New coach

Midnighter

Heisman
Jan 22, 2021
11,416
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I still can’t comprehend the strategy of having no recruiting class. How was he ever allowed to do this. Regardless of whom they hire, you can’t have a class of no recruits. Does he assume he can get guys to decommit in January to sign with PSU? This also assumes PSU has a coach at that point.

With the exception of Franklin, no one else was hired more than a week ago. How does this play out if you wait to fire Franklin until say, this past weekend? My guess is not much differently. Franklin is likely snapped up by VT in a couple days and recruits start to bail anyway. In the past, you had one signing day in February (and no portal) that allowed for classes to stay together while coaches were being hired and given a chance to make their case to the recruits. You can't do that now. I don't know how you have someone in place either; the top guys are mostly going to stay put. Terry Smith lobbying for the job (knowing he will never get it) doesn't help. What does he tell prospective recruits? 'At least I'll be here?' Pfft. Should have made AK and JK acting interim co-HCs and not risk further disruption/division by having a Franklin friend/loyalist in the position.

And I doubt even Kraft thought Franklin would bomb against UCLA and NW after such a hard fought game against Oregon. But Franklin checked out and needed to go. It's a tough situation.
 
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BCS PSU

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Jun 2, 2001
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It's not over but the rebuild could be more difficult than coming back from sanctions. My guess is 3 years.
The incompetence that is on display now definitely will take longer to fix than what happened back in 2011, if it ever does get fixed, and I almost can't believe that I'm saying that.
 
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PSUSignore

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
1,469
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Yeah - I am sure the Samoans will love the snow and sleet in State College - no way any of them come here - he knows no one East of the Mississippi - we are screwed if that dope hires this guy. He coaches in a sh&t conference - yeah they are they best of the worst there big deal.
LOL, as opposed to famously sunny and tropical Provo Utah?
 

fastlax16

Senior
Jan 1, 2014
420
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Working behind the scenes and around his boss to get raises and promotions while employed at Penn State is snake-like behavior. So is playing the victim on GameDay after losing two games when favored by 20+ points.

eh it’s a dirty business both ways. They’re all overpaid gym teachers.

Takes two to tango, situation was clearly mismanaged by Kraft as well considering what the ultimate outcome was. Franklin are both jackasses in this situation.
 
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Bvillebaron

All-Conference
Feb 4, 2004
2,608
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I'm not stating an opinion, I'm stating facts. But you are spewing opinions based on internet rumors. Here are the facts...no coach was being hired before last Sunday. Based on the FACT no coach was hired then, the new coach is still coaching his team this week. The other facts are Kraft knows how the whole system works and he would build his plan around it.
No genius you stated an opinion not facts.
 
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fastlax16

Senior
Jan 1, 2014
420
514
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Wouldn't that theoretically be a small sign that PSU still has a legitimate chance to sign him? If he were convinced in his heart to stay at BYU at this point, why not announce ASAP in order to remove all distractions for his players in their CCG prep? Obviously, though, the timeline is terrible for PSU's football operations. If he announced he was leaving, a coach would more likely want to do that after a championship game rather than before it.

I still have low confidence about this hire coming to fruition, however. I would like to see Kraft more open to coordinators that are risky but have higher ceilings than what is left out there in the head coaching ranks.

Kraft needs to rescind the offer if that’s the case.
 
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Dbsteel

Sophomore
Jan 15, 2014
127
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It's not over but the rebuild could be more difficult than coming back from sanctions. My guess is 3 years.
That's hard to believe, isn't it? The way this is being run is a disaster. And now we are holding out for this Sitaki guy? I'm sure he wasn't on anyones radar before this. I never even heard of him which shows how much I watch BYU Football. I just think its a terrible fit. Chesney was the guy to take a shot on.
 

fastlax16

Senior
Jan 1, 2014
420
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With the exception of Franklin, no one else was hired more than a week ago. How does this play out if you wait to fire Franklin until say, this past weekend? My guess is not much. Franklin is likely snapped up by VT in a couple days and recruits start to bail anyway. In the past, you had one signing day in February (and no portal) that allowed for classes to stay together while coaches were being hired and given a chance to make their case to the recruits. You can't do that now. I don't know how you have someone in place either; the top guys are mostly going to stay put. Terry Smith lobbying for the job (knowing he will never get it) doesn't help. What does he tell prospective recruits? 'At least I'll be here?' Pfft. Should have made AK and JK acting interim co-HCs and not risk further disruption/division by having a Franklin friend/loyalist in the position.

And I doubt even Kraft thought Franklin would bomb against UCLA and NW after such a hard fought game against Oregon. But Franklin checked out and needed to go. It's a tough situation.

if you wait to fire Franklin until this past weekend, you significantly delay the Jimmy Sexton extension roadshow we got to witness over the back half of the season and you don’t poison the pool of candidates well before you can legitimately sign one of them.

the timing only made sense if you were hiring someone out of work like urban or Fitzgerald.
 

Bvillebaron

All-Conference
Feb 4, 2004
2,608
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Every time I think about how much of a debacle this seems to be, I remind myself that Franklin had to go. Kraft had to fire him, he did the right thing. The aftermath is irrelevant, Franklin gave up on this team and Kraft did what he had to do.
The aftermath of firing Franklin is hardly irrelevant.
 

Alphalion75

All-Conference
Oct 24, 2001
14,710
3,729
113
The incompetence that is on display now definitely will take longer to fix than what happened back in 2011, if it ever does get fixed, and I almost can't believe that I'm saying that.
I say shut the football program down. Then finish Beaver Stadium, adding a dome and HVAC and use it for wrestling matches.
 
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fastlax16

Senior
Jan 1, 2014
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Seems clear Sitake has not made up his mind yet. You want Kraft to rescind?

If he legitimately isn’t going to decide until after the big 12 championship game, then yes. Because if he wins it they go to the playoff and he’s going to pull the same **** again.

he’s clearly not completely bought in.
 
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TOC_Lions44

Freshman
Oct 19, 2021
76
68
18
With the exception of Franklin, no one else was hired more than a week ago. How does this play out if you wait to fire Franklin until say, this past weekend? My guess is not much. Franklin is likely snapped up by VT in a couple days and recruits start to bail anyway. In the past, you had one signing day in February (and no portal) that allowed for classes to stay together while coaches were being hired and given a chance to make their case to the recruits. You can't do that now. I don't know how you have someone in place either; the top guys are mostly going to stay put. And I doubt even Kraft thought Franklin would bomb against UCLA and NW after such a hard fought game against Oregon. But Franklin checked out and needed to go. It's a tough situation.
Every program that fired their coach still has a recruiting class? Why is PSU different?
Also this insistence on hiring a home run hire is so stupid. Hire a good coach. There are a lot out there. Seems really stupid to risk a whole class of recruits for a home run hire that may or may not happen. Plus who the hell is considered a home run hire? Pretty much none of the best coaches in cfb were considered home run hires when they got hired.
 

Bvillebaron

All-Conference
Feb 4, 2004
2,608
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I have been thinking about why we have not tried to hold class together... my guess is Kraft (and possibly incoming coach) wants to hold all the $$$ so they have the biggest bag to spend come portal time in January and springtime. At this point it has to be clearly purposeful. They may have even told some of the PA kids to go get their bag and come back and talk to us in a year.
Genius. Pure bleeping genius. What could possibly go wrong? Ask FSU.
 
Jun 26, 2025
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Wouldn't that theoretically be a small sign that PSU still has a legitimate chance to sign him? If he were convinced in his heart to stay at BYU at this point, why not announce ASAP in order to remove all distractions for his players in their CCG prep? Obviously, though, the timeline is terrible for PSU's football operations. If he announced he was leaving, a coach would more likely want to do that after a championship game rather than before it.

I still have low confidence about this hire coming to fruition, however. I would like to see Kraft more open to coordinators that are risky but have higher ceilings than what is left out there in the head coaching ranks.

No it doesn't. It merely gives BYU a full week to research an offer that will be amenable to Sitake - you have to be real naive if you think BYU doesn't know exactly what PSU is offering when they counter.

How many times is Kraft going to be allowed to play this absurd game - this is a "rinse & repeat" of every candidate he has gone after??? Kraft has proven the tried-&-true old hunting proverb "One in hand is more valuable than two in the bush" ten times over. He is now delaying a hire for another full week on a complete roll of the dice that he has lost on over and over and over again. This is beyond malpractice and straight up criminal at this point.
 

fastlax16

Senior
Jan 1, 2014
420
514
93
Every program that fired their coach still has a recruiting class? Why is PSU different?
Also this insistence on hiring a home run hire is so stupid. Hire a good coach. There are a lot out there. Seems really stupid to risk a whole class of recruits for a home run hire that may or may not happen. Plus who the hell is considered a home run hire? Pretty much none of the best coaches in cfb were considered home run hires when they got hired.

Are any of the fired coaches at p4 jobs or likely to end up at another one with apparently a large NIL war chest?

the reasons why also don’t matter. Florida having its recruiting class means nothing with regards to our class no longer existing. I
 

Midnighter

Heisman
Jan 22, 2021
11,416
18,776
113
if you wait to fire Franklin until this past weekend, you significantly delay the Jimmy Sexton extension roadshow we got to witness over the back half of the season and you don’t poison the pool of candidates well before you can legitimately sign one of them.

the timing only made sense if you were hiring someone out of work like urban or Fitzgerald.

I guess the thinking is the long term effects of a lame duck HC sticking it out until the end of the year is worse than trying to get a head start on a coaching search, but as we're seeing, Franklin is a particular case - note none of the other fired coaches have ended up anywhere. If Franklin sits out the hiring cycle, we're much better off. So, one one hand we have Franklin taking all of his guys (coaches, staff, recruits, likely current players) with him and on the other we have to hire someone to reenergize the program. Tough task. Kraft will probably be fired but I don't know how what else he could have done save hiring Urban Meyer (or someone else not actively employed that is a big swing).
 

Bvillebaron

All-Conference
Feb 4, 2004
2,608
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Honestly, no real home run hires this cycle save Kiffin to LSU. Biggest issue for us is Franklin being hired so early by a geographic competitor and he and his allies fleecing the PSU recruits on his way out (and after to be honest). Was Smith complicit in that effort? Dunno - but a few folks on staff were and that should be investigated. In any case, what are your grades?

Florida - John Sumrall (Tulane HC) - Basically a retread of Napier. And Sumralll started his PC by saying Kiffin gave him permission to coach there. Bleh. Florida fans aren't happy.

Auburn - Alex Golesh (South Florida HC) - On their 5th coach in five years (Harsin, Williams, Freeze, Durkin, Golesh). Mid hire at best.

UCLA - Bob Chesney (JMU HC) - He's done well in two years at JMU and on paper believe this is the best hire after Kiffin and Franklin.

VT - James Franklin - VT will be the PSU of the Mid-Atlantic with fewer resources and top end players (no 5* is going to go VT unless they loved the school growing up, and since none were alive in Vick's heyday, it's not many), and a super narrow path to the playoff. He'll be fine but much lower ceiling there and he hasn't shown he can fix his on field issues and moreover, we know he is all about himself and will scheme as needed. Good riddance.

Michigan State - Pat Fitzgerald - Did 'fine' as HC of NW, but that was enough. Good hire, but not dynamic or exciting. Not sure MSU fans are thrilled.

Arkansas - Ryan Silverfield (Memphis HC) - 50-25 since 2019; Norvell II.

Kentucky - Will Stein (Oregon OC) - If you're looking to get a hot coordinator and give him a shot at HC, he and Hartline are the top two IMO. Solid hire by UK.

I think it's rare to take a top coach from a top program but because it happened recently (Kelly, Riley) I think people thought it could happen again. I don't think Kraft really f'd up here; timing was bad and Franklin is a snake, but not much you can do about either. Get rid of the early signing period and make it February only again and you can hire a coach in January (and not have to fire mid-season).
And you know that some coaches were complicit in poaching recruits how? Read it on Facebook?
 

WPB_lion

Junior
Jun 5, 2001
117
264
63
CBS reporting the Sitake decision won’t happen until after BYU’s championship game this weekend and there optimism on the BYU side that he will stay.

So another week on top of this no coach. Kraft continuing to nuke the program into oblivion.
The offer should have been a take it or leave it offer. If the decision is truly being made after the championship game, then Kraft is at risk of being played and wasting another week to find a coach. I have to believe that Sitake has already given his answer to Kraft.
 

Midnighter

Heisman
Jan 22, 2021
11,416
18,776
113
Every program that fired their coach still has a recruiting class? Why is PSU different?
Also this insistence on hiring a home run hire is so stupid. Hire a good coach. There are a lot out there. Seems really stupid to risk a whole class of recruits for a home run hire that may or may not happen. Plus who the hell is considered a home run hire? Pretty much none of the best coaches in cfb were considered home run hires when they got hired.

LSU is LSU - those kids in that state want to go there no matter who the coach is. It's why Ed Orgeron and Les Miles can win National Championships there. Florida? No idea - my guess is the players knew Napier's time was coming to an end but loved the school anyway. Franklin's recruits were there for him mostly - not Penn State. Seeing that now.

Agree with your points.
 
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LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
9,103
12,750
113
Working behind the scenes and around his boss to get raises and extensions while employed at Penn State is snake-like behavior. So is playing the victim on GameDay after losing two games when favored by 20+ points.
Who’s laughing at the moment?
 

SummitLion

Freshman
Oct 14, 2021
63
71
18
It's not over but the rebuild could be more difficult than coming back from sanctions. My guess is 3 years.
We are the FIRST team in history to not have one person in a recruiting class. Let that sink in. And, if no one wants to sign in this class, it stands to reason that the majority of the current players will portal. As I said earlier, we won't have a full team of D1 talent next year, and they will be lucky to win 2 games. This won't be fixed in 3 years, if ever.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
9,103
12,750
113
With the exception of Franklin, no one else was hired more than a week ago. How does this play out if you wait to fire Franklin until say, this past weekend? My guess is not much differently. Franklin is likely snapped up by VT in a couple days and recruits start to bail anyway. In the past, you had one signing day in February (and no portal) that allowed for classes to stay together while coaches were being hired and given a chance to make their case to the recruits. You can't do that now. I don't know how you have someone in place either; the top guys are mostly going to stay put. Terry Smith lobbying for the job (knowing he will never get it) doesn't help. What does he tell prospective recruits? 'At least I'll be here?' Pfft. Should have made AK and JK acting interim co-HCs and not risk further disruption/division by having a Franklin friend/loyalist in the position.

And I doubt even Kraft thought Franklin would bomb against UCLA and NW after such a hard fought game against Oregon. But Franklin checked out and needed to go. It's a tough situation.
College football needs to adjust their timelines. Saban was talking about this the other day. Playoffs run into Jan now. Push signing day back to February and don’t open the portal until the spring.
 

doctornick

All-Conference
Sep 4, 2007
641
1,006
93
Seems clear Sitake has not made up his mind yet. You want Kraft to rescind?
I want him to find a candidate and sign today. If that candidate isn't Sitake then so be it. I'd rather have Brohm or Diaz today then Sitake next week and it's not even close.
 
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PSUSignore

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
1,469
2,338
113
I keep being told by some in here that it doesn’t matter. I disagree. I think it is a massive blunder by PSU. Massive.
I don't recall anyone saying it doesn't matter. It matters, just not to the point that you sacrifice hiring the coach you want to prevent it from happening, if that coach is unavailable until after signing day. Getting the right long term coach you want is more important than one signing day class. However what's unclear is whether Kraft is getting the coach he wants. If he both sacrifices the 26 signing day class and strikes out on the coach, then he screwed this up big time.
 

doctornick

All-Conference
Sep 4, 2007
641
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If he legitimately isn’t going to decide until after the big 12 championship game, then yes. Because if he wins it they go to the playoff and he’s going to pull the same **** again.

he’s clearly not completely bought in.
Agreed. It he wouldn't agree by now - honestly, he should have signed last week, I wouldn't have even given him past Sunday if I were Kraft - then you move on. You absolutely should not be negotiating with anyone by this point, it is well past the time to sign someone.

Honestly, if they are actually negotiating with Sitake instead of having him in the bag then I would talk to Chesney and sign him instead if the deal with UCLA isn't finalized.
 
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Jun 26, 2025
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eh it’s a dirty business both ways. They’re all overpaid gym teachers.

Takes two to tango, situation was clearly mismanaged by Kraft as well considering what the ultimate outcome was. Franklin are both jackasses in this situation.

Franklin doesn't appear to be a fraction of the jackass Kraft is..... in fact, Franklin has come out of this thing smelling like a rose - his compensation is fully intact, got a $9 mm payday from Kraft, is producing VoTech's best class in their history (and this doesn't even include what he's going to bring over via the X-Fer Portal)..... and looks like he will have a legit ACC Contender next year (i.e., potentially make the Playoffs) in his first year at VoTech
 
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CyphaPSU

All-Conference
Oct 25, 2021
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If he legitimately isn’t going to decide until after the big 12 championship game, then yes. Because if he wins it they go to the playoff and he’s going to pull the same **** again.

he’s clearly not completely bought in.
That’s fair enough. What I’m curious about is if Kraft gave him that deadline, or any deadline at all. It would be extremely questionable if Kraft is not asking for a yes or no final answer by his own timeline.


This is a sensible take. I’m open-minded about Sitake even if I prefer other candidates not really being pursued, but in regards to Kraft, he appears to have completely placed himself in a corner that will define the rest of his big university AD career.
 
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doctornick

All-Conference
Sep 4, 2007
641
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Every program that fired their coach still has a recruiting class? Why is PSU different?
Also this insistence on hiring a home run hire is so stupid. Hire a good coach. There are a lot out there. Seems really stupid to risk a whole class of recruits for a home run hire that may or may not happen. Plus who the hell is considered a home run hire? Pretty much none of the best coaches in cfb were considered home run hires when they got hired.

I have yet to see any "home run" hire by any school except arguable Kiffin (who has his own baggage and isn't really a good fit for PSU) and that includes programs like Florida. It just doesn't seem like that was out there to get and it happens. So, you move on and sign the best candidate you can actually sign... and do it in the appropriate timeframe (which means they should have been signed and announced by last Sunday or yesterday at the absolute latest).
 

doctornick

All-Conference
Sep 4, 2007
641
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We are the FIRST team in history to not have one person in a recruiting class. Let that sink in. And, if no one wants to sign in this class, it stands to reason that the majority of the current players will portal. As I said earlier, we won't have a full team of D1 talent next year, and they will be lucky to win 2 games. This won't be fixed in 3 years, if ever.

Not for nothing, but even if we don't sign anyone tomorrow, we can still sign players in the later signing window which isn't until February. So even with the abysmal worst case scenario I doubt we'll have zero people in this class.
 
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