Football James Franklin & Justin Lustig Press Conference

[scrivener]

I agree. Even the most ardent Franklin supporters will have to get riled up if we fail to make the playoff AT LEAST once in the next 2 seasons. No Michigan (and I honestly wish we kept them, dropped OSU), no Oregon and Washington being an unknown with coaching turnover sets up good for next year.

For sure...agreed. Wish we kept Umich too, since one would think they will take a step back, even behind OSU.

To your first point...on this board, the most ardent supporters of JF won't get riled up at all, lol...I don't think there is any question about that.

 

[ryoder1]

PSU doesn't want to be those programs...like in what way...on field success? That runs counter to everything Kraft has mentioned as his goals for championships. And, maybe those two programs have been better b/c of coaching (i.e. player development) and making winning plays when it matters. Not to mention, the structure of building the trenches -- fortifying the LOS, especially for Michigan's case, nullifies any deficiencies they might have in the skill position area. They have dominated the trenches and established a tough attitude....PSU plays soft.

As has been written up before and easily researched, PSU and Mich recruiting over several years now has been nearly dead even, as each team has been slightly ahead on various year's classes. So, we can't blame it to that. OSU's typically outrecruiting both b/c of the ridiculous high star WR"s they bring in. Many of the other positions are negligible.

If JF et al truly doesn't aspire to be where the championship-level programs are (which runs counter to his 'elite' speech from 2018), then what are we doing here? No need to pay JF big bucks anymore, and we should be happy with being 'almost, but not quite.' I for one aspire for the playoffs and a chance to win it all every once in awhile. Shouldn't be too much to ask.

I think all the fans on this board aspire to make the playoffs now with a 12 team playoff or at least I hope they do. When it was 4 teams there are definitely people who aspired but didn't ever expect it so when Franklin couldn't ever deliver on it they have their excuses for him. My favorite is the old ...."well JoePa wasn't any better, he was terrible his last 20 years so see we are just an average program and should not expect to ever be elite." The difference is you and I want Franklin to be held accountable for results as in winning big, meaningful football games and not just getting $9 million a year to beat Rutgers and Maryland.

Penn State can absolutely win a national championship in football. And that is certainly not too much to ask. If our AD and football coach don't believe that in their heart of hearts then let's get a guy in there for half of what we are paying Franklin to go 8-4, 9-3 every year and we can be excited to go to the Music City Bowl every year.

Now to be fair, if NIL continues to spiral out of control then who knows. In other words, if the Ohio States of college football can literally buy every recruit and portal guy with a 5 star or high 4 star by their name then not sure if your name is James Franklin or Nick Saban can do that much. My concern is if the talent disparity grows so wide that it becomes a JV vs Varsity situation and we are the JV. We are not there......yet so the fact that Franklin could not get us to the playoff and Michigan with equal recruiting success just won a NC and other teams of similar or less talent (UDub, TCU, MSU) made the playoff is on Franklin. Also, Mich was cheating, yes, but they ran the table this year with the meat of their schedule after the scandal broke. So you can't use that as a blanket excuse.

You nailed it. We are soft in the trenches. I think our O-Line has improved but more improvements are needed. I think our D-Line just does not have the disruptive ability to take control of games and particularly the big games vs the Ohio States and Michigans and now add Oregon, Washington and USC to that list. I don't see a pass rush from our down linemen. Obviously Franklin has swung and missed at OC for a few years. Totally on him and that cost us big time this year. The team does not play mentally tough in these big games. We seem to wilt under pressure and never make a comeback. Franklin seems to wilt too as he can't make the necessary adjustments and plays not to lose most of the time. All of this narrative can change but will it??

 

[scrivener]

I think all the fans on this board aspire to make the playoffs now with a 12 team playoff or at least I hope they do. When it was 4 teams there are definitely people who aspired but didn't ever expect it so when Franklin couldn't ever deliver on it they have their excuses for him. My favorite is the old ...."well JoePa wasn't any better, he was terrible his last 20 years so see we are just an average program and should not expect to ever be elite." The difference is you and I want Franklin to be held accountable for results as in winning big, meaningful football games and not just getting $9 million a year to beat Rutgers and Maryland.

Penn State can absolutely win a national championship in football. And that is certainly not too much to ask. If our AD and football coach don't believe that in their heart of hearts then let's get a guy in there for half of what we are paying Franklin to go 8-4, 9-3 every year and we can be excited to go to the Music City Bowl every year.

Now to be fair, if NIL continues to spiral out of control then who knows. In other words, if the Ohio States of college football can literally buy every recruit and portal guy with a 5 star or high 4 star by their name then not sure if your name is James Franklin or Nick Saban can do that much. My concern is if the talent disparity grows so wide that it becomes a JV vs Varsity situation and we are the JV. We are not there......yet so the fact that Franklin could not get us to the playoff and Michigan with equal recruiting success just won a NC and other teams of similar or less talent (UDub, TCU, MSU) made the playoff is on Franklin. Also, Mich was cheating, yes, but they ran the table this year with the meat of their schedule after the scandal broke. So you can't use that as a blanket excuse.

You nailed it. We are soft in the trenches. I think our O-Line has improved but more improvements are needed. I think our D-Line just does not have the disruptive ability to take control of games and particularly the big games vs the Ohio States and Michigans and now add Oregon, Washington and USC to that list. I don't see a pass rush from our down linemen. Obviously Franklin has swung and missed at OC for a few years. Totally on him and that cost us big time this year. The team does not play mentally tough in these big games. We seem to wilt under pressure and never make a comeback. Franklin seems to wilt too as he can't make the necessary adjustments and plays not to lose most of the time. All of this narrative can change but will it??

What a post, excellent work.

BTW, that's my fav excuse as well...the JoePa era line. How lazy and non-relatable it is to today's era of the sport.