Per usual, paraphrased questions and answers from James Franklin's Thursday radio show.
Responding to the loss:
Couldn’t feel better about the players that they have the formula they use as a program. Feels good about the entire staff - strength staff and personnel as well - and that’s what you want to create. It’s taken some time, but they’re in a really good place right now and it’s all about that culture that they’ve worked to establish.
On exploiting Michigan State defense:
Going on the road against a veteran team and a veteran coaching staff that have won a lot of big games, it’s going to be a big challenge. The linebackers are the strength of their defense. The secondary and style they play will create some opportunities. But have to stay patient in the run game and take what’s given but also take some shots down the field. Have to be willing to take those yards in underneath routes but not lose patience in taking the deep shots. Up front, think they match up well. Same with the wideouts and DBs, which will create interesting matchups on Saturday.
Offensive/Defensive line criticism and how to keep them positive:
It’s funny because they praise them and love them up all the time, but there are things that need to be addressed. But the thing that is amazing is that their greatest strength as a program, family and community is the passion for this program. That’s what fills up 107k seat stadium and when things are going well, it’s awesome. But it can be really challenging when you lose. 16-2 in past 18 games, and when you lose on the road against one of the best teams in the country, he wishes some things would be handled differently. Really some nasty things that are said, and wishes that would be different not just here but all over the country. He wishes he could insulate the players from that a bit more. But these players have seen the whole spectrum. The beginning of their careers, took criticism, and has been nothing but love once they started to win. You have to learn early, especially in this profession, that you can’t get caught up in the praise or the criticism. As coaches, have to understand that the players are walking around campus and be sensitive to it and understand they’re hearing more than maybe the coaches are.
Corrections to be made:
One of the things that is really important is that you can be harder on the players after wins than you can after losses, because they’re already hurting. The message at the press conference this week is that he recognizes challenges and corrections that have to be made, and that’s what people want to hear. But the reality is the No. 1 team in the country or Super Bowl winner has issues as well. But what people want to hear is that they have issues, they’re working on them, and this is how they intend to correct them.
As a program, assessing where program is vs. his initial vision:
Will never be where he wants them to be. After this weekend, can say definitively they’re not where the fans want them to be. But wants everyone to take a deep breath and think about where they were five or six years ago, and if someone had said they’d be No. 2 in the country for multiple weeks and be part of the conversation they are right now, and walking around airports and people wear Penn State gear with pride, and if you asked anyone, it’s hard to do what they’ve done under normal circumstances, let alone from where they’ve been.
Differences on the road:
It was basically 157 people against 109,000 at Ohio State on Saturday. But you look at the game last year at Beaver Stadium, blocked kick and stadium erupts with momentum, it swings momentum and they take over. Same thing at their place where special teams were huge early in Penn State’s favor with momentum, but blocked punt gave Ohio State momentum and got fans involved. It’s hard to do in this league going on the road. Felt they handled it organizationally, not jumping offsides, but to say it didn’t have an impact, it did.
How do metrics come into play in college football:
Over the last five years, you’re starting to see a lot more of it in football. The difference is baseball has very segmented plays, so it’s different how it plays out. The way football does it, you’re finding out the things that bring success and what gives you a hard time. In football, it’s just another piece of information, not be all, end all. Recruiting, development, and managing a game are all part of your success. As coaches, you have your gut, but where data is good is saying how you handle a situation. For football it’s not as cut and dry as other sports, but it’s a valuable piece of information. But weather factors in considerably in football. Momentum is dramatic. If you study the metrics last year, it says they should have gone for it on fourth-and-1 80 percent of the time, and that was one of Penn State’s hardest, most challenging areas. Study and use it on front end and back end, and how they handled things, and they talk about it as a staff. Definitely factoring into sports but definitely not as much in football as others.
Data for practice:
Sports scientist info is valuable, but where it where really be valuable is in 5-10 years. When they have soft tissue injury and can study at Penn State why they happen and make modifications in how they practice, is important. What happens at other places isn’t necessarily how it will happen here. Humidity and other factors. Can find out who is reaching highest speeds or practicing the most or exerting the most effort and can study those trends. It’s valuable and they use it right now, but will get the most value when they can track trends over a long period of time. Body type, composition, body fat all play into it.
Young defensive ends:
A guy like Shaka Toney and Yetur Matos, the thing that’s interesting that not everyone understands is Toney has been very productive and they’ve been pleased with him, but coaches are managing how he’s used. Very similar to the NFL and they go in as an obvious pass rusher in passing downs, but when you’re playing Michigan State when they’re trying to pound you, that’s not necessarily his style of game. So using those young ends, Yetur and Shaka and letting their package grow over time, you might see one week Shaka play 40 plays and another 15, and that’s based on practice as well as the team they’re playing. Simmons is in that category too. All three of those guys have really bright futures at Penn State. You have the whole range. Yetur is biggest and has most growth potential. Shane is a guy that had to work to get to his size. And Shaka, James hopes is eating right now. But he’s the fastest, quickest and explosive of all three.
Responding to the loss:
Couldn’t feel better about the players that they have the formula they use as a program. Feels good about the entire staff - strength staff and personnel as well - and that’s what you want to create. It’s taken some time, but they’re in a really good place right now and it’s all about that culture that they’ve worked to establish.
On exploiting Michigan State defense:
Going on the road against a veteran team and a veteran coaching staff that have won a lot of big games, it’s going to be a big challenge. The linebackers are the strength of their defense. The secondary and style they play will create some opportunities. But have to stay patient in the run game and take what’s given but also take some shots down the field. Have to be willing to take those yards in underneath routes but not lose patience in taking the deep shots. Up front, think they match up well. Same with the wideouts and DBs, which will create interesting matchups on Saturday.
Offensive/Defensive line criticism and how to keep them positive:
It’s funny because they praise them and love them up all the time, but there are things that need to be addressed. But the thing that is amazing is that their greatest strength as a program, family and community is the passion for this program. That’s what fills up 107k seat stadium and when things are going well, it’s awesome. But it can be really challenging when you lose. 16-2 in past 18 games, and when you lose on the road against one of the best teams in the country, he wishes some things would be handled differently. Really some nasty things that are said, and wishes that would be different not just here but all over the country. He wishes he could insulate the players from that a bit more. But these players have seen the whole spectrum. The beginning of their careers, took criticism, and has been nothing but love once they started to win. You have to learn early, especially in this profession, that you can’t get caught up in the praise or the criticism. As coaches, have to understand that the players are walking around campus and be sensitive to it and understand they’re hearing more than maybe the coaches are.
Corrections to be made:
One of the things that is really important is that you can be harder on the players after wins than you can after losses, because they’re already hurting. The message at the press conference this week is that he recognizes challenges and corrections that have to be made, and that’s what people want to hear. But the reality is the No. 1 team in the country or Super Bowl winner has issues as well. But what people want to hear is that they have issues, they’re working on them, and this is how they intend to correct them.
As a program, assessing where program is vs. his initial vision:
Will never be where he wants them to be. After this weekend, can say definitively they’re not where the fans want them to be. But wants everyone to take a deep breath and think about where they were five or six years ago, and if someone had said they’d be No. 2 in the country for multiple weeks and be part of the conversation they are right now, and walking around airports and people wear Penn State gear with pride, and if you asked anyone, it’s hard to do what they’ve done under normal circumstances, let alone from where they’ve been.
Differences on the road:
It was basically 157 people against 109,000 at Ohio State on Saturday. But you look at the game last year at Beaver Stadium, blocked kick and stadium erupts with momentum, it swings momentum and they take over. Same thing at their place where special teams were huge early in Penn State’s favor with momentum, but blocked punt gave Ohio State momentum and got fans involved. It’s hard to do in this league going on the road. Felt they handled it organizationally, not jumping offsides, but to say it didn’t have an impact, it did.
How do metrics come into play in college football:
Over the last five years, you’re starting to see a lot more of it in football. The difference is baseball has very segmented plays, so it’s different how it plays out. The way football does it, you’re finding out the things that bring success and what gives you a hard time. In football, it’s just another piece of information, not be all, end all. Recruiting, development, and managing a game are all part of your success. As coaches, you have your gut, but where data is good is saying how you handle a situation. For football it’s not as cut and dry as other sports, but it’s a valuable piece of information. But weather factors in considerably in football. Momentum is dramatic. If you study the metrics last year, it says they should have gone for it on fourth-and-1 80 percent of the time, and that was one of Penn State’s hardest, most challenging areas. Study and use it on front end and back end, and how they handled things, and they talk about it as a staff. Definitely factoring into sports but definitely not as much in football as others.
Data for practice:
Sports scientist info is valuable, but where it where really be valuable is in 5-10 years. When they have soft tissue injury and can study at Penn State why they happen and make modifications in how they practice, is important. What happens at other places isn’t necessarily how it will happen here. Humidity and other factors. Can find out who is reaching highest speeds or practicing the most or exerting the most effort and can study those trends. It’s valuable and they use it right now, but will get the most value when they can track trends over a long period of time. Body type, composition, body fat all play into it.
Young defensive ends:
A guy like Shaka Toney and Yetur Matos, the thing that’s interesting that not everyone understands is Toney has been very productive and they’ve been pleased with him, but coaches are managing how he’s used. Very similar to the NFL and they go in as an obvious pass rusher in passing downs, but when you’re playing Michigan State when they’re trying to pound you, that’s not necessarily his style of game. So using those young ends, Yetur and Shaka and letting their package grow over time, you might see one week Shaka play 40 plays and another 15, and that’s based on practice as well as the team they’re playing. Simmons is in that category too. All three of those guys have really bright futures at Penn State. You have the whole range. Yetur is biggest and has most growth potential. Shane is a guy that had to work to get to his size. And Shaka, James hopes is eating right now. But he’s the fastest, quickest and explosive of all three.
