FG. I, and 95% of coaches would have kicked and made it 6-0 at home. He is not a game day coach, and PSU needs to move on! 2-12 against top 10 teams, nothing more needs to be said!
Going for it there is fine. The fake fg call was really bad, and the execution was worse.

afterward Franklin said/implied they faked because they’ve been horrible at short yardage this year. That is a huge failure in and of itself, compounded with a bad call.
 
2-12 against top 10 teams, nothing more needs to be said!
Now post the records of realistic possibilities for the next PSU coach against ranked teams and top 10 opponents. Rhule never won either. Most (I think 6-7) of those top 10 losses are against OSU which means every other team in the conference has the same result for that opponent, but one difference is Franklin has actually been competitive against OSU unlike most of the conference.
 
Good Coaches can either recruit or develop/gameplan. Great coaches can do both.

Right now James is just a good coach because he can recruit at a decently high level. But you have to do something when you get them AND you have to be able to coach in game adjustments, etc.....

James record is good and won't be great until he can do both.

My question is this: what are all the other assistants noted for?

MY
Pry
Seider- recruit, jury out on develop.
Stubblefield- coach, jury out on recruit.
Traut
Howle

John Scott
Terry Smith
Poindexter
Lorig
 
Franklin will need to hit the portal for 2022. We will need QB (if Clifford doesn’t return), OL, DT, and DE. Allar will need a year to develop. I was a huge fan of Trautwein when we hired him. But our OL has gotten worse with him coaching.
 
Franklin will need to hit the portal for 2022. We will need QB (if Clifford doesn’t return), OL, DT, and DE. Allar will need a year to develop. I was a huge fan of Trautwein when we hired him. But our OL has gotten worse with him coaching.
Or was the previous regime bad at recruiting. That is my point here.....how can a guy take 2 and 3 star guys at Boston College and make them all ACC and not be able to develop 3 and 4 star guys in to much more then serviceable. And serviceable is even being nice.
 
Completely agree. I have ZERO expectation that this recruiting class stays intact of Franklin takes another job.
No doubt. Just curious, what is your expectation that the class stays intact if Franklin stays? It seems that a majority of posters have considered everybody a lock. I'm thinking there will be some de-commits and some of those could be critical.
 
Now post the records of realistic possibilities for the next PSU coach against ranked teams and top 10 opponents. Rhule never won either. Most (I think 6-7) of those top 10 losses are against OSU which means every other team in the conference has the same result for that opponent, but one difference is Franklin has actually been competitive against OSU unlike most of the conference.

ruhles got two top 25 wins and has never beaten a team ranked higher than 20. Both wins while at temple. No ranked wins at Baylor, including the year they got up to 8.
 
Way to double down on your misogynistic comments. You've also done an excellent job attributing something to me which I never stated. Your comments indicate you think she should have no voice in her husband's job and career choices simply because her husband has an incredibly successful and high-paying career. And now you insinuate that because other women might enjoy having such a successful husband she should just fall in line and isn't entitled to any opinions on matters that impact her and her family out of some fear of being replaced?

Is the 89 in your handle referring to 1889? Do you have some problem with women having input on their family life when their husbands are wealthy financial providers?

I've been on this board for over 20 years and I've never directly insulted anyone nor put anyone on ignore since I like to hear opinions from all sides. You're the first, congratulations. You're an a$$hole and welcome to my ignore list

There is nothing misogynistic about his comment. I suspect that if Franklin's wife made $6 million a year as a head coach and he was a stay at home dad who wanted to leave State College, PSUEngineer 89 would say the same thing about him. Any spouse in this situation who would force a change of scenery has some issues which should be addressed in counseling.
 
No doubt. Just curious, what is your expectation that the class stays intact if Franklin stays? It seems that a majority of posters have considered everybody a lock. I'm thinking there will be some de-commits and some of those could be critical.
I actually think the in-region guys will stay locked in because they know the aura of Penn State University. These are guys that believe in Franklin, but also believe in Penn State. I also believe the guys out of the region will bolt. They are obviously coming for Franklin and if he isn't here then they have no reason to pass a million other schools to come to Penn State.
 
No doubt. Just curious, what is your expectation that the class stays intact if Franklin stays? It seems that a majority of posters have considered everybody a lock. I'm thinking there will be some de-commits and some of those could be critical.
I'm no insider, but my perception from the outside is that there's a lot of confidence that the top verbals stick with PSU. Losing a few recruits wouldn't be a shock given what we're seeing on the field but nobody seems too concerned. I also think Franklin is staying and likely had already indicated as much to the recruits and players. I believe he's been negotiating for something other than his own pay, and I have seen a couple of small hints here and there (nothing that I bookmarked or that's really worth sharing) that an announcement about something could be coming somewhat soon.
 
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I'm no insider, but my perception from the outside is that there's a lot of confidence that the top verbals stick with PSU. Losing a few recruits wouldn't be a shock given what we're seeing on the field but nobody seems too concerned. I also think Franklin is staying and likely had already indicated as much to the recruits and players. I believe he's been negotiating some something other than his own pay, and I have seen a couple of small hints here and there (nothing that I bookmarked or that's really worth sharing) that an announcement about something could be coming somewhat soon.
I also think this. If he is as honest with his recruits as he says he is then they know what is going on. If he were serious about another position in the nation I think you would have seen a few others seriously looking around and visiting. And I also go back to this: Say the Jordan Allen situation. Say he got dropped because he visited Ole Miss. All he has to say is "if Franklin can look around, why can't I" but noone has ever gone there.
 
There is nothing misogynistic about his comment. I suspect that if Franklin's wife made $6 million a year as a head coach and he was a stay at home dad who wanted to leave State College, PSUEngineer 89 would say the same thing about him. Any spouse in this situation who would force a change of scenery has some issues which should be addressed in counseling.
I'm not speculating about what he might say about some other hypothetical scenario. I'm talking about what he actually did say about a real scenario. Essentially he has said that because Franklin is rich and successful Fumi should know her place, remain quiet, shouldn't opine too strongly because she's easily replaceable, and therefore should fall in line with what James says. When given the opportunity to clarify that's not what he meant, he doubled down on it. It's clearly a bullshit opinion and is mysogynistic and my feed is better off without him.
 
I actually think the in-region guys will stay locked in because they know the aura of Penn State University. These are guys that believe in Franklin, but also believe in Penn State. I also believe the guys out of the region will bolt. They are obviously coming for Franklin and if he isn't here then they have no reason to pass a million other schools to come to Penn State.
Thanks for the input. My question was more what happens if Franklin stays. Given what we have seen on the field, the "aura of Penn State University" is a bit tarnished. I'm hesitant to equate a verbal to seeing them on the field, I'll believe it when they sign on the dotted line.
 
Thanks for the input. My question was more what happens if Franklin stays. Given what we have seen on the field, the "aura of Penn State University" is a bit tarnished. I'm hesitant to equate a verbal to seeing them on the field, I'll believe it when they sign on the dotted line.
I think they stay because all of these kids have been sold a penn state with jff at the helm and with the thought that they can be the change and they can be the difference makers. A lot of the kids we have signed probably believe they have a great chance to see the field sooner at PSU.
 
Paterno is gone. He's not coming back. This is not his program anymore. The current coaches should be allowed to run the program as they see fit. We are very fortunate that Franklin happens to stress a lot of off the field factors as Paterno did, but he does it in his own ways and sets his own standards which is exactly what he should be doing.
  1. No coach can ever say something like this and be truthful. And when he eventually does move on then the same people complaining today about him not making a strong public statement will complain that the coach lied in their prior statement. O'Brien was criticized for exactly that.
  2. No assistant will ever make such a commitment. People change jobs, it's a way of life. 7 years minimum is a ridiculous expectation.
  3. PSU is never going to make such a commitment. They need the ability to change coaches if things aren't working out on the field.
  4. Franklin has a ton of enthusiasm, far more than many of the coaches under Paterno had. Perhaps you miss the days of Galen Hall looking like a propped up dead guy in the press box "Weekend At Bernie's" style?
No offense, but this stuck in the past mindset doesn't help the program and if too many fans, particularly those that are influential boosters, have this mindset it's going to prevent some damn good coaches from coming to PSU. The things you are asking for are long gone and are never coming back. Never. If you don't like that prepare to be forever unhappy as a fan.
One of the best posts I’ve seen in a while.
 
ruhles got two top 25 wins and has never beaten a team ranked higher than 20. Both wins while at temple. No ranked wins at Baylor, including the year they got up to 8.
He just deafeated tbe NFL’s best team…on the road…and easily…with part of a QB that was bagging groceries last week. Does that count for anything. Or the fact that he was hired as an NFL coach…but would the league know about being a good coach?
 
I'm not speculating about what he might say about some other hypothetical scenario. I'm talking about what he actually did say about a real scenario. Essentially he has said that because Franklin is rich and successful Fumi should know her place, remain quiet, shouldn't opine too strongly because she's easily replaceable, and therefore should fall in line with what James says. When given the opportunity to clarify that's not what he meant, he doubled down on it. It's clearly a bullshit opinion and is mysogynistic and my feed is better off without him.
So if I agree with him, but would also criticize Franklin if the roles were reversed, would I be misogynistic; or would you be able to see that my opinion had nothing to do with the sex of the people involved, but rather how 2 individuals interact in a relationship?
 
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