Saban was 34-24-1 at Sparty.
Sometimes a good coach isn't enough to raise up an average school. That's why coaches leave for "better" jobs. If Saban thought he could win a natty at MSU, he would have probably stayed.
The question you should be asking is how any coach's team performs against opponents of comparable/better talent.
You may remember Chris Petersen at Boise St. His rosters of 2-3* players competed well with teams of 4* players. He was a good coach who made sound football players and put them in positions to be successful through strategy and play calling.
JF, while he does so many things right (recruiting, comms, politics) wins games on talent, and has throughout his time at PSU, struggled against teams of comparable talent. I think his lone upset may be OSU in 2016 that featured the infamous FG block and Grant Haley return for a TD. JF has also struggled at times against average, but well-coached teams.
Rhule performed well at Temple. I think most would say his time at Baylor was successful, but I'm not in a position to judge the quality of his roster vs the losses to OK, etc. With Carolina in the NFL, who the heck knows. COVID + a franchise in disarray. It's possible that Rhule is a successful mid-level HC (See Schiano) but is not capable of winning at the upper echelon.
I'm not a Franklin hater, but do offer an honest assessment and criticism of his performance over the last 10 seasons.
@voltz99 , tell us all this, since you are an enthusiastic defended of JF and take a condescending tone with anyone that points out his record against his peer/near peer coaches/schools - Are you satisfied with JF's performance? Are you okay with generally not being competitive against teams with similar rankings? Many on this board used to mock Harbaugh for making $8M and finishing 3rd in the east every year. That comment hasn't aged well. So let's be real. It seems like you are content. 9-10 win seasons. Low expectations of beating OSU-Mich (and probably USC, Oregon, Washington) and moving forward, a likely away game in the CFP where we are also not very competitive. Is that it? Is that contentment for you? Do you not think PSU is capable of more? Honest questions.
And since you like to bring up Paterno, let's discuss - Joe Paterno certainly had his faults, but he was capable of getting over the hump ... 2-2 in MNC games (and obviously robbed in '94), and 5 undefeated seasons, so he gets some grace. Even in his 70s, and after the dark years, he managed B1G titles in 2005(#3 ranking) and 2008(#8 ranking). Honest question - Do you see anything from JF that indicates he is likely to have 1 undefeated season, let alone multiple?
Appreciate the conversation.