I don't post much but have followed since Scott & Tom started the "Plotit Board". I am a Paternophile as he was scapegoated, but topic for another day.
Terry Smith was great last night. Enthusiasm was great to see; he gave us more of Kaytron, going for it on 4th down multiple times, and we got to finally see Koby Howard make a catch in the middle of the field. Coach Smith has been left in a "difficult" position as there is a severe lack of talent at multiple positions and a coaching staff that has not performed well. While I have great respect for coach Franklin (and for that matter coach O'Brien) for coming to PSU and shepherding us back from the dark times that followed the "Sandusky affair" it is hard to imagine how we got to this point. While I do not mean for this post to be overly critical of coach Franklin or anyone in particular, it would be impossible to move forward not knowing how we got to this point.
1. Coach Franklin's loyalty to players was both admirable and dissatisfying ultimately leading to his dismissal.
Too many players put in positions to fail. They were either not able to handle the physicality or the athleticism at this level.
2. The "myth" that he was a great recruiter is just that a myth. DL, OL & LB recruiting has been abysmal.
Speed while desirable is not the only attribute needed to play Division 1 football.
Dan Conner, Paul P and Sean L are perfect examples of football speed.
For far too long multiple positions were either under recruited or there were too many "misses".
DB recruiting is the only position which was recruited "great" and some of the credit must go to Terry Smith.
In game coaching has left most of us stymied at times. Game management, time management, Assistant coaches & positional situations have lacked a clear understanding of the game. Coach Franklin's refusal to change or adapt to game situations was a major downfall and certainly accelerated Pat Kraft's decision to dismiss Coach Franklin. With this said, I/We owe a debt of gratitude to coach as he has been a substantial steward of PSU.
The question of whether PSU should be an institution that goes "all in" for athletics (Football) or not is germane to coach Franklins dismissal as at the end of the day he is paid to win football games. The argument is that he did win football games at a prodigious rate and while this is true, PSU is and IMHO always will be a program that reaches for the highest goals. To this end Coach Franklin was being paid among all the top coaches in CFB and as such his goal should be championships. Playing in the "big" games and winning the "big" games.
Moving forward, as much as coach Smith deserves a chance to be a HC he is more valuable as DB/Associate HC and certainly deserves to stay on as does coach Pointdexter, Howle and Conner. Whether they do will be up to the next HC but should be given serious consideration. Kotelnicki should be fired immediately. His offense is amateurish at best and incompetent at worst. He sometimes calls the wrong play "all" of the time. It is amazing how proficient he has become at it. Knowles problem is he does not have the horses to run the defensive scheme he wants. He should however match his scheme to his players which is not happening. Barnes & Trautwein have not done anything to improve either DL or OL. We have recruited 4- & 5-star players and very few have panned out or at least improved. Where the hell is Birchmier, Cousins, Williams.? Our OL has not been able to move anyone of the ball. Kaytron does much of the heavy lifting himself. Where are the young LB's? Where are the young WR's?
We all have heard " Allar is no good", our WR's don't get open or run bad routes, Singleton is indecisive, our OL can't block well and our LB's are undersized or can't play at this level & our OC and DC are the worst in CFB. Some of this or maybe all is true and this all falls on the HC. We need an X's & O's coach. Many folks insist because we do not spend as much money as some programs that we can't win or are disadvantage to those programs to. I don't believe this but with better coaching we could have beaten Oregon both years. How many times have we been in a position to beat OSU over the last 10 years and blew it. We should have beaten ND last year if not for bad decisions at the end. We need a coach who knows the game of football not the game of recruiting. You can't be a great recruiter and a bad game day coach but if you are a great game day coach recruits will follow. Now let's get the best coach out there. I will take any of Matt Rhule, Elko, Key & Sumrail to be PSU's next HC
Terry Smith was great last night. Enthusiasm was great to see; he gave us more of Kaytron, going for it on 4th down multiple times, and we got to finally see Koby Howard make a catch in the middle of the field. Coach Smith has been left in a "difficult" position as there is a severe lack of talent at multiple positions and a coaching staff that has not performed well. While I have great respect for coach Franklin (and for that matter coach O'Brien) for coming to PSU and shepherding us back from the dark times that followed the "Sandusky affair" it is hard to imagine how we got to this point. While I do not mean for this post to be overly critical of coach Franklin or anyone in particular, it would be impossible to move forward not knowing how we got to this point.
1. Coach Franklin's loyalty to players was both admirable and dissatisfying ultimately leading to his dismissal.
Too many players put in positions to fail. They were either not able to handle the physicality or the athleticism at this level.
2. The "myth" that he was a great recruiter is just that a myth. DL, OL & LB recruiting has been abysmal.
Speed while desirable is not the only attribute needed to play Division 1 football.
Dan Conner, Paul P and Sean L are perfect examples of football speed.
For far too long multiple positions were either under recruited or there were too many "misses".
DB recruiting is the only position which was recruited "great" and some of the credit must go to Terry Smith.
In game coaching has left most of us stymied at times. Game management, time management, Assistant coaches & positional situations have lacked a clear understanding of the game. Coach Franklin's refusal to change or adapt to game situations was a major downfall and certainly accelerated Pat Kraft's decision to dismiss Coach Franklin. With this said, I/We owe a debt of gratitude to coach as he has been a substantial steward of PSU.
The question of whether PSU should be an institution that goes "all in" for athletics (Football) or not is germane to coach Franklins dismissal as at the end of the day he is paid to win football games. The argument is that he did win football games at a prodigious rate and while this is true, PSU is and IMHO always will be a program that reaches for the highest goals. To this end Coach Franklin was being paid among all the top coaches in CFB and as such his goal should be championships. Playing in the "big" games and winning the "big" games.
Moving forward, as much as coach Smith deserves a chance to be a HC he is more valuable as DB/Associate HC and certainly deserves to stay on as does coach Pointdexter, Howle and Conner. Whether they do will be up to the next HC but should be given serious consideration. Kotelnicki should be fired immediately. His offense is amateurish at best and incompetent at worst. He sometimes calls the wrong play "all" of the time. It is amazing how proficient he has become at it. Knowles problem is he does not have the horses to run the defensive scheme he wants. He should however match his scheme to his players which is not happening. Barnes & Trautwein have not done anything to improve either DL or OL. We have recruited 4- & 5-star players and very few have panned out or at least improved. Where the hell is Birchmier, Cousins, Williams.? Our OL has not been able to move anyone of the ball. Kaytron does much of the heavy lifting himself. Where are the young LB's? Where are the young WR's?
We all have heard " Allar is no good", our WR's don't get open or run bad routes, Singleton is indecisive, our OL can't block well and our LB's are undersized or can't play at this level & our OC and DC are the worst in CFB. Some of this or maybe all is true and this all falls on the HC. We need an X's & O's coach. Many folks insist because we do not spend as much money as some programs that we can't win or are disadvantage to those programs to. I don't believe this but with better coaching we could have beaten Oregon both years. How many times have we been in a position to beat OSU over the last 10 years and blew it. We should have beaten ND last year if not for bad decisions at the end. We need a coach who knows the game of football not the game of recruiting. You can't be a great recruiter and a bad game day coach but if you are a great game day coach recruits will follow. Now let's get the best coach out there. I will take any of Matt Rhule, Elko, Key & Sumrail to be PSU's next HC
