He also snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against us. Up in 4th kept passing and stopping clock and gave us just enough time to score the winning TD.
So I'm hearing it's down to
- Thread starter ConcealedCarry
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Interesting guy, he'd be a HUGE gamble. Assumption>Holy Cross>James Madison>Penn State? Complete unknown as a recruiter. OSU did something similar with Jim Tressel.
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No argument, but I like the risk and possible upside. I value the organizational experience, and success with much less, higher than some.
But does Pat Kraft? He likely wouldn’t survive firing Franklin and then having a Chesney hire not work out. The fair weather fans would turn on him fast.
He is probably the most interesting of all the candidates. Can there be another “Cignetti” this season? I really think Cignetti’s success has lead fanbases to believe there are more Cignetti’s out there than actual reality, but truly his rise is a rare phenomenon. If you look under the surface, he had success as a coach and recruiting coordinator at multiple power schools prior to JMU, including Alabama. Chesney does not have that at all. Huge boom or bust potential but you cannot ignore his success and career trajectory. If we are rolling the dice, I would take Chesney over Hartline. If we want more stability I would take Diaz.
I agree with every point you make. Trying to identify the next Cignetti is a fool's errand. He was a 60+ coach trapped in coaching purgatory until Indiana came calling. The huge chip on his shoulder tells you a lot about the resentment he feels for being passed over and over. Are there more of him? Unlikely. But I like the concept of someone mastering all the pieces of how to run a program before running a formerly very good program that is in ruins. Diaz would fit the bill, so would Chesney. Hartline does not do it for me.
Bingo. Cignetti was an assistant at multiple power 4 level programs during his career.
I’d be happy with Diaz. Not sure he could get the elite players offensively but the team would run through walls for him.
and also took a huge step down to get experience. Didn't he actually leave alabama to go back to IUP? I might have that time frame wrong though.
Chesney has only gone up. Not sure if he is ready for this jump.
because he was smart and wanted to sign a big extension before anything bad could happen.
Not exactly. IUP was his first HC gig in 2011, followed by Elon, then JMU. He went to IUP from Alabama were he was WR coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007 until he left for IUP.
There is no comp between Cignetti and Chesney save for the fact that both have significant HC experience at non-P4 programs, and Cignetti parlayed that experience to success at the P4 level. Cheney has not had that chance, yet. Is he ready? Who knows. He has been a HC for 15 years and has turned around several bottom dwellers Can he do it at the P4? Not sure. Would I risk it? Definitely if I cannot land my top choices. I would definitely roll the dice with Chesney than hire Rhule or his analogue or worse.
I thought the advice about not shooting your johnson was mature.
Texac A&M has tons of money to hold onto Elko and Hartline has only been a true OC for 8 games now (solely calling plays) and probably needs to get his feet wet at a smaller school. I would be OK with Drink
I have known many a big A&M booster. If you think PSU can compete with A&M's resources, you're naive. If A&M wishes to keep him, they will. Elco is by far the best they've had in a while
I don't think anyone is claiming that PSU is going to outbin A&M or provide better resources.
I think people believe there may a chance because Elko is from Jersey and went to school in PA. His wife is also from the area. His son plays baseball at Richmond. The guy might just feel more a connection to a PSU than he would a school in Texas.
But who actually knows - maybe he's just vying for the extension + a raise. Sounds like Kraft is taking a big swing though.
I think people believe there may a chance because Elko is from Jersey and went to school in PA. His wife is also from the area. His son plays baseball at Richmond. The guy might just feel more a connection to a PSU than he would a school in Texas.
But who actually knows - maybe he's just vying for the extension + a raise. Sounds like Kraft is taking a big swing though.
This is what I'm getting from all of the reports. Elko is PSU's top choice. PSU cannot compete, financially, with A&M. They can match any offer that's made from anyone. It would have to be Elko's choice to leave. It's that possible? yes. What's the probability of that happening? No clue but I would say it decreases, every week A&M is undefeated. The timeline for a hire is another factor that plays into this because of the playoff and the need to have a coach, in place, by December. Kraft would need an absolute guarantee he's coming or TA&M loses 2+ games for that to happen.
Brahm, Chesney, Key, Hartline and hopefully Campbell are the more likely targets because of the situation with Elko. I would expect one of them to be hired but Elko is the top choice.
You're correct they've been away from top status for awhile. Schools like A&M,
Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana don't want to regress.
I don't have a good feeling about Hartline, OSU has the 5* receivers locked down
on name and reputation alone. Knowles ruined for me, plus BH he will return to OSU
once RD leaves.
The best option for stability is Manny with a top notch OC.
I am not saying that he will be; I just think that he hasn't proven anything. He certainly has had less success on the field than Franklin has. In his 3 full seasons as a head coach he has lost 4, 5, and 5 games. Admittedly he is doing better this year (still undefeated) but who knows how the season will play out.
I don't think that there is a coach that they can bring in who will look better on paper than Franklin.
I don't necessarily agree that Tech has an easier path to the playoffs. Yes, the ACC is a much weaker conference, but if you don't win it, then it will be hard to get in. The ACC isn't getting 4 teams in the playoff every year, whereas, the Big Ten will in most years. You can lose to Ohio State and maybe even Oregon or Michigan and still get in.
I think that was part of the problem with Franklin- he was more of a “paper tiger”
On paper he would like to say that 95% of folks would like to be where he’s at.
But it was just “resume” speak.
The “eye” test, unfortunately, told a different story.
OTOH Chesney has done it all on his own, not riding the coat tails of someone else
Whoa! Stop the presses!
I just heard from my MIL who spoke to her hairdresser, Millie, about this TODAY. Millie's cousin knows a guy who is friends with Kraft's sister's plumber. That guy knows a lady who cleans up at the Nittany Lion Inn. She claims that she saw Kraft meeting with a person who has met Nick Saban's grandson. The word from that person is that nobody has a DAMNED CLUE what's going on with the coach hire.
This is INSIDER INFO that only I was told about. Keep it under your hat!
I just heard from my MIL who spoke to her hairdresser, Millie, about this TODAY. Millie's cousin knows a guy who is friends with Kraft's sister's plumber. That guy knows a lady who cleans up at the Nittany Lion Inn. She claims that she saw Kraft meeting with a person who has met Nick Saban's grandson. The word from that person is that nobody has a DAMNED CLUE what's going on with the coach hire.
This is INSIDER INFO that only I was told about. Keep it under your hat!
Or getting destroyed by Minnesota, edging by Northwestern and losing to another ranked team like USC.Like losing his 5* QB
Yeah, Elko seems kind of like a 3/4 scale Ralph Friedgen. Drinkwitz or Diaz would be all right. I would prefer Diaz, but at least Drinkwitz could be entertaining if nothing else. I just hope he doesn't say obviously or that he gets it. Any other phrase to explain sucking is better than those.
With all due respect, PSU had stability and they weren’t satisfied. If stability is the benchmark, they made a big mistake. The goal was to get over the hump, not stability, or so that’s what everyone claimed.
PSU can compete with A & M if they are crazy enough. Kraft (and Bendatpudi) just may be that crazy.
First time ever calling plays this season, OC in name only basically until this season, good recruiter, but again couldn't many people recruit big time receivers to OSU! Pretty sure the guy that was beating his wife was pulling in top talent as well. Wasn't offered WV job from the people I talk to, Hartline to me should be in line for jobs like WV, Marshall, Mac schools etc.. for his first job, not a school like Penn State. You have no clue if Campbell would get you 7-8 wins, or more, he does that now, would think at a place like PSU he could do even better with all the resources.
In the past 10 years, 12 FBS programs have won more games than James Franklin, which means that 123 have won fewer than he did. That's pretty good especially considering that during the first 2 years under Franklin we were still dealing with NCAA sanctions due to the scandal. If you throw those two years out and just look at the past 8 years, then we were one of the top ten winningest programs. He won a conference title and had 1 trip to the playoff semifinals. No he didn't win it all but only 7 coaches won national titles in the past 10 years. I guess if that's your idea of a paper tiger and someone who doesn't pass the "eye" test, ok.
I am not trying to say that he should or shouldn't have been fired. I just think he will be hard to replace. Let's be honest, people aren't lining up to take the job, like many thought they would. If we hire a coach who puts us in the top ten of winningest programs for the next decade, I will be happy with that.
No not everyone could pull top talent into osu .... and on top of it he actually develops it. Imagine that such a novel idea that the coaching staff at PSU has failed to do ever... including with many 4 and 5 star recruits. 2 sides to the WVU story... ask them now if they would take Hartline. That place is a larger dumpster fire than PSU and that is saying something. How is doing calling plays this season? He shredded PSU and every team they have played. I am sure you will find an excuse that he doesn't deserve any credit. He has relationships with all the high school coaches that PSU recruits and players. He develops top NFL players consistently every year. What exactly has Campbell done? You are the one who is clueless. He Has Done Nothing... he wins 7 or 8 games a year. He couldn't even beat a battered ASU team playing tons of back ups last week. He lost to Colorado this year which is a team in full mutiny against Dion. He is another Franklin, if I want to win 8 games a year and continue to lose to OSU, Michigan and Oregon they should have just kept big game James. Hell Campbell lost to the Ohio Bobcats in '23. No thanks ... Hard Pass. I don't want Franklin part 2.
How do you know people aren’t lining up to take the job? 99.9% of what you hear is speculation or rumor and no head coach is taking the job in the middle of the season. Whether people are lining up we would have no idea one way or the other.
If you believe the rumors then the biggest fish there is, Meyer, wanted the job and we turned him down.