Franklin may not be good enough to win a national championship at PSU, but his replacement(s) could be a whole lot worse.
Helton is toast.....
- Thread starter marshall23
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Franklin may not be good enough to win a national championship at PSU, but his replacement(s) could be a whole lot worse.
He‘s right though. Notre Dame has made the playoff twice for god‘s sake…and we have just kinda sorta sniffed it in 2016 and 2017 ….and choked like dogs.
And yes, the replacement could be worse. Or he could be better. That’s the wonder of the unknown. Goes the same with second wives too.
USC has managed to screw this thing up before it even started.
No coach with a current college job is going to be able to entertain the idea...which puts them with a hire at the end of the season. Lot of unused recruiting time there which puts a new coach immediately behind the 8 ball.
I look for this coach to come from the professional ranks, not the college ranks.
And for those that think JFF is gone....due to the taxes USC would have to pay him about 13 million in order to make the move worth it.
No coach with a current college job is going to be able to entertain the idea...which puts them with a hire at the end of the season. Lot of unused recruiting time there which puts a new coach immediately behind the 8 ball.
I look for this coach to come from the professional ranks, not the college ranks.
And for those that think JFF is gone....due to the taxes USC would have to pay him about 13 million in order to make the move worth it.
Most other blue blooded programs don't play by the same rules as Penn State. He probably is good enough to win elsewhere, but not Penn State. Few are.
When a school depends on filling a 107,00 seat stadium to pay for its bloated athletic department and Molly's Art Museum it tends to be risk averse.
And we’re finally somewhat over the stink of the Sandusky scandal, but let’s just ignore that.
That is BS. Penn State was good enough at least once per decade. 94, 04, 08 and had Bill O'Brien stayed 14. If we could I would drive Franklin to USC in the off season and bring O'Brien back in a heart beat. So would you if you are being honest.
Absolutely not and I like O’Brien. He hated to recruit. He hated dealing with the college related things he had to. He does not want to be a college HC, he wants to be a NFL HC again.
No way would I take O’Brien over Franklin and OB would have won 7 games in 2014. No way you believe all the sh!t you post. And I could say we were good enough in 16 under Franklin. List all the years you want, bottom line is we haven’t won a NC in 35 years.
He's a local guy with a great NFL resume and probably wouldn't cost 10 million a year. Kinda nuts in his younger days though.
He'd load the staff with NFL assistant coaches which would sell there.
Franklin's name has swirled around the USC job for three years, and the one time he spoke directly on the subject a few years ago, in answer to a reporter's questions, it was in the form of a non-denial denial of interest.
Then again, no matter what your profession and how valued you are by your current employer, if a high-profile company calls and says they want to talk to you about an attractive offer, are you going to say, no, not interested, don't want to hear it. Not likely.
Franklin is the hottest potential coaching property in college football. Meyer would be above him, but he's not currently in college football. And Swinney and Saban are not "potential" because everyone knows they're not going anywhere.
As for USC, it may not be the program of yore, but it still ranks highly on the glamour and prestige scale. Plus CJF has learned the hard way that the deck is stacked in the Big Suck. He also knows that USC has no such issue. Just the opposite in fact. This factor could be big.
That said, he's working on what could be the top recruiting class in the country even as early signs point to something special on the field this year. Plus the Buckeyes are suddenly looking vulnerable. Ryan Day may be good, but he's no Urban Meyer. And there are other variables that have changed in the last few years to argue against the idea of Franklin taking a job like USC.
In any case, since Helton was fired, every media list I've seen has Franklin's name on it. Pure speculation, but the rumor mill will grind for the entire season. When all is said and done, I don't think Franklin is going anywhere and certainly hope he doesn't. But nobody should kid themselves about the possibility if the stars were to align.
Everything you said about Franklin also applies to Harbaugh plus Harbaugh had success out west….wonder why his name isn’t on all these lists, but Franklin’s is.
Getting out from the shadow of OSU in our division would be a bigger concern if playoff expansion was inevitable at this point. That really lessens the pull of a place like USC over Penn State IMO. Franklin doesn't necessarily have to get past OSU to make the playoff anymore. Well, soon he won't once the numbers expand.
Interesting statement and contrast. Says something about Franklin or the PSU HC job or both. Or maybe it's entirely inaccurate.
You don't think USC can conjure up $13MM? They were willing to eat the $12MM payout to Helton for firing him - given some of the deep pockets of USC alums and Board, it's not that much of an ask.
That would just be what you had to pay Franklin per year so he could bring home roughly the same amount that he does living in PA.....thats only from a taxes standpoint, not even mentioning cost of living.
Do you think James Franklin is 4 million dollars better than Nick Saban?
Dan Patrick reporting today that their is “mutual interest” between Franklin and USC. Patrick claims to have a source within the USC administration.
Dan Patrick has literally said the same thing every offseason.
I will say, this year in year out "mutual interest" is so old. Is it nudging the admin for more money, facilities, staff, budget? It's getting absurd. This week is huge for our program - primetime game vs. the SEC, whiteout, 300+ recruits coming to town, we have #1 recruiting class. What a f*cking distraction. I don't know if Franklin would take it or not, but it's become a huge distraction and it's not fair to the program as it prepares this week. It is so old.
I will say, this year in year out "mutual interest" is so old. Is it nudging the admin for more money, facilities, staff, budget? It's getting absurd. This week is huge for our program - primetime game vs. the SEC, whiteout, 300+ recruits coming to town, we have #1 recruiting class. What a f*cking distraction. I don't know if Franklin would take it or not, but it's become a huge distraction and it's not fair to the program as it prepares this week. It is so old.
Hypothetically speaking, if CJF were to move on, how would you feel about Mike Yurcich taking over? I know he's never been a head coach before, but you've got to start somewhere and this OC gig is going to be short lived as hot a commodity has he's been.
After USC approaches and fails to attract many of the top coaching names in CFB, I expect USC to hire Eric Bieniemy. I also expect Bieniemy to fail rather spectacularly at USC.
Im with you.....and I have said this a million times on here.....at some point you have to call his bluff and say go ahead man....you have it pretty good here, but if you think it is so great elsewhere, pack your bags. I am sure the line for his job would be pretty big. If Franklin leaves you aren't getting the guy from Clarion or Lock Haven.
I’ve had it with this nonsense. Coach Franklin has done a good job at PSU, yes. But at what point does Nittany Nation say “you want to leave - then leave”. It’s not like he’s been a world-beater, though he’s certainly paid to be one. We can find another head coach that can go 1- 6 against Ohio State. What sux is the distraction to the TEAM, and the uncertainty, if any, to current and future recruits of what is looking like a great class. Is this “mutual interest” kabuki theater going to be an annual performance? Didn’t the Board of Trustees just approve $48 million for upgraded football facilities? I’d sat Coach Franklin has been treated darn well at Penn State.
It's not for me to say how much he is worth - if USC thinks he is, then they will pay him accordingly.
But, don't think for a minute that USC can't get the money.
Fair question. I think Franklin has a vibe around him that Harbaugh lacks. Plus Harbaugh's star has dimmed after the last few years of Michigan's lackluster performance.
Weirdly, you never hear David Shaw’s name come up for big time coaching vacancies. I get his ties to Stanford, but he’d be on my short list if Franklin ever left PSU.
I think USC would be largely lauded for hiring Bienemy, but it’s risky since he’s never been a HC. You really need someone who ‘gets’ program building and sustainability at the college level - I also think EB has his eyes on the NFL and given what lies OB said when he was hired at PSU, I’d maybe pass despite his success in KC.
I think USC would be largely lauded for hiring Bienemy, but it’s risky since he’s never been a HC. You really need someone who ‘gets’ program building and sustainability at the college level - I also think EB has his eyes on the NFL and given what lies OB said when he was hired at PSU, I’d maybe pass despite his success in KC.
It's a subjective opinion, that's for sure, shaped by my own bias as a Franklin fan for a long time.
The man has his flaws -- who doesn't -- but you can't gainsay the record: bringing respectability and success to an SEC doormat...and returning Penn State to (almost) elite status in the face of major headwinds.
And then there's the intangible qualities he brings to the table, which make him one of the best recruiters in the country.
That's why If you take Saban, Swinney, and Meyer off the table...and schools in the market for a coach were told they could magically have any guy they wanted...I think Franklin would be at or near the top of most lists. Again, a subjective opinion...and maybe off-base.
In any case, I hate that now these rumors will be swirling around all freakin' year. Because the media won't let it go. I think he handled it pretty well yesterday by shutting down the entire subject. A categorical statement of non-interest would obviously be better, but it may not be realistic to expect that.
USC's AD Bohn was the AD at Colorado when Bieniemy was the OC there. Those Colorado teams were really bad, but Bohn might have attributed the problems to the HC Embree and not Bieniemy. Though in my view, Bieniemy was a big part of the problem. Maybe he has gotten better since that time.
one thing to look at is cost of living between USC and PSU. I grew up in State College. A 2 million $ house in state college is pretty freaking nice. I live in San Diego now. A 2 million dollar house in a nice area of southern cal isn’t all that special. Frankly in some of the nicer beach areas in LA, a 2 million $ house is a nice 1800 sq ft condo.
guessing Franklin has plenty of money to have a nice life in either place. But the cost of living in LA is exponentially higher than it is in State College.
with the state of Penn St. we could get just about any other coach we wanted - minus a few like Saban or Dabo.
guessing Franklin has plenty of money to have a nice life in either place. But the cost of living in LA is exponentially higher than it is in State College.
with the state of Penn St. we could get just about any other coach we wanted - minus a few like Saban or Dabo.
That's $13mm p.a. (though they probably wouldn't have to go that high) v a one time charge of $12mm (heard it might be $10mm, but let's not quibble over a measly $2mm) that will be paid out in lump sum or installments. And then there is what Franklin will demand for staff (and not limited to assistants), recruiting budget, etc.
Housing is the major difference, but keep in mind that a house is an asset that ordinarily retains value. Other living costs are higher, but "exponentially." Nah.
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