Keep CJF or fire him?
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Yeah, 27-18 overall, 0-2 in bowl games and they showed up real well today against Miami. He's nothing more than a great defensive coordinator.
Cignetti seems like the opposite of Franklin in some ways and that is a good thing.
Cignetti more substance less on style. Our big game James is a good talker but less on substance.
What helps make Cignetti such a good coach and win everywhere he’s been is his use of transfers and now the portal. When he was at IUP every spring he would bring in key transfers (especially at QB) to bolster his roster. He did that very well at JMU as well. And when he took over at Indiana he took it to another level. He a pretty good in-game coach as well. Significantly better at that than Franklin in my opinion.
Keep him. Buy out is too expensive. I don’t think we have boosters who will buy him out like SEC schools. He is still recruiting well. Aside from a few student athletes doing some extremely stupid things he runs a clean program. It was pretty obvious even years ago we were going to be a second tier team for a long time unless we hired a mercenary on the order of Harbaugh or that ex-Ohio State coach who will remain nameless. We don’t want to pay top tier money (because it’s ridiculous) so we won’t get a top tier coach. If we get through the season with one loss it’s probably the best we can hope for. Hope springs eternal, maybe we win a playoff game or two.
Yea, because if he finishes 11-1 that’s “no results.” Some of you people are morons.
They will never fire James Franklin and anyone calling for his head is on their ear.
if you’re looking at 11-1 blindly, sure, it’s impressive. But when you examine the teams in the 11 column, it’s less impressive.
For allowing players to engage in juvenile antics which cost the game, Franklin should be horse whipped in front of Old Main.
That won't happen, but he should be punished in some way, possibly financially.
That won't happen, but he should be punished in some way, possibly financially.
Just like Franklin has a list of potential future coaches ready to go, I wouldn't doubt if Kraft does the same. Except it should be two lists, one list of potential hires if Franklin decides to move on and one list of potential hires for which we'd be willing to spend that buyout.
Franklin isn't going anywhere any time soon and the guys on that second list are probably not interested anyway, so there's a very good chance that Franklin is gonna stay for at least a couple more years. I will say that if his agents start floating the "Franklin to USC/Florida" stories again looking for a new contract then that first list is going to start looking a lot better.
This from CBS sums it up well
No, this isn't a "fire James Franklin!" rant. Franklin is, inarguably, one of the 15 best coaches in college football -- at the bare minimum, and he's probably even higher than that -- and Penn State is a consistent top-10 program with him at the helm.
Most schools would trade a lot for the consistent 10-win stability that Franklin brings to Happy Valley. And in a 12-team College Football Playoff, one that could expand even more as college football's decision-makers never seem satisfied with the status quo, 10 wins is good enough.
All that said, there comes a point where you have to ask: Will Penn State every truly break through under Franklin? Consistent playoff appearances are fine, but does it actually mean anything if the Nittany Lions come away from each year without anything of substance?
It's becoming more clear throughout the tears that Franklin isn't fit to win the "big one." Saturday's 20-13 loss to Ohio State dropped Franklin to 0-11 against AP Top-five teams when he's leading a ranked team; that's the worst such record for a head coach since 2000.
Once Penn State gets to the playoff, which it almost certainly will, there's no hope that it will make it very far. A deeper Big Ten, including the likes of Oregon, makes winning the conference more difficult on an annual basis -- even if the Nittany Lions don't have to play Ohio State and Michigan every single year.
It's a tough spot for Franklin and Penn State. He's not the type of coach you want to give up on, but questions about the program's ceiling and direction under him are more than warranted.
No, this isn't a "fire James Franklin!" rant. Franklin is, inarguably, one of the 15 best coaches in college football -- at the bare minimum, and he's probably even higher than that -- and Penn State is a consistent top-10 program with him at the helm.
Most schools would trade a lot for the consistent 10-win stability that Franklin brings to Happy Valley. And in a 12-team College Football Playoff, one that could expand even more as college football's decision-makers never seem satisfied with the status quo, 10 wins is good enough.
All that said, there comes a point where you have to ask: Will Penn State every truly break through under Franklin? Consistent playoff appearances are fine, but does it actually mean anything if the Nittany Lions come away from each year without anything of substance?
It's becoming more clear throughout the tears that Franklin isn't fit to win the "big one." Saturday's 20-13 loss to Ohio State dropped Franklin to 0-11 against AP Top-five teams when he's leading a ranked team; that's the worst such record for a head coach since 2000.
Once Penn State gets to the playoff, which it almost certainly will, there's no hope that it will make it very far. A deeper Big Ten, including the likes of Oregon, makes winning the conference more difficult on an annual basis -- even if the Nittany Lions don't have to play Ohio State and Michigan every single year.
It's a tough spot for Franklin and Penn State. He's not the type of coach you want to give up on, but questions about the program's ceiling and direction under him are more than warranted.
I'm kind of in this camp where I think its time to move on from Franklin, but realize that is unlikely the replacement is better. Sometimes you just have to try a different voice a different direction and you can't live in fear that the team regresses to a 9 win team playing for nothing as a pose to a 10 or 11 win team that plays for nothing. Yes, playoffs and all that help Franklin immensely now, but he isn't going to be any better in those big games either. Realistically, the buyout is so big, we can't move on from him for 2 or 3 year's. I'll honor him when that time comes, he did a lot for the program, but it's time for penn state to look for something more, even at the risk of something less. It's gotten stale with Franklin if nothing else.
Makes some pretty bold assumptions about “regular appearances in playoffs”…this is not a foregone conclusion…including this year! Right now, we have zero appearances.
From my perspective that pretty much sums up the Franklin “dilemma” as well.
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