Forget about today, this season or even next season. Does anyone on this media realistically believe we will ever win a National Championship with James Franklin as our Head Coach?
Question for the board
- Thread starter Alphalion75
- Start date
Can he? Absolutely. Will he? Eight years in and I am still surprised at the lack of progress in certain areas. It's definitely fixable, but I'm beginning to question if Franklin considers certain things a problem or not. I really do think this team is much better, or should be anyways, than what it's record is.
Just two years ago, Penn State was slaughtering teams like Maryland and Purdue. They beat Michigan and Michigan State in successive weeks. They did lose to Minnesota and OSU, but did finish ranked in the top ten at the end of the season. Something happened last year and the wheels fell off. This year has been a disappointment; you can kinda understand the Iowa loss but the Illinois debacle was mystifying. The loss to OSU has almost "come to be expected." Today's loss - well, when was the last time Franklin beat a top ten team? (24-21 over OSU in 2016, perhaps Franklin's high water mark.)
Put it this way, until Franklin can beat top ten ranked teams at least, say, 50% of the time, he is never going to sniff a playoff spot let alone a NC.
Put it this way, until Franklin can beat top ten ranked teams at least, say, 50% of the time, he is never going to sniff a playoff spot let alone a NC.
The only way it could happen is if the talent is so high that they can overcome the offensive scheme. That's pretty much what happened with Trace, Barkley and friends. We had the horses to bail the stupid playcalling out most times because they could make lemonade out of lemons solely on talent. If we could get those types of players, and all at the same time to make up one roster, I guess it's doable. But that is pretty unlikely.
Agreed. Mind, though, that Barkley was a "generational talent." You don't get many of those. Could be that if Franklin can get Allar and strike gold with a solid running back (a Miles Sanders type would be great), and get solid work out of the O-line, and depth on defense, that NC, or at least a playoff appearance, might be within his grasp. It is asking a great deal.
What happened is our recruiting went south. Forget the rankings. Look at the current first, second and third year players. Who are playing at a high level? I would say Washington, Theo Johnson, Strange, Jacobs, Brandon Smith, Izzard, Porter, Brown and Brisker. That is 9 players out of a total of approximately 67 who were signed. in that three year period. That is a stunning indictment of our recruiting.
Sounds great but Allar can’t get hurt. We’re not so great at developing a #2, clearly. Until we have quality depth and contributors at the 2 deep, or more, you’re one injury away from being done, regardless of everything else.
The Franklin era has run its course.
CJF will not coach a Penn State team in the playoffs as they exist now (no expanded system). He just can’t get it done and has proven it time and time again.
I agree. There are times you watch the team over the past few years and wonder if Franklin actually considers these issues as a problem or not.
While some of the issues are overcome against lesser competition, they usually bite the team in the backside against Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State (with the poor record against those 3).
Hell, half the time now these glaring issues are costing games against teams they should beat- Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Maryland, Illinois, etc. They're never corrected and it seems to be getting worse.
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CJF comes across as the nice guy, the players buddy. Rarely chews out his players, the refs, etc.
He lays the law down on academics, and night life etc., but he can show loyalty to a chosen few.
Some coaches would have Brandon Smith on extra tackling drills and some receivers on the jugs, off the
grid naturally.
He lays the law down on academics, and night life etc., but he can show loyalty to a chosen few.
Some coaches would have Brandon Smith on extra tackling drills and some receivers on the jugs, off the
grid naturally.
It's a Catch 22. How do you develop (and retain) depth if you don't play them? The days of spending 1-2 seasons to develop a skill player are gone with the portal. This whole season went down in flames because everything was predicated on Clifford never getting injured.
The pressure to win at the highest level starts at the very top. If the agenda is win a National Championship, you will bring in the Personnel and athletes to give you the best chance to accomplish that goal. No AD/HC/DC/OC can unilaterally make these decisions without getting the green light from the University President and BOT. In my opinion this is a major factor why Nick Saban is very successful. You can include Dabo Swinney to this list as well.
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I've been thinking about this off and on all day. In short, I suppose this is what I am asking... Even if CJF stays next season (which at this point is highly probable like it or not) and this incoming heralded recruiting class remains in tact where all of them sign with PSU- Given some of the coaching decisions in meaningful games, along with blown leads, OL development, no backup QB prepared to play, etc... Where is this program actually headed with this current staff? There seems to be absolutely no attention to detail and the style of play (finesse) is so not Penn State Football. The first half of the 2022 season is very difficult and three or four losses are quite possible (even likely). It also seems that responding to adversity is not this program's strongest suit. As a person, I admire CJF. That said, If this slide continues into next season I am hoping that CJF has the integrity to step up and admit, "While I am proud of my accomplishments here at Penn State: I am no longer the right fit to be head coach of this program." His first two seasons I blamed John Donovan and the sanctions. Then, he had a very good run from 2016-2019. In 2019, I partially blamed Ricky Rahne for the two losses. Last year, I blamed covid. This season there is no one or nothing left to blame. It's all squarely on CJF's shoulders. IMHO, this is the most passionate fanbase in all of college football. (I'll never forget 106,000 fans turning out to see a 2-8 team play Indiana.) These fans who come from all points to Beaver Stadium, and sacrifice their Saturdays to get behind this team deserve the greatest effort from our coaching staff and players.