Be honest with your assessments getting to Elite status.

[KanePoster]

The people who keep wanting to fire Franklin under the premise that we will go out and simply hire a coach who can get us to elite are living in fantasy land. Just a few variables to consider:

1. "Centre County/State College" are not exactly for everyone. We all may love State College ON A VISIT, but how many of us remained to live in State College after we graduated??? Most see State College as a pretty place to visit but not a great place to live. Take OB as an example. OB is on record as saying he did not exactly like it, did not see himself staying long AND his wife hated it. Remember, the Head Coach is distracted with working 20-hour days and on the road... but the coaches wife & children are in State College 24/7/365.... Many wife's are not signing on for a life in Centre County.

2. You do not have an Admin willing to pay the $$$$ to keep up with the elite. It's really nice to say we WANT to be elite. But does our Admin have the commitment to be elite??? Each & every year Franklin has to fight for enough budget to get a new paint job on Lasch, or new turf on a practice field. You think Saban, Dabo and Meyer/Day have to have these yearly fights for $$$ from Bama, Clemson & Ohio State boards???? So while Franklin is told the upgrades to Lasch will come as part of a 10-year master plan and after money is spent to upgrade the natatorium and build a museum for Barron.... Saban, Dabo and Day are getting $100 million dollar upgrades that include lazy rivers, wiffle ball fields, sliding boards, putt-putt courses, individual private message chairs, and world class gaming centers..... at their facilities.

3. PA is no longer a top 10 producer of D1 high school talent. Thru the 60s-90s Penn State had the luxury of being the power program in a State that produced top 10 quantities of D1 talent. It's a huge advantage to have a ton of big time D1 talent within a 100-200 mile radius of your campus. The WPIAL alone produced 30-40 big time D1 football players every year. Those numbers have dwindled yearly. PA is now out of the top 10 for D1 talent. States like Georgia, Louisiana, Miss, TN, North Carolina.... have blown past PA.

So before we all run Franklin out of town. Consider these variables. Then tell me WHO are we hiring?

Good job.

I'm just saying that the standard is that you have to find a coach who is better.

The Wannstadt debacle destroyed that program essentially forever. They had a chance (not to be national title contenders), but to be a strong top 20 program.

As with all things in our world today, people do nothing themselves, but feel their job is to "provide guidance and make judgements". Every single person who voted to fire Wannstadt should be forced out of Pitt with minimal severance and lose any government pension they had. Time for those who judge to be held accountable for their bad judgments.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

Good job.

I'm just saying that the standard is that you have to find a coach who is better.

The Wannstadt debacle destroyed that program essentially forever. They had a chance (not to be national title contenders), but to be a strong top 20 program.

As with all things in our world today, people do nothing themselves, but feel their job is to "provide guidance and make judgements". Every single person who voted to fire Wannstadt should be forced out of Pitt with minimal severance and lose any government pension they had. Time for those who judge to be held accountable for their bad judgments.

No location is for everyone
But the Central Pa, Centre county farmland notion is a fairytale. With PSUs grad school population and demographics alone plus the ever increasing diversity of the undergraduate population there, Universty Park is more of a diverse city than many in the US.

The issue is the moment in time that the CPS was formed, and how it was formed.... 3+1. If this system had been dropped in place in the 80s, it would be easy to concieve of a Nebraska. PSU, Miami or some other group of three getting in and staying in..
Or l, if the 70s ND, USC, UM.

The problem is in the conception of a 3 + 1 system. It is a system that results in an anti competition not pro competition scenario.

 

[Connorpozlee]

The people who keep wanting to fire Franklin under the premise that we will go out and simply hire a coach who can get us to elite are living in fantasy land. Just a few variables to consider:

1. "Centre County/State College" are not exactly for everyone. We all may love State College ON A VISIT, but how many of us remained to live in State College after we graduated??? Most see State College as a pretty place to visit but not a great place to live. Take OB as an example. OB is on record as saying he did not exactly like it, did not see himself staying long AND his wife hated it. Remember, the Head Coach is distracted with working 20-hour days and on the road... but the coaches wife & children are in State College 24/7/365.... Many wife's are not signing on for a life in Centre County.

2. You do not have an Admin willing to pay the $$$$ to keep up with the elite. It's really nice to say we WANT to be elite. But does our Admin have the commitment to be elite??? Each & every year Franklin has to fight for enough budget to get a new paint job on Lasch, or new turf on a practice field. You think Saban, Dabo and Meyer/Day have to have these yearly fights for $$$ from Bama, Clemson & Ohio State boards???? So while Franklin is told the upgrades to Lasch will come as part of a 10-year master plan and after money is spent to upgrade the natatorium and build a museum for Barron.... Saban, Dabo and Day are getting $100 million dollar upgrades that include lazy rivers, wiffle ball fields, sliding boards, putt-putt courses, individual private message chairs, and world class gaming centers..... at their facilities.

3. PA is no longer a top 10 producer of D1 high school talent. Thru the 60s-90s Penn State had the luxury of being the power program in a State that produced top 10 quantities of D1 talent. It's a huge advantage to have a ton of big time D1 talent within a 100-200 mile radius of your campus. The WPIAL alone produced 30-40 big time D1 football players every year. Those numbers have dwindled yearly. PA is now out of the top 10 for D1 talent. States like Georgia, Louisiana, Miss, TN, North Carolina.... have blown past PA.

So before we all run Franklin out of town. Consider these variables. Then tell me WHO are we hiring?

State College, PA is as much for everyone as Tuscaloosa, AL is. Or Columbus, OH. Fact of the matter is that if you want to play big boy college football at the top level you have to be willing to spend at that top level on facilities and staff and be willing to allow boosters to spend at the top level to offer bonuses to entice elite kids to join your program.
This is not a “poor, clean Penn State can’t compete” argument. When we suddenly start getting kids from Florida I certainly raise my eyebrows and wonder just how it is that Seider gets these kids to come to Penn State.

 

[Kiber]

Good job.

I'm just saying that the standard is that you have to find a coach who is better.

The Wannstadt debacle destroyed that program essentially forever. They had a chance (not to be national title contenders), but to be a strong top 20 program.

As with all things in our world today, people do nothing themselves, but feel their job is to "provide guidance and make judgements". Every single person who voted to fire Wannstadt should be forced out of Pitt with minimal severance and lose any government pension they had. Time for those who judge to be held accountable for their bad judgments.

I agree. But I think people have to be realistic. We were hugely lucky to have a guy who was happy to make a life in State College. He admitted to zero hobbies. His wife was just happy to be a part of the community, and raise a large family in a small town. And all this at the same time the State of PA was a major force in high school football & producing D1 talent. We literally caught lightning in a bottle.

I get what you are saying about a better "football coach". And I admit, Franklin may not be the greatest game-day strategist. I understand that is the dog whistle for "Franklin is not a good Xs and Os coach". I just happen to believe talent is WAY more important that Xs and Os. For example, let Day & Franklin flip sidelines Saturday night. Give Franklin Justin Fields, a stable of NFL WRs, 3-4 NFL Offensive Lineman, an NFL RB, and a bunch of NFL bodies of Defense... Give Ryan Day Sean Clifford, our weak OL, our stable of WRs, a 4th string RB.... And I'd bet that if they flipped sidelines and Franklin was coaching the OSU talent and Day was coaching the PSU talent that the game outcome would have been pretty much the same. Again.... did Bill Belichik just get "stupid" this year?? Or, is Bill Belichik still the greatest coach in history he just no longer has Tom Brady, Gronk and Julien Edelman in his prime....

If you want to examine recruiting, I think a bigger "tell" is the ability to analyze and recognize talent. For example, our staff did recognize the likes of Fields. They were on him early. They were on a guy like Brian Bresee early. They were on a Julien Fleming early. It's not like our staff can not identify talent. The problem is that when the likes of Clemson & Ohio State get thier fangs in a player, and they start pitching the advantages of coming to their school, then Penn State comes up short. I know this is very difficult for many PSU fans to hear. But it's become fact. These other programs have passed us by. There was a day when Beaver Stadium & Lasch gave us advantages. But now we do not even have top 20 facilities. There was a recent poll taken ranking college football facilities and we were not even top 20. Franklin is a great guy. He is a personable guy. But so too are guys like Dabo, Day, Smart, Saban.... it's not like those guys are schmucks. So when a Dabo can not only shmooze Brian Bresee but then show Bresee those Clemson facilities which are literally like 5* vacation resorts then Franklin shows Bresee Lasch and tells Bresee that they will be upgraded over the next 10 years ..... Guess who wins the battle for Brian Bresee?

 

[Kiber]

State College, PA is as much for everyone as Tuscaloosa, AL is. Or Columbus, OH. Fact of the matter is that if you want to play big boy college football at the top level you have to be willing to spend at that top level on facilities and staff and be willing to allow boosters to spend at the top level to offer bonuses to entice elite kids to join your program.
This is not a “poor, clean Penn State can’t compete” argument. When we suddenly start getting kids from Florida I certainly raise my eyebrows and wonder just how it is that Seider gets these kids to come to Penn State.

You do realize that State College still does not even have a full-service airport. Let's compare access for families to watch their kid in Tuscaloosa vs. State College. Tuscaloosa is an easy 20 minutes drive to Birmingham and an easy 2 hour drive from Atlanta. A kid's Mom & Dad could easily fly into either Birmingham or Atlanta any Fri/Sat to watch their kid play any Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Compare that with a family traveling into State College to watch their Son play. True story .... Before Jimbo Fischer accepted the job at Texas AM he demanded that the College Station airport expand to be able to take direct flights from Atlanta and other hotbed recruiting areas. Not to get recruits. But to be able to pitch to the recruits families that if their Son went to Texas AM they could easily fly into College Station on a Saturday morning to watch their Son play.

 

[BobPSU92]

Is Penn State ever going to have Disneyland for a football building like clemson? Of course not. Penn State will pay coaches well, but never in the top tier. Penn State will upgrade facilities, but never to the top tier. I just don’t see Penn State truly going all-in the way Tosu, clemson, and bama have. And some people will laugh, but Penn State will always emphasize academics and life after football. While the likes of clemson show off day spas in their football building, Penn State shows off study rooms in Lasch with graduation rates painted huge on the wall.

 

[KanePoster]

Is Penn State ever going to have Disneyland for a football building like clemson? Of course not. Penn State will pay coaches well, but never in the top tier. Penn State will upgrade facilities, but never to the top tier. I just don’t see Penn State truly going all-in the way Tosu, clemson, and bama have. And some people will laugh, but Penn State will always emphasize academics and life after football. While the likes of clemson show off day spas in their football building, Penn State shows off study rooms in Lasch with graduation rates painted huge on the wall.

Why not pay top tier?

In the big scheme of things, those salaries don't make any difference to the bottom line, as compared to being a top 5 program vs. top 15 program.

That extra winning pays for itself easily.

 

[PearlSUJam]

 

[BobPSU92]

Why not pay top tier?

In the big scheme of things, those salaries don't make any difference to the bottom line, as compared to being a top 5 program vs. top 15 program.

That extra winning pays for itself easily.

Salaries are just one part of it. Places like clemson, bama, and Tosu are at the top in all facets. As I said before, I just don’t see Penn State committing to football to that extent. That includes salaries.

 

[katchthis]

A sight tangent into an article discussing what we have rehashed many times on the board, graduation rates.

Does high-level NCAA football have a graduation problem?

The NCAA and independent researchers tell different stories about graduation rates at top football programs. Who’s to be believed?

www.deseret.com

 

[Kiber]

Is Penn State ever going to have Disneyland for a football building like clemson? Of course not. Penn State will pay coaches well, but never in the top tier. Penn State will upgrade facilities, but never to the top tier. I just don’t see Penn State truly going all-in the way Tosu, clemson, and bama have. And some people will laugh, but Penn State will always emphasize academics and life after football. While the likes of clemson show off day spas in their football building, Penn State shows off study rooms in Lasch with graduation rates painted huge on the wall.

This is all true.... But then the unrealistic Penn State fan will scream "fire Franklin" when we do not beat Ohio State. It does not exactly take the football evaluation skills of Ozzie Newsome to watch 10 minutes of that game Saturday night and realize that we simply do not have those Ohio State players across the board. We will get an occasional Saquan Barkley, Mike Gesicki, or Micah Parsons and they will level the playing field a little bit. But Ohio State has 10-15 of those guys every year. So does Clemson. So does Bama.

 

[Texas Lion]

They need to go back to what they said at the beginning:

1. Dominate the State.
2. Dominate the Region.

Thats it.It is that simple. The Florida kids look nice but have any of them ever produced better than an in region guy.

My question is this: are we spending too much time outside the region and thus upsetting the in region relationships?

PA-DMV-NC- and the occasional northeast kid.

 

[Connorpozlee]

You do realize that State College still does not even have a full-service airport. Let's compare access for families to watch their kid in Tuscaloosa vs. State College. Tuscaloosa is an easy 20 minutes drive to Birmingham and an easy 2 hour drive from Atlanta. A kid's Mom & Dad could easily fly into either Birmingham or Atlanta any Fri/Sat to watch their kid play any Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Compare that with a family traveling into State College to watch their Son play. True story .... Before Jimbo Fischer accepted the job at Texas AM he demanded that the College Station airport expand to be able to take direct flights from Atlanta and other hotbed recruiting areas. Not to get recruits. But to be able to pitch to the recruits families that if their Son went to Texas AM they could easily fly into College Station on a Saturday morning to watch their Son play.

Sure, but I don’t think kids are going to Alabama for the airport access. They are going for the luxury SUVs. There are a lot of factors involved but let’s not ignore cheating as one of them.

 

[Art]

Salaries are just one part of it. Places like clemson, bama, and Tosu are at the top in all facets. As I said before, I just don’t see Penn State committing to football to that extent. That includes salaries.

On a material basis, PSU is close or getting there. Assistant salaries are competitive. Planned facilities upgrades are budgeted for more than Dabo spent on his Tinker Toy set.

The primary difference is philosophical and focus. Franklin has to move heaven and earth to get what he wants from the administration. That's not the case at places like Alabama and Clemson.

 

[Art]

Sure, but I don’t think kids are going to Alabama for the airport access. They are going for the luxury SUVs. There are a lot of factors involved but let’s not ignore cheating as one of them.

Another unfounded excuse.

 

[SLion]

This is all true.... But then the unrealistic Penn State fan will scream "fire Franklin" when we do not beat Ohio State. It does not exactly take the football evaluation skills of Ozzie Newsome to watch 10 minutes of that game Saturday night and realize that we simply do not have those Ohio State players across the board. We will get an occasional Saquan Barkley, Mike Gesicki, or Micah Parsons and they will level the playing field a little bit. But Ohio State has 10-15 of those guys every year. So does Clemson. So does Bama.

I think Olave was a three star recruit and ate us alive. I don't think it is star recruits at skill positions. It is the OL/DL where we can't compete with talent or development. They can plug people in and keep rolling while we have 2-3 year starters getting blown up. They also have great system of getting QBs to drop far back yet throw extremely accurate deep balls while we play toss up style. It is very, very hard to get pressure on them.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

Why should the game be close when the OSU roster is much more talented then the PSU roster? A win? Under what circumstance should we have won that game.

Yes, the rosters are slanted towards OSU, but by coming out unprepared and being stupid we spotted them 14 points. Look at the final score again. A win might have been a possibility.

We did not even begin to run the right mix of plays until the 2nd half. A lot of stuff was apparently not even in the playbook. That's called being unprepared.

This was a pivotal game. Win it and it attracts recruits. Even Fields admitted that his interest in PSU was based on the OSU win in 2016. As it is, coming out unprepared for the first two games, and being stupid, I think this program has set itself back into an unrecoverable position, at least in terms of becoming a playoff team any time soon.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

I forget who but someone here gave a long, credible detailed account of the investment in program difference between State and osu. After reading about the 7 planes, 5 star facilities and million dollar coordinators, I readjusted my expectations to top 10 relevancy with a big bowl. I’m so much happier.
so to answer your question, and the answer to every question ever asked, $.

 

[Art]

I forget who but someone here gave a long, credible detailed account of the investment in program difference between State and osu. After reading about the 7 planes, 5 star facilities and million dollar coordinators, I readjusted my expectations to top 10 relevancy with a big bowl. I’m so much happier.
so to answer your question, and the answer to every question ever asked, $.

Unless the OSU athletic department has been on a buying binge in the last year, it has two private planes at its disposal. As for co-ordinator salaries PSU is at or close to a mil/per.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

Like I said, I read this a year ago. Maybe 7 was tic?

 

[Connorpozlee]

Another unfounded excuse.

What’s unfounded, the cheating? Both Ohio State and Alabama have been nailed for it. I’m not making an excuse, im just pointing out reality. It’s like the McGwire/Sosa home run chase. It was neat to watch but nobody in there right mind thought they were clean when it was happening. I didn’t need to see syringes to be convinced they were juicing, I don’t need to see receipts to know these programs are cheating.
And as I said earlier, after what the NCAA did to Penn State I’m fine if that’s the road the program goes down.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

The staff will make just under $8 million combined for the coming season after making just over $7.2 million last year, which ranked third nationally in 2019, according to the USA Today database of assistant coach salaries.Mar 9, 2020

Ohio State football assistant coach salaries, terms announced

 

[SLion]

Let's also not lose sight that perhaps our highest performing, dyed in B&W assistant coach and star DL recruiter was shoved out the door and has been sitting on OSU sideline, eating our lunch now with enemy. One of the big mistakes of Franklin era.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

USA TODAY

sports.usatoday.com

 

[Kiber]

Another unfounded excuse.

But it's an easy one every time we lose a recruit or a football game.... the other team pays players.

 

[Kiber]

I think Olave was a three star recruit and ate us alive. I don't think it is star recruits at skill positions. It is the OL/DL where we can't compete with talent or development. They can plug people in and keep rolling while we have 2-3 year starters getting blown up. They also have great system of getting QBs to drop far back yet throw extremely accurate deep balls while we play toss up style. It is very, very hard to get pressure on them.

If Olave was a 3* than he's an exception to their roster. The majority of the Ohio St roster -- just like Clemson & Bama - are highly rated players. The same 3 or 4 schools have had the top 5 recruiting classes for the last 5-10 years. I believe Bama has had a top 3 class every year since Saban arrived. Ohio St had top 3 classes pretty much every year under Urbs (and this is pretty much Urban Meyer's roster). Clemson has had top 5 classes every year the last 5 years.

 

[Art]

What’s unfounded, the cheating? Both Ohio State and Alabama have been nailed for it. I’m not making an excuse, im just pointing out reality. It’s like the McGwire/Sosa home run chase. It was neat to watch but nobody in there right mind thought they were clean when it was happening. I didn’t need to see syringes to be convinced they were juicing, I don’t need to see receipts to know these programs are cheating.
And as I said earlier, after what the NCAA did to Penn State I’m fine if that’s the road the program goes down.

Let's see, how many kids on a football team and how many were involved? There will always be kids looking for a handout and folks on the periphery of a program willing to provide it. That's different from systemic.

 

[Art]

But it's an easy one every time we lose a recruit or a football game.... the other team pays players.

If it were as widespread as many here believe, those cases would be aratted out by the opposition. Hell, PSU and UTk ratted out VaDreck over Kevin Jones.

 

[Kiber]

Let's also not lose sight that perhaps our highest performing, dyed in B&W assistant coach and star DL recruiter was shoved out the door and has been sitting on OSU sideline, eating our lunch now with enemy. One of the big mistakes of Franklin era.

"shoved out the door"??? He was the one assistant coach offered to remain of staff by OB. He was mad that he was not made HC. After the JS shit-storm Saint Johnson wanted the HC job. When he was not given the job he got mad and took his ball over to Columbus... even though he was offered a lateral move. OB offered him the DL Coach at PSU, and he took the DL Coach at Ohio St. It's not like he was not offered a job by OB to stay and it's not like Ohio St offered him a promotion.

Yes. I'm sure he got more $$$ from Ohio St. I'm sure they were willing to pay him more $$ to be the DL Coach. But he was not "forced out the door".

 

[Art]

USA TODAY

sports.usatoday.com

So everyone is a co-ordinator? If OSU wants to overpay for position coaches, let 'em.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

And this toohttps://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/Alabama-football-Clemson-Tigers-Nick-Saban-Ohio-State-Buckeyes-LSU-college-facilities-rankings-2019-134061740/#134061740_9

 

[Kiber]

If it were as widespread as many here believe, those cases would be aratted out by the opposition. Hell, PSU and UTk ratted out VaDreck over Kevin Jones.

Exactly. The crap would come back to the other coaches and that's where it would get vetted. Just like negative recruiting. Staffs find out that other staffs are doing negative recruiting against them when a recruit goes in and says "I heard x,y,z... about you guys". And the staff asks "where did you hear that".... 17 year olds are not exactly the best source of secrecy.

We are to believe that there is wide-spread paying of 17 year olds by Ohio State, Clemson and Bama.... and these 17-year olds keep that under secrecy........ Ummmm OK.

 

[Art]

"shoved out the door"??? He was the one assistant coach offered to remain of staff by OB. He was mad that he was not made HC. After the JS shit-storm Saint Johnson wanted the HC job. When he was not given the job he got mad and took his ball over to Columbus... even though he was offered a lateral move. OB offered him the DL Coach at PSU, and he took the DL Coach at Ohio St. It's not like he was not offered a job by OB to stay and it's not like Ohio St offered him a promotion.

Yes. I'm sure he got more $$$ from Ohio St. I'm sure they were willing to pay him more $$ to be the DL Coach. But he was not "forced out the door".

I think you mean offered by Franklin. The administration intervened to make that happen and what was offered was a demotion.

 

[MarkPSU]

Our windows to take a step up were the two one point losses to OSU. Win those two and perhaps it's a different narrative today.

 

[slykens]

You do realize that State College still does not even have a full-service airport. Let's compare access for families to watch their kid in Tuscaloosa vs. State College. Tuscaloosa is an easy 20 minutes drive to Birmingham and an easy 2 hour drive from Atlanta. A kid's Mom & Dad could easily fly into either Birmingham or Atlanta any Fri/Sat to watch their kid play any Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Compare that with a family traveling into State College to watch their Son play. True story .... Before Jimbo Fischer accepted the job at Texas AM he demanded that the College Station airport expand to be able to take direct flights from Atlanta and other hotbed recruiting areas. Not to get recruits. But to be able to pitch to the recruits families that if their Son went to Texas AM they could easily fly into College Station on a Saturday morning to watch their Son play.

What are you even talking about? Prior to the pandemic I was flying in/out of State College all the time. There were good options and will be again once things return to normal. It's not just a grass strip with lanterns down the side.

Tuscaloosa is an HOUR from Birmingham, not twenty minutes, (where there are more flights than State College but it's not exactly Heathrow) and THREE HOURS from Atlanta, not two.

State College is an hour and a half from MDT, which is probably comparable to Birmingham's airport for options, and three hours from PHL, BWI, IAD, and PIT - in sum likely on par with ATL.

I buy the arguments parents want to watch their kids but I don't think getting to State College to do so is any more difficult than many other places.

 

[slykens]

This was a pivotal game. Win it and it attracts recruits. Even Fields admitted that his interest in PSU was based on the OSU win in 2016. As it is, coming out unprepared for the first two games, and being stupid, I think this program has set itself back into an unrecoverable position, at least in terms of becoming a playoff team any time soon.

This is close to how I feel, and I've been a Franklin cheerleader. This team was completely unprepared in all three phases of the game for Indiana and Ohio State. What recruit wants to have their talent wasted like that?

Some people have tried to use COVID/2020 as the excuse but if that's the case then why has it only appeared to affect Penn State?

The entire Indiana game and the first half of Ohio State, the offensive play calling (and execution) was atrocious and it appears Clifford has no confidence in the rest of the offense.

The defense, expected to be a strength for this team, quit playing in the fourth quarter at Indiana after holding them to 125 yards for almost the entire game. While they very well could have just held Ohio State to their lowest output this year excepting playoff teams, the defense didn't appear to be ready to play, either. Had they been ready and had the offense played the first half as they did the second, maybe the Bucks sweat a hell of a lot more.

Special teams, which was an abject disaster at Indiana at least didn't hurt this past weekend.

I've always felt that Franklin is a CEO coach and that he needs strong coordinators to succeed. I feel as though I've changed my thoughts on what the ceiling for him is based on the last few games. In the past I felt that winning the CFP was a possibility but now I can't see getting beyond an NY6 invite most years. Why? Lack of attention to detail. Does anyone here think Saban would have blown the end of the Indiana game or snapped the ball with ten seconds left on the play clock and a running game clock at the end of the first half against OSU? (I know, OSU screwed up too and gifted us three points for it)

Simply, if PSU isn't going to recruit at the same level as OSU, 'Bama, Clemson, etc., then they damn well better maximize what they get out of who they do recruit and lack of attention to detail, poor play calling, etc. is not the way to do it.

 

[Connorpozlee]

Let's see, how many kids on a football team and how many were involved? There will always be kids looking for a handout and folks on the periphery of a program willing to provide it. That's different from systemic.

I have no doubt it’s systemic. None. It’s ingrained in the fabric of the programs. Again, I think all programs do it to some degree. I think some do it down better and to a greater degree than others.

 

[Kiber]

I think you mean offered by Franklin. The administration intervened to make that happen and what was offered was a demotion.

Yes. You are right. If you remember, the last carry over from Vandy to follow Franklin to PSU was Sean Spencer. Franklin/Spencer had to wait for St. Johnson to turn down the job before Franklin could bring on Spencer. Yes. It was Franklin.

 

[SLion]

I think you mean offered by Franklin. The administration intervened to make that happen and what was offered was a demotion.

In the end what was the point? JF gave it to Bob Schoop who left quickly. Was it worth burning the bridge with LJ Sr? Nope. He is associate head coach too, not just DL coach. We could have done same and he may have stayed on but who knows with regime changes. Point is, OSU got one of the best in biz while we have struggled with continuity.

 

[Kiber]

In the end what was the point? JF gave it to Bob Schoop who left quickly. Was it worth burning the bridge with LJ Sr? Nope. He is associate head coach too, not just DL coach. We could have done same and he may have stayed on but who knows with regime changes. Point is, OSU got one of the best in biz while we have struggled with continuity.

"Gave it to Shoop". That's a bit deceiving. First of all, EVERY coach... EVERY coach ... has the ability to pick their own staff. Shoop was his Defensive Coord at Vandy where they just set records for wins. I believe before Franklin & his staff arrived in Nashville, Vandy won 9-games in a season like 1 time in 100 years. Then under Franklin & Staff they won 9-games in like 3 seasons and went to bowl games every year.... something that really is not done at Vandy .... And again, Shoop was his DC thru that success. So "gave it to Shoop". No, Franklin did what about 99% of other coaches do and that is try to bring with them as many of their coaches as possible that made them successful.

And as far as DL Coach. Again, thru the success they achieved at Vandy, Sean Spencer was his DL Coach. Franklin "played nice", and instead of insisting on the DL Coach he really wanted and really trusted, he played nice and agreed to first offer it to St. Johnson.