Well since Kraft said the standard is winning Big and National Championships I deserve no less right?
Do you agree with Franklin and Saban?
- Thread starter NorthwesternFan51234
- Start date
He didn’t “start the year off slow.” He told the world this was his most talented team ever — players and coaches — and then shat the bed once again in a big game, then had two consecutive historically bad losses (NCAA historically bad). At that point, the season was over with respect to the expectations he created with his braggadocio. There would be no BIG championship, no playoffs, no national title. There were, however, a couple of guaranteed losses and, after the UCLA and NW debacles, no guaranteed wins. His gazillion dollar coordinators both sucked, the roster is thin at multiple positions, and oh yeah, the OL and WR coaches also suck. Unfair my a$$
I posted this in another thread ... my thoughts:
I don't think James came across very good on his ESPN Game Day appearance. During his appearance, he did not take responsibility, acted clueless (being surprised), and came across as the victim. Those 3 traits would make me very hesitant to hire him or anyone else who displays those traits. I want a coach who is not clueless and takes responsibility.
I always supported James but not after the UCLA and NW games. The team had zero fire and had more talent than both of them. It was time for the necessary change. I think less of James after his appearance.
His comment about winning a National Championship elsewhere was telling. Why didn't he do it here? He had all the required support.
Leopards do not change their spots.
I don't think James came across very good on his ESPN Game Day appearance. During his appearance, he did not take responsibility, acted clueless (being surprised), and came across as the victim. Those 3 traits would make me very hesitant to hire him or anyone else who displays those traits. I want a coach who is not clueless and takes responsibility.
I always supported James but not after the UCLA and NW games. The team had zero fire and had more talent than both of them. It was time for the necessary change. I think less of James after his appearance.
His comment about winning a National Championship elsewhere was telling. Why didn't he do it here? He had all the required support.
Leopards do not change their spots.
Some say what a great recruiter he was, but it is shocking at how bad the depth is at several positions on this team, including qb, d-line and linebacker. Based on this, I believe that he totally mangled the recruiting in recent years. This is why you always have to take recruiting rankings with a grain of salt.
Saban said it was un fair, and he was right.
A fair would have cotton candy, blue ribbons, crafts, and/or carnival rides. None of that was present when JF was fired. Totally unfair.
Mr. Lindbergh, my high school calculus teacher, used to say it is impossible to define the word fair without referencing baseball. This conversation usually happened a day or two after an exam.
Saban is a hack. This was total fluff piece by ESPiN. Saban has the same agent as Franklin, Jimmy Sexton. Sexton represents 14 of the top 16 highest paid college coaches. I am sure Sexton had some influence over the ESPiN piece. I am sure there is more that went on behind the scenes then we know about that soured Franklin's relationship with PSU.
The difference was PSU had 2 assistant coaches worthy of being a head coach.....Terry Smith and Anthony Poindexter....so your oar analogy isn’t accurant.
So far this year:
Nevada 1-6, (11th in Mountain West)
FIU 3-3, (6th Conference USA)
Villanova 5-2, (3rd Coastal Athletic Assoc.)
7 games into the 2025 season with a record of 3-4 and the best win is over Villanova.
Last edited:
He is not a great recruiter. He is overrated in that area. He can't recruit elite defensive linemen, nor WRs and his QB recruiting is average. His LB recruiting is also average.
Please tell us what he was supposed to say….i will never win a NC anywhere because the only place I had a shot was PSU? Yeah, that would have been a great answer. He will have multiple offers.
He used that leverage to secure things for the program, not just himself. The program is better off long term, regardless of whom is head coach, because of some of the actions taken by Franklin.
Saddle up, because rumor is they are prepared to make the next coach the highest paid in the nation.
If he did in fact go over Kraft's head for a contract extension, the termination was too kind. If anyone working for me did the same, he would be a gone Johnson on the spot. That is a complete breach of trust.
That, too, would be a mistake.
I would, instead, proposal a ‘decent’ salary but load it up with incentives over the first three years to help protect if we didn’t pick ‘the right guy’
I'm sure it depends who they are able to get. If it's a splash hire, let's use Saban as an example even though we know he's not coming, then you pay him the most. If it's Rhule, hell no. In fact I'd lowball Rhule as he's probably willing to do the job for less than almost anyone else. Doing an incentive heavy contract for someone like him would be much smarter, let the FNG bet on themselves and win those big games before they get paid.
Who cares if he gets "multiple offers"?
The summary of his interview was legit. He failed to take accountability which has always been part of the problem and why results continued. He never changed because he didn't think he was wrong.
I hope he goes somewhere else and has success (as long as he's not having success against us) but his time was done. Good luck to whomever hires him--it's a safe bet they won't be winning many big games.
Maybe, or maybe not. It depends on where he ends up. It’s different winning a big game against Miami or Oklahoma than it is Ohio State or Michigan at its peak.
He takes accountability all the time, just not to the level some of you want him to.
Like blaming the OC over and over and over again instead of taking ownership and accountability for the piss poor offense?
Please tell me what he’s supposed to say, “I suck. I don’t deserve a head coaching job. All the entitled fans are right.” Give me a break. Monday morning coaches are never wrong.
Here you go again with the entitled fans crap. I've never once said he needed to win a title. He could have gone 10-2 or even 9-3 this year losing to elite teams and I would have wanted him back for 2026.
He shouldn't be using travel as an excuse, he shouldn't use injuries as an excuse (used both with the UCLA loss), he shouldn't be blaming anything or anyone other than himself. He's fully responsible. His press conference after UCLA was the beginning on the end because he didn't take ownership then he made it worse after NW.
He deserved to be fired. That has nothing to do with anyone being entitled. He was given everything he wanted this year including the DC he wanted and failed miserably losing back to back games against team he was favored by 20+ against. See what Indiana is doing to UCLA.
I mean...he never adapted his schemes for the talent he had.
Yes, I coached for 25 years and I realize that often times losing is not the coach’s fault. The players have to execute and often times they don’t. I’m not sure when every loss has become the coach’s fault, but it didn’t use to be that way. When I was a player I never blamed a coach for a loss.
I took ownership when my players failed. I put them in those spots. That was my decision to play them.
They can and should also take accountability for their actions or mistakes but ultimately everything was on me as a coach.
Accountability is taking action to fix issues by learning and adapting. He fires Ciarroca for the new shiny object Yurcich then fires Yurcich in season when our offense is a dumpster fire then he gets AK who is another dumpster fire. The common denominator is Franklin. He needed to take accountability and yes Barbour and then Kraft needed to hold him more accountable. He just is a lot of talk and no action. And he hides behind weasley excuses.
Don't get me started on how he butchered our WRs and QBs.
As far as it all being the players fault....what? Yes they need to execute but c'mon. Look at Allar, that is all Allar's fault for his performance?
He goes on ESPN and gets this groveling sympathy from the putzes there and says first I had no idea I was going to be fired and then when asked how the program he leads went from the #2 team in the country to a dumpster fire he says he doesn't know. Perfect opportunity for him to be transparent and give some insight into what he effed up but of course he doesn't. Overall he was a lousy leader who never had his teams mentally tough enough to win big games as evidenced by how we always crumbled in the clutch.
You put them in the spots, had them prepared, made the right decisions, and they failed to execute, but it’s your fault? Explain how.