I don't think Peterson is the candidate he once was. I'd take Franklin over Peterson any day
Has he suddenly forgotten how to coach?
He has consistently shown he can take passed over talent and develop it into elite production. Yes his teams played in a weak conference, but they also 11-5 against BCA AQ teams since 2006. Toss in a BCS win during that time too. And a good number of those wins were against ranked BCS AQ teams.
Dont forget a good bit of his talent pool has come from the LA area. He has good recruiting ties there already.