1. USC is a better job than Penn State
I wouldn't call USC an "elite" job. I would call it the most "unique" job in college football.
No "elite" job cycle through 5 coaches in a 10 year period. There is a reason USC has not been able to land an "elite" coach if you just take the blinders off.
Is the recruiting base great, YES, BUT here are thing Jones fails to address
"ongstanding tradition and heritage -- 11 national titles including 2 this century, 6 Heisman Trophy winners, absolute superiority over the entire western half of the country and a built-in local recruiting base."
The above dates back over 10 years. Since that point in time many things have changed.
1) the pac 12 has much better-quality depth than it did 10 years ago
2) coaching depth in much better across the conference, more competition for recruits (insert: kelly, peterson, etc)
3) there are now 2 nfl teams in LA. this takes away the attraction and attention USC football will get. You can’t triple the supply of a product in a market and think it will not fragment interest
USC HAS ONE OF THE WORST FAIR WEATHER FAN BASES IN THE COUNTRY!
THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN THE STUDENTS, FAN BASE, AND THE TEAM.
1) For more than half their games the stadium is not even half full. think about that for a second, your at penn state and you have recruits at say the iowa game (yes iowa), and you still have 100k fans in the stadium. usc is playing ASU you will be lucky tohave about 15k people there. This will not help the cause.
2) You would never see a (white out, black out, or whatever tradition other schools have) this helps sell the program.
Here is the secret: No one REALLY cares about USC football in LA expect for maybe 2 days a year. One, when they play UCLA, two IF they are rated in the top 10 and are playing another top team.
The other thing DAVID you took out of context to mislead your readers is in this part:
"Helton was eventually re-upped for a reported $3.8 million annually compared with Franklin's $4.8M this year. But it's an apples-to-oranges comparison considering the manner in which the two came about their jobs initially."
VERY misleading because you are discounting the current extension / pay raise which would raise his average YOY salary way OVER 4.8 million.
Plus endorsement and NIKE money at PSU is much better than it is at USC.
Man Jones, you must think a little more critical here to.
"The one aspect of the USC job that has not quite kept pace recently with PSU is coaching salaries, but that's about to change with the next contract, one would suspect. "
If you have any memory left, one of the very few things JF have publicly gripped about is assistant coaches’ salary and reinvest in facilities.
Penn State had made a commitment to upgrade facilities and is in the process of increasing assistant coaches salaries.
USC’s HC and assistant coaches salaries; have not and WILL never keep pace with PSU for one reason MONEY.
Penn State generates more than 50% more in gross revenue than USC. This margin will only grow in PSU’s favor, the more years post sanctions and with 2 NFL teams now in LA taking interest away from USC when they were the only game in town.
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2017/05/richest_college_football_progr.html
2. The thrill is gone.
So schools should just offer coaches 4-5 year contracts and move on from them? This is such a desperate attempt at a point that can't be supported by any facts.
3. Weather and lifestyle.
Yeah weather in LA is great, no question. “Life style”, that is very personal and you have no idea what “life style” he likes, so just don’t speculate, stick to what you KNOW and facts.
Does “life style” include the same $1 million house in State college costing about $7-$9 Million in LA and more than triple ones state income tax's as well ?
Not sure if you listen to interviews with top coaches in any sport, but those factor are very low on the totem pole. Can’t recall a coach ever saying "yeah i took this job because of the weather and life style"?
4. Franklin's personality is a perfect LA fit.
He is a very well-spoken and personable guy, those are some of his best traits, but that fits ANYWHERE.
Here is the thing, if you LISTEN to what James says (not missing classes, shaking hands after games instead of running off the field, calling for students and fans to fill the stadium, putting education first, etc) those things traditionally have not been stressed at USC.
5. Franklin's recruiting background almost entirely east of the Mississippi does not matter.
You can't be serious? The top things with recruiting are TRUST and RELATIONSHIPS.
Will he be able to recruit eventually at USC, sure cause that is his top quality as a coach, but don't fool yourself that that will not take time. Remember he coached for a while in the south and mid Atlantic; which allowed him to leverage those connections at penn state quicker than expected.
6. Sandy Barbour's future as AD is unknown
As we learned at OSU and don't fool yourself, at every MAJOR college football program the AD "works" for the head coach. This point hold ZERO weight. If anything it would be a chance for JF to have a strong influence on who is hired.
7. Being an African-American coach might be easier in a large, diverse city.
Dave, what you failed to put into perspective here is that he comes from a mixed-race family.
Being Larry John Sr skin color black is different than being a very light skin “black person”, sad but true to a small number of folks in this country.
This part really takes the cake “it's a little harder for anyone of color in a high-profile occupation living in a small white-bread town in the middle of the wilderness than it is in the city.”
This part is pure BULL.
Penn State and State College for that matter, is not made up and defined by a bunch of small town white breads. The people you describe make up a percentage of the LOCAL population. These people are NOT your season ticket holders, students, big boosters, or even donors for that matter.
The students, boosters, season ticket holders, and the people that MATTER; all come from NJ, NYC, DC, Philly, Pitt, DC, and other areas Penn State draws from in the North East. Penn State IS a diverse and well-rounded school.
8. Lynn Swann could hire USC's first black head football coach.
Penn State beat them to the punch already by hiring a black coach first!
Funny after reading your 7th point Dave, that USC HAS NEVER hired a NON-white coach already for being such a “diverse city setting”? Fool!
9. The Pac-12 South is so much easier than the Big Ten East
Nothing to argue here, BUT here is the part where you have been shown to not THINK critically for even one second.
Big difference is that if you go 12-1 as a conference champ in the BIG 10; you will get in the playoffs 9 out of 10 times over a 12-1 PAC 12 Champ. History has shown this. So you better be ready to be 13-0 or you might get shut out. 13-0 in ANY conference is HARD.
10. James Franklin has never gathered moss.
Dave, this one is so painful to hear you make. Coaching making there way UP the ranks move jobs every couple year YES. NOT ones that land jobs at top 10-15 programs. So this point has ZERO weight in this case.
Get some sleep and try better next time. If you rip anything off here, just due me the favor to site your source : )
I wouldn't call USC an "elite" job. I would call it the most "unique" job in college football.
No "elite" job cycle through 5 coaches in a 10 year period. There is a reason USC has not been able to land an "elite" coach if you just take the blinders off.
Is the recruiting base great, YES, BUT here are thing Jones fails to address
"ongstanding tradition and heritage -- 11 national titles including 2 this century, 6 Heisman Trophy winners, absolute superiority over the entire western half of the country and a built-in local recruiting base."
The above dates back over 10 years. Since that point in time many things have changed.
1) the pac 12 has much better-quality depth than it did 10 years ago
2) coaching depth in much better across the conference, more competition for recruits (insert: kelly, peterson, etc)
3) there are now 2 nfl teams in LA. this takes away the attraction and attention USC football will get. You can’t triple the supply of a product in a market and think it will not fragment interest
USC HAS ONE OF THE WORST FAIR WEATHER FAN BASES IN THE COUNTRY!
THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN THE STUDENTS, FAN BASE, AND THE TEAM.
1) For more than half their games the stadium is not even half full. think about that for a second, your at penn state and you have recruits at say the iowa game (yes iowa), and you still have 100k fans in the stadium. usc is playing ASU you will be lucky tohave about 15k people there. This will not help the cause.
2) You would never see a (white out, black out, or whatever tradition other schools have) this helps sell the program.
Here is the secret: No one REALLY cares about USC football in LA expect for maybe 2 days a year. One, when they play UCLA, two IF they are rated in the top 10 and are playing another top team.
The other thing DAVID you took out of context to mislead your readers is in this part:
"Helton was eventually re-upped for a reported $3.8 million annually compared with Franklin's $4.8M this year. But it's an apples-to-oranges comparison considering the manner in which the two came about their jobs initially."
VERY misleading because you are discounting the current extension / pay raise which would raise his average YOY salary way OVER 4.8 million.
Plus endorsement and NIKE money at PSU is much better than it is at USC.
Man Jones, you must think a little more critical here to.
"The one aspect of the USC job that has not quite kept pace recently with PSU is coaching salaries, but that's about to change with the next contract, one would suspect. "
If you have any memory left, one of the very few things JF have publicly gripped about is assistant coaches’ salary and reinvest in facilities.
Penn State had made a commitment to upgrade facilities and is in the process of increasing assistant coaches salaries.
USC’s HC and assistant coaches salaries; have not and WILL never keep pace with PSU for one reason MONEY.
Penn State generates more than 50% more in gross revenue than USC. This margin will only grow in PSU’s favor, the more years post sanctions and with 2 NFL teams now in LA taking interest away from USC when they were the only game in town.
https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2017/05/richest_college_football_progr.html
2. The thrill is gone.
So schools should just offer coaches 4-5 year contracts and move on from them? This is such a desperate attempt at a point that can't be supported by any facts.
3. Weather and lifestyle.
Yeah weather in LA is great, no question. “Life style”, that is very personal and you have no idea what “life style” he likes, so just don’t speculate, stick to what you KNOW and facts.
Does “life style” include the same $1 million house in State college costing about $7-$9 Million in LA and more than triple ones state income tax's as well ?
Not sure if you listen to interviews with top coaches in any sport, but those factor are very low on the totem pole. Can’t recall a coach ever saying "yeah i took this job because of the weather and life style"?
4. Franklin's personality is a perfect LA fit.
He is a very well-spoken and personable guy, those are some of his best traits, but that fits ANYWHERE.
Here is the thing, if you LISTEN to what James says (not missing classes, shaking hands after games instead of running off the field, calling for students and fans to fill the stadium, putting education first, etc) those things traditionally have not been stressed at USC.
5. Franklin's recruiting background almost entirely east of the Mississippi does not matter.
You can't be serious? The top things with recruiting are TRUST and RELATIONSHIPS.
Will he be able to recruit eventually at USC, sure cause that is his top quality as a coach, but don't fool yourself that that will not take time. Remember he coached for a while in the south and mid Atlantic; which allowed him to leverage those connections at penn state quicker than expected.
6. Sandy Barbour's future as AD is unknown
As we learned at OSU and don't fool yourself, at every MAJOR college football program the AD "works" for the head coach. This point hold ZERO weight. If anything it would be a chance for JF to have a strong influence on who is hired.
7. Being an African-American coach might be easier in a large, diverse city.
Dave, what you failed to put into perspective here is that he comes from a mixed-race family.
Being Larry John Sr skin color black is different than being a very light skin “black person”, sad but true to a small number of folks in this country.
This part really takes the cake “it's a little harder for anyone of color in a high-profile occupation living in a small white-bread town in the middle of the wilderness than it is in the city.”
This part is pure BULL.
Penn State and State College for that matter, is not made up and defined by a bunch of small town white breads. The people you describe make up a percentage of the LOCAL population. These people are NOT your season ticket holders, students, big boosters, or even donors for that matter.
The students, boosters, season ticket holders, and the people that MATTER; all come from NJ, NYC, DC, Philly, Pitt, DC, and other areas Penn State draws from in the North East. Penn State IS a diverse and well-rounded school.
8. Lynn Swann could hire USC's first black head football coach.
Penn State beat them to the punch already by hiring a black coach first!
Funny after reading your 7th point Dave, that USC HAS NEVER hired a NON-white coach already for being such a “diverse city setting”? Fool!
9. The Pac-12 South is so much easier than the Big Ten East
Nothing to argue here, BUT here is the part where you have been shown to not THINK critically for even one second.
Big difference is that if you go 12-1 as a conference champ in the BIG 10; you will get in the playoffs 9 out of 10 times over a 12-1 PAC 12 Champ. History has shown this. So you better be ready to be 13-0 or you might get shut out. 13-0 in ANY conference is HARD.
10. James Franklin has never gathered moss.
Dave, this one is so painful to hear you make. Coaching making there way UP the ranks move jobs every couple year YES. NOT ones that land jobs at top 10-15 programs. So this point has ZERO weight in this case.
Get some sleep and try better next time. If you rip anything off here, just due me the favor to site your source : )
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