The guy who took a National Brand, and turned it into a laughing stock in record time.
Franklin s Legacy
- Thread starter Chumboshifko1
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No need for posts like this. It was time for a change no doubt. HCJF had many blind spots in terms of coaching and recruiting but he had been a fine steward of PSU during his time. I don't see PSU as a laughingstock by any means, looking forward, a new coach as well as many new athletes will be here soon and then we can start "frowning" again.
There is a need, so this never happens again!
Giving CJF a letter grade for overall performance in thirteen seasons I am giving him a B-
The 2016 and 2024 seasons were A-'s
The 2025 season was an F
The 2016 and 2024 seasons were A-'s
The 2025 season was an F
I agree for the most part, but COVID year was an F too. I understand that PA had guidelines stricter than other states and those were extraordinary times, especially personally to him, but no HC can check out like he did that season. His demeanor this season reminded me of what he was like at that time and is wasn't acceptable.
I don't agree with your statement at all. He lifted our program out of a pretty dark and challenging time and had performed well most seasons. However he totally mismanaged his way into this season and there was no other choice but to fire him. Sometimes people just need a change, e.g. Andy Reid with the Eagles/KC. Hopefully both parties in our case end up similarly as the Eagles/KC did.
W
We agree to disagree. Franklin pushed this program back 60 years.
The program had been living in such modern times before his arrival.
woah.... im just as unhappy as the next person with how this all ended, but this guy took a team from the gutter post-sanction and brought it to perennial 10 win seasons in arguably the hardest division (tOSU, scUM) in the sport.
i completely and totally disagree with your premise.
i completely and totally disagree with your premise.
This is a FAR more fair and accurate summation of things than the hyperbole being expressed by the OP
All I can agree with here is the notion that you’re wildly distorting things and being patently unfair.
Just the typical pnnylion blather, pay him no mind
And many don't even do that
He left the program in good shape despite your over the top claims
His legacy is a good coach that couldn't win big games...period
7-5 with wins over the #15 and #18 teams in the country isn’t the gutter. Franklin did a good job getting us to where we were in 2024 but 2025 is much closer to the gutter than 2013.
I agree. I'm also curious about how many on the PSU roster will join him through the portal. It could be very significant
Several years ago while attending the Penn State Vs Maryland game at M & T Bank Stadium, Tgar and his brother engaged some civil Maryland fans in a conversation regarding Franklin. They were laughing and being good natured. Tgar can still recall how they said it will not end well and his history speaks for itself.
Well, here we are and they Most certainly are laughing. Of course, Tgar looks forward to the announcement that Franklin is their new Head Coach so he too can laugh as well………
Guy who took a program in dark times, won way more than he lost, but couldn't get PSU over the hump. Decent coach and seems like a decent guy. He had to fight PSU admin to move the program forward and fans that still think it's 1986 and PSU is entitled to a MNC so a new HC will simply be that easy fix for that. The program had fallen behind in facilities, budgets, coaching numbers, and recruiting the decade prior to his arrival.
PSU has the greatest and some of the dumbest fans around. JF fell flat with a seasoned team and deserved to go now, but I still recall a coach falling flat for 4 years in 5 and people were still giving that guy chance after chance to right the ship......the best thing about hypocrites....they wear it proudly.
PSU has the greatest and some of the dumbest fans around. JF fell flat with a seasoned team and deserved to go now, but I still recall a coach falling flat for 4 years in 5 and people were still giving that guy chance after chance to right the ship......the best thing about hypocrites....they wear it proudly.
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Joe let assistants run the team. When he took back over, the bullchit stopped.
Solid point. I've always subscribed to the theory that kicking a man when he's down and beating a dead horse when he's already been fired is a surefire way to make sure all future hirings are Home Runs!!!
Tons of rumors out there that Franklin is about to be announced at VTech's next head coach.
It will be interesting to see who from the current staff and roster he attempts to bring with him. There may be some regional ties that could help being in Virginia. But a pretty significant step down in terms of stature - ACC is a tier 2 conference, smaller salary pool, and Tech hasn't be relevant since the early 2000s. High school and college kids weren't even alive during the Vick days. Can't imagine their NIL is competitive either.
Franklin could be a thorn in the side on the recruiting trail for a lot of those tweener 3/4* guys.
It will be interesting to see who from the current staff and roster he attempts to bring with him. There may be some regional ties that could help being in Virginia. But a pretty significant step down in terms of stature - ACC is a tier 2 conference, smaller salary pool, and Tech hasn't be relevant since the early 2000s. High school and college kids weren't even alive during the Vick days. Can't imagine their NIL is competitive either.
Franklin could be a thorn in the side on the recruiting trail for a lot of those tweener 3/4* guys.
Agree. I have his record at 409-0. The losses were all on the assistants.
So much of it moving forward will also be about transfers. Can he pluck some guys from us that don't want to sit for another year or two, and/or snag transfers to start for him that would be coming here as depth pieces?
We'll see if the rumor turn out to be true. But going to Va Tech in a coaching cycle with so many top jobs open (or soon to be) says a lot, IMO. Franklin needs a "rebound job" to regain his shine. I'd expect this to be a 2-3 year springboard to a bigger job.
And if he did, what does that say about Joe that he decided to stop coaching and let things fall apart? I have a higher opinion of him than that.
That wasn't the assertion, it was Joe's fault during the dark times. Wrong in one sense, correct that he allowed assistants to run the team. Players admitted to goofing off the night before games, playing video games until dawn, and running around with bimbos.
Joe ended it.
His big games did just get smaller. Clemson, Miami, FSU, Georgia Tech aren't exactly OSU, Michigan, Oregon, Alabama, and Georgia.
Assistants whined they wanted more input. Like in Animal House, Joe f'd up, he trusted them.
You tell ‘em JohnJumba! Nic switching hypocrite!
well first of all, the 2013 season you mentioned was BoB's second season. Franklin's first two seasons they were 7-6 (2-6) and 7-6 (4-4). And I dont' disagree with the premise of your point, but looking at it strictly from record is very myopic. 65 scholarships is the gutter which Franklin had to recover from. i remember hearing they had 6 scholarship OL during that time. gutter. Not to mention recruiting players to the university after it had the stink of the Sandusky stuff on it. recruiting to recover from that was NOT an easy task, but he did it and did it very well. the record in 2025 is just a small snapshot of the entirety of what Franklin did for this team.
so if you're trying to say that 2025 is worse than 2014-2016, i mean that discourse can be had, but i don't know how you quantify that. #feelings.
Hard to imagine what they have to laugh about. If he was that bad, how did he make them and Locksley look like a high school team time after time. Remember when they canceled classes on Friday and then they got destroyed?
I’m comparing the last season of his predecessor, supposedly the “gutter”, to his last season. My point is that 2025 is in worse shape than when Franklin took over. And the only way I know how to quantify that is by wins and losses.
You raise an excellent point. I have followed Penn State Football since 1973.
It’s a very sad thing that Penn State’s program under Franklin was viewed nationally as:
1) Good but not great
2) A “little bro” program compared to Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon.
3) A low hanging fruit program which settles for annual 10-2 seasons without any signature wins over big boy teams.
4) Having absolutely no consistent offensive identity.
5) A program who has had a 50% termination rate of offensive coordinators.
To Pat Kraft‘s credit, his speech after firing Franklin, strongly mentioned the mandate to get the program back to where it used to be. Winning a National Title and being the best program in CFB.
The next head coach is expected to get back to the program standards for on the field achievements.