Franklin set to interview candidates this weekend for Lions' offensive coordinator job
By Greg Pickel
DETROIT — Penn State coach James Franklin will spend this weekend interviewing offensive coordinator candidates, he said on Friday night. He and his team were getting ready to fly back to State College after a 42-0 demolition of Michigan State. The players will get some well-deserved time off before learning their bowl game assignment and opponent next Sunday. As for their 10th-year leader, there will be no time to rest as he looks for what will be his sixth offensive coordinator.
“The obvious thing is, I’m going to be in Saturday and Sunday zooming with a ton of perspective offensive coordinator candidates,” Franklin said in the basement of Ford Field.
Who Franklin is talking to was not revealed, of course. But there is no question that the Penn State coach will cast a wide net to find the replacement for Mike Yurcich.
What does Penn State want in its next offensive coordinator?
On Monday, Franklin discussed what he was looking for in Penn State’s next offensive coordinator.
“Overall, our numbers are pretty good. But, we got to make sure that we put ourselves in the best position, based on the teams that we need to beat, and to be able to do that, and have the data to back it up and the evidence to back it up, and the experience to back it up. That’s really the biggest difference. And then, hopefully, someone that’s done it long enough that you have a true indication.
“Because, where you have to be careful is, somebody could have a special quarterback. Or, somebody could have a generational wide receiver. And, it skews all the stats. That’s what makes it hard. So, that’s where the bigger sample size, the bigger body of work, allows you to eliminate some of that risk and feel more confident in the decision. And then, also, somebody that’s going to come and be able to use the personnel based on how it’s already been built, if that makes sense.
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Penn State will want to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible, but Franklin will not rush the search, either.
“There are fewer options out there than people think,” Franklin said. “When you really dig into it, there’s a small sample size. When I hired Manny [Diaz], there’s like three or four guys out there that have that track record, and there’s probably eight schools that are trying to get them. So, it’s not as obvious as people may think.
“To be honest with you, even if you look at hiring a guy with NFL experience, that sounds good, but there’s not a whole lot of evidence of that model working on the college level as well. So, it’s a smaller pool than you would actually think, and there’s probably not as many obvious candidates as people think as well. And obviously it’s no different than recruiting. You’re trying to get the five-star guy, but you’re also trying to reduce risk, as well. So all those things factor in.”
