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Urban M hypothetical

MacNit07

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Aug 5, 2017
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If Urban were hired, how long until Penn State were a perennial playoff team?

I’d say by year 2. He’s done even better with less.
 
If Urban were hired, how long until Penn State were a perennial playoff team?

I’d say by year 2. He’s done even better with less.
I have always held that the coach that gets us to the playoffs will be Franklin's replacement, and it won't take long. The 2015 to 16 transition was entirely due to Sandy firing John Donovan and shaking up the offensive staff. Franklin brought in Joe Moorhead, a pragmatic coordinator who adapted a series of philosophies to the talent on hand rather than shove it into a mold and things happened fairly quickly. While the base of talent a new coach would have is lower in terms of playmakers, the QB position is much better than what Joe had to work with post-Hackenberg.
 
If Urb had been hired it would have been 2 months for him getting caught doing a cheer leader, six months till the program reached 25 player arrests, and 6 months till a PSU player shot someone on campus.
 
I have always held that the coach that gets us to the playoffs will be Franklin's replacement, and it won't take long. The 2015 to 16 transition was entirely due to Sandy firing John Donovan and shaking up the offensive staff. Franklin brought in Joe Moorhead, a pragmatic coordinator who adapted a series of philosophies to the talent on hand rather than shove it into a mold and things happened fairly quickly. While the base of talent a new coach would have is lower in terms of playmakers, the QB position is much better than what Joe had to work with post-Hackenberg.
Barbour fired Donovan and shook up the offensive staff? “Learn” something every day
 
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Barbour fired Donovan and shook up the offensive staff? “Learn” something every day
This is common knowledge in the athletic department and amongst the lettermen. Franklin refused to fire him or shake up the staff. Sandy made him.
 
This is common knowledge in the athletic department and amongst the lettermen. Franklin refused to fire him or shake up the staff. Sandy made him.
well, he was fired in the locker room after the last game of that season. a 55-6 loss to Sparty. If CJF had to be convinced after that debacle it is hard to imagine.
 
well, he was fired in the locker room after the last game of that season. a 55-6 loss to Sparty. If CJF had to be convinced after that debacle it is hard to imagine.
It is hard to imagine that Franklin refused to fire the most incompetent coach in America but he urged to do so midway through the 2014 campaign and he refused. He refused after the season. It is common knowledge that Sandy made him do it.
 
I'd rather lose with Franklin than win with Urban. Character should still matter at the university and beyond.
So true. I would rather lose the right way with Franklin than win the wrong way with Urban Liar.
 
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If Urban were hired, how long until Penn State were a perennial playoff team?

I’d say by year 2. He’s done even better with less.
Believe you are correct...2-3 years.
But you also have to ask the follow-up question....How long until he left under clouded circumstances and would the program be okay? tOSU didn't miss a beat. UF... not so much.
 
IDK about him being coach at PSU but living in Ohio, I came to believe he's one of the best college coaches I've ever seen. One of the elements I haven't heard from a coach was about how to use momentum. He often spoke about being in the sideline and sensing momentum. Sometimes it is just a big hit, a penalty or a bench kid making a nice play. He spoke about getting two dozen kids pumped up. the idea that you can overplay your hand. And you have to be able to sense momentum, or lack thereof, of mo coming from the other side. You have to be judicious about when to sense and exploit the momentum because you can mentally exhaust the kids. He had a "go for the throat" mentality and is really plugged into when you do this and when you should not. I thought this was one of the best reviews of the mental part of the game I'd ever heard. This is something CJF lacks, IMHO, as we've given up solid leads and lost games late way too many times.
 
IDK about him being coach at PSU but living in Ohio, I came to believe he's one of the best college coaches I've ever seen. One of the elements I haven't heard from a coach was about how to use momentum. He often spoke about being in the sideline and sensing momentum. Sometimes it is just a big hit, a penalty or a bench kid making a nice play. He spoke about getting two dozen kids pumped up. the idea that you can overplay your hand. And you have to be able to sense momentum, or lack thereof, of mo coming from the other side. You have to be judicious about when to sense and exploit the momentum because you can mentally exhaust the kids. He had a "go for the throat" mentality and is really plugged into when you do this and when you should not. I thought this was one of the best reviews of the mental part of the game I'd ever heard. This is something CJF lacks, IMHO, as we've given up solid leads and lost games late way too many times.
This is actually a very interesting topic. The great ones have it, the rest don't. If you want to see a great example in a real life situation, look at Nebraska. When Tom Osbourne where there, he had control of the offense. He had a "feel" for play calling, taking into account both tactical advantages and momentum. He knew when and how to attack. Good lucking stopping them when he was right even though you knew exactly what they were doing. Contrast that to the Frank Stolich teams which featured similar talent.

Stolich didn't have the feel and they were never the same. The same happened to Notre Dame when Skip Holtz left for UConn (it must be noted that Urban's offensive wizardry was mostly pioneered by Skip Holtz when he modernized their offense when Tony Rice left and Rick Meyer came in. Even though Skip was gone, Urban Meyer learned this offense early in his career.

For a Penn State example, look at the transition from Shoop to Pry. Pry never had the feel for play calling that Shoop has. Same for Moorhead to Rahne. Ricky ran the offense as is for two years. The only real difference was starting Clifford his second season which opened up the passing game significantly. Momentum is huge and the great ones manage it through play calling. Franklin doesn't have it and has tried to disrupt it through some questionable methods.

Trigger warning for the Kool-Aid drinkers. Iowa fans were right to be mad. They went overboard but other than PJ and Cliff's injuries, several of our players went down under rather dubious circumstances. It was obvious to anyone actually watching the game. Other than PJ, pretty much every defensive player that went down went down on momentum turning plays and came back almost immediately. That is a major red flag. Iowa knew it. They went overboard but their weren't wrong either.
 
This is actually a very interesting topic. The great ones have it, the rest don't. If you want to see a great example in a real life situation, look at Nebraska. When Tom Osbourne where there, he had control of the offense. He had a "feel" for play calling, taking into account both tactical advantages and momentum. He knew when and how to attack. Good lucking stopping them when he was right even though you knew exactly what they were doing. Contrast that to the Frank Stolich teams which featured similar talent.

Stolich didn't have the feel and they were never the same. The same happened to Notre Dame when Skip Holtz left for UConn (it must be noted that Urban's offensive wizardry was mostly pioneered by Skip Holtz when he modernized their offense when Tony Rice left and Rick Meyer came in. Even though Skip was gone, Urban Meyer learned this offense early in his career.

For a Penn State example, look at the transition from Shoop to Pry. Pry never had the feel for play calling that Shoop has. Same for Moorhead to Rahne. Ricky ran the offense as is for two years. The only real difference was starting Clifford his second season which opened up the passing game significantly. Momentum is huge and the great ones manage it through play calling. Franklin doesn't have it and has tried to disrupt it through some questionable methods.

Trigger warning for the Kool-Aid drinkers. Iowa fans were right to be mad. They went overboard but other than PJ and Cliff's injuries, several of our players went down under rather dubious circumstances. It was obvious to anyone actually watching the game. Other than PJ, pretty much every defensive player that went down went down on momentum turning plays and came back almost immediately. That is a major red flag. Iowa knew it. They went overboard but their weren't wrong either.
on the Iowa injuries, in my opinion this is no different than offensive holding. It is really just an opinion based on how that crew calls it. Kids get hurt on almost every single play. If the refs thought the injuries were pretending, the knew what to do.
 
on the Iowa injuries, in my opinion this is no different than offensive holding. It is really just an opinion based on how that crew calls it. Kids get hurt on almost every single play. If the refs thought the injuries were pretending, the knew what to do.
You can't call everything but the timing and how quickly a few of our defenders ran back on the field with no impact was very suspicious. Offensive holding is more interesting. Simple fact, in the college game, with the number of officials, where they are physically located on the field and their primary and secondary responsibilities, offensive holding is very hard to call, especially in the spread era where bubble screens, run pass options plays put a lot of bodies in between the head linemen and line judge on every play.

Combined, they are responsible for enforcing most offensive holding rules. Interior linemen have always had largely free play because they are mostly invisible to the head linemen and line judge unless they hold on a clear path to the ball carrier. The referee will occasionally throw this flag but they are mostly consumed with player safety in today's game, not holding. While the rules are very clear, without an additional official in the backfield to help out, offensive holding will remain an issue for the long haul. People love to blame officials, but for the most part, the game has evolved past what officials can actually enforce.
 
How long after hiring Coach Wally as HFC and McNut as OC would it take to win a natty?
 
This is actually a very interesting topic. The great ones have it, the rest don't. If you want to see a great example in a real life situation, look at Nebraska. When Tom Osbourne where there, he had control of the offense. He had a "feel" for play calling, taking into account both tactical advantages and momentum. He knew when and how to attack. Good lucking stopping them when he was right even though you knew exactly what they were doing. Contrast that to the Frank Stolich teams which featured similar talent.

Stolich didn't have the feel and they were never the same. The same happened to Notre Dame when Skip Holtz left for UConn (it must be noted that Urban's offensive wizardry was mostly pioneered by Skip Holtz when he modernized their offense when Tony Rice left and Rick Meyer came in. Even though Skip was gone, Urban Meyer learned this offense early in his career.

For a Penn State example, look at the transition from Shoop to Pry. Pry never had the feel for play calling that Shoop has. Same for Moorhead to Rahne. Ricky ran the offense as is for two years. The only real difference was starting Clifford his second season which opened up the passing game significantly. Momentum is huge and the great ones manage it through play calling. Franklin doesn't have it and has tried to disrupt it through some questionable methods.

Trigger warning for the Kool-Aid drinkers. Iowa fans were right to be mad. They went overboard but other than PJ and Cliff's injuries, several of our players went down under rather dubious circumstances. It was obvious to anyone actually watching the game. Other than PJ, pretty much every defensive player that went down went down on momentum turning plays and came back almost immediately. That is a major red flag. Iowa knew it. They went overboard but their weren't wrong either.
Agreed Shoop has been a tremendous success everywhere he has been - what a let down to Pry. :)
 
This is actually a very interesting topic. The great ones have it, the rest don't. If you want to see a great example in a real life situation, look at Nebraska. When Tom Osbourne where there, he had control of the offense. He had a "feel" for play calling, taking into account both tactical advantages and momentum. He knew when and how to attack. Good lucking stopping them when he was right even though you knew exactly what they were doing. Contrast that to the Frank Stolich teams which featured similar talent.

Stolich didn't have the feel and they were never the same. The same happened to Notre Dame when Skip Holtz left for UConn (it must be noted that Urban's offensive wizardry was mostly pioneered by Skip Holtz when he modernized their offense when Tony Rice left and Rick Meyer came in. Even though Skip was gone, Urban Meyer learned this offense early in his career.

For a Penn State example, look at the transition from Shoop to Pry. Pry never had the feel for play calling that Shoop has. Same for Moorhead to Rahne. Ricky ran the offense as is for two years. The only real difference was starting Clifford his second season which opened up the passing game significantly. Momentum is huge and the great ones manage it through play calling. Franklin doesn't have it and has tried to disrupt it through some questionable methods.

Trigger warning for the Kool-Aid drinkers. Iowa fans were right to be mad. They went overboard but other than PJ and Cliff's injuries, several of our players went down under rather dubious circumstances. It was obvious to anyone actually watching the game. Other than PJ, pretty much every defensive player that went down went down on momentum turning plays and came back almost immediately. That is a major red flag. Iowa knew it. They went overboard but their weren't wrong either.

Nebraska lost their foothold on CA and FL skill players and defenders plus losing out on the juiced OLs.

Replacing Osborne was always going to be a task, but Solich was 58-19. Osborne never lost more than 3 games while head coach. Not even Saban can say that (although it's only happened once since he's been at Bama).

Pry's career trajectory has been better than Shoop's. If Shoop were this magical play caller, he'd be somewhere other than South Florida I'd think. Pry was loyal and patient and flipped it into a P5 HC gig. Shoop has been on a downward slope since leaving PSU.
 
If I remember correctly, the rumor was that Joe wanted Urban at Penn State to follow him starting in 2012. Not sure if it was a done deal or not, but we all know what happened in Nov. 2011. I do not recall the exact rumor/circumstances.
Urban has won everywhere he’s been. I do think he’s a scumbag. I also believe people are much more forgiving when you win. It wouldn’t take him very long to regularly be in the playoffs at Penn State. My guess is many of the holier than thou crowd would become Urban apologists if he were here.
 
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It is hard to imagine that Franklin refused to fire the most incompetent coach in America but he urged to do so midway through the 2014 campaign and he refused. He refused after the season. It is common knowledge that Sandy made him do it.
There you go just making stuff up again.
 
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If Urban were hired, how long until Penn State were a perennial playoff team?

I’d say by year 2. He’s done even better with less.
We don't need Urban and his ego and baggage. If we hired his OC that made his reputation Dan Mullen, we would be back in the thick of things in two years and we would have the top ranked QB in the conference. Mullen is a NE guy too. He would be the perfect fit!
 
Hiring Meyer may bring relatively quick success but with his history I’d always be waiting for the shoe to drop with some sort of scandal or sanctions. That type of success just isn’t worth it.
 
I'd rather lose with Franklin than win with Urban. Character should still matter at the university and beyond.
I agree. Meyer is not who we want, he has shown who he is and it is embarrassing.
 
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