Ladies and gentlemen of the board, members of the Den, my esteemed colleagues in football...
Feels a little like this around here, these days, no?
Here we are, 13 days into January, and the great battle over the soul of Penn State football has commenced in earnest. The ultimate death match! Good vs. Evil! Right vs. Wrong! The APOCALYPSE OF DOOM! The HEROIC VICTORY OF FOREVERNESS!
Sorry, got carried away there for a second, didn't I?
It's all so interesting and brings out the most passionate of our senses and, I'm here to say, our preconceptions. Well, this is where I drop into my old soul identity and offer my best bigger perspective that might help to clear things up a little bit.
Which is to say, you're all right. And you're all wrong. Some of you more right than others, and some of you more wrong than others. But overall, there is a space right now that seems to have been completely vacated by reason. So let's start with two key points that are undeniably true, no matter how hard either side wants to deny as much, and then work our way out from there.
1) The program is facing some adversity right now.
2) In the context of the past five years of this program's history, adversity has been constant.
Let's start with the immediate adversity. Losing Bob Shoop, Herb Hand and Troy Reeder was not expected. There are different circumstances for each leaving, both professionally and personally, that make none of them bad people, or disloyal, and also do not act as an indictment on Penn State, James Franklin, or the football program. Bob has been getting a barrage of offers, one more over the top than the next, and in this arms race of college football coaching, at some point it becomes counter productive to continue playing the game. Sometimes it just doesn't work out, and it's not a black mark on anyone, and can in fact be best for everyone. Paths diverge. It happens.
As has been noted here a few times, Herb's family never came to State College, and an offer came that provided both financial incentive and contract duration that provides more security than what could be offered at Penn State.
Troy wanted to go home and play with his younger brother, who never got an offer at Penn State. He'll be happy at Delaware.
Period? No. Not necessarily period. There are always smaller factors that can color the decisions we make. But none of them add up to be more of a determining factor than the ones I just presented.
These are all relative losses for the football program, and things to which James Franklin must now respond. No one is more prepared than Franklin to deal with things that pop up. He has a constantly evolving plan for what moves to make when something - anything - comes up. He'll do the same now.
But, this is an important distinction to make and is probably worthy of a bold to point it out for emphasis...
Nothing about the past five years has been ideal.
It's going to take me more time to really encapsulate just how many challenges have been on the table, and then offer the number of relative wins and losses against those challenges both on and off the field, but if you pay the money to be a member of this site, you should be intimately familiar with what was left of the program at the end of the Paterno era, the scandal, the sanctions, Bill's recruiting successes/failures. These were challenges that were predicted to have a 10-year major, major impact on the program, at minimum, if not outright kill it. Have the sanctions been rolled back? Yes. But there have been major successes along the way in fighting off their collective impact. It is truly remarkable that, to this point, the program has gotten out of this thing with winning records across the board. Can that continue? Next year projects to still have challenges in terms of roster distribution, experience, and to a much lesser extent, talent.
But here's the thing. Did you see Saquon Barkley this year? How about Chris Godwin, Jason Cabinda, Manny Bowen and Jake Cooper, Paris Palmer's development from 1 through 13, John Reid's ups and downs, Brandon Polk's moments. There's a laundry list, and a laundry list of players who haven't even seen the field yet who have the same or greater potential. And before you roll your eyes and point out all of their flaws, these are guys that have been in the program for a year or two, at most. They're better than they were when they stepped foot on campus, and will have some growing pains to go along with opportunities to get even better and more mature and experienced from here. Some might fail, but others might be wildly successful. We don't know yet! But whether it's this coming season or the one after, we're going to have a much better, fairer ability to evaluate all of the things that currently consume the fan base's concerns than we do now (player development, in-game coaching, etc.)
But, those players I just mentioned... All of those guys, the bright spots that people are so much looking forward to, is why yesterday's string of transfers were not unexpected. I'll reiterate, there are always smaller factors that color the decisions we make. Some discontent at being supplanted by younger players? Of course. Happens all the time. But first and foremost, Geno wants to play. Gary wants to be in Pittsburgh. And yeah, sometimes players and coaches don't see eye to eye, and transfers become necessary. Happens, quite literally, all the time.
But those conversations and realities were known a long time ago, and were not unforeseen or something the program hasn't been prepared for. As isolated incidents, I'm not sure any of these raise an eyebrow. As a string, they present a negative perception.
It's both and neither, all at the same time.
So pour yourself a drink, take a seat, lean back, feel free to raise an eyebrow, but remember to leave your preconceptions and biases at the door. They're premature. Be cool honey bunny.
SO to wrap this up, I'll do some light editing to our post's source of inspiration:
"That’s the (Lions Den) I know. That’s the (fan base) we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional (fandom) will have the final word. That’s what makes me so hopeful about our future (to not kill each other). Because of you. I believe in you. That’s why I stand here confident that (we're going to survive, either way).
"Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of (The Lions Den.)"
Good night, and good luck.
Feels a little like this around here, these days, no?
Here we are, 13 days into January, and the great battle over the soul of Penn State football has commenced in earnest. The ultimate death match! Good vs. Evil! Right vs. Wrong! The APOCALYPSE OF DOOM! The HEROIC VICTORY OF FOREVERNESS!
Sorry, got carried away there for a second, didn't I?
It's all so interesting and brings out the most passionate of our senses and, I'm here to say, our preconceptions. Well, this is where I drop into my old soul identity and offer my best bigger perspective that might help to clear things up a little bit.
Which is to say, you're all right. And you're all wrong. Some of you more right than others, and some of you more wrong than others. But overall, there is a space right now that seems to have been completely vacated by reason. So let's start with two key points that are undeniably true, no matter how hard either side wants to deny as much, and then work our way out from there.
1) The program is facing some adversity right now.
2) In the context of the past five years of this program's history, adversity has been constant.
Let's start with the immediate adversity. Losing Bob Shoop, Herb Hand and Troy Reeder was not expected. There are different circumstances for each leaving, both professionally and personally, that make none of them bad people, or disloyal, and also do not act as an indictment on Penn State, James Franklin, or the football program. Bob has been getting a barrage of offers, one more over the top than the next, and in this arms race of college football coaching, at some point it becomes counter productive to continue playing the game. Sometimes it just doesn't work out, and it's not a black mark on anyone, and can in fact be best for everyone. Paths diverge. It happens.
As has been noted here a few times, Herb's family never came to State College, and an offer came that provided both financial incentive and contract duration that provides more security than what could be offered at Penn State.
Troy wanted to go home and play with his younger brother, who never got an offer at Penn State. He'll be happy at Delaware.
Period? No. Not necessarily period. There are always smaller factors that can color the decisions we make. But none of them add up to be more of a determining factor than the ones I just presented.
These are all relative losses for the football program, and things to which James Franklin must now respond. No one is more prepared than Franklin to deal with things that pop up. He has a constantly evolving plan for what moves to make when something - anything - comes up. He'll do the same now.
But, this is an important distinction to make and is probably worthy of a bold to point it out for emphasis...
Nothing about the past five years has been ideal.
It's going to take me more time to really encapsulate just how many challenges have been on the table, and then offer the number of relative wins and losses against those challenges both on and off the field, but if you pay the money to be a member of this site, you should be intimately familiar with what was left of the program at the end of the Paterno era, the scandal, the sanctions, Bill's recruiting successes/failures. These were challenges that were predicted to have a 10-year major, major impact on the program, at minimum, if not outright kill it. Have the sanctions been rolled back? Yes. But there have been major successes along the way in fighting off their collective impact. It is truly remarkable that, to this point, the program has gotten out of this thing with winning records across the board. Can that continue? Next year projects to still have challenges in terms of roster distribution, experience, and to a much lesser extent, talent.
But here's the thing. Did you see Saquon Barkley this year? How about Chris Godwin, Jason Cabinda, Manny Bowen and Jake Cooper, Paris Palmer's development from 1 through 13, John Reid's ups and downs, Brandon Polk's moments. There's a laundry list, and a laundry list of players who haven't even seen the field yet who have the same or greater potential. And before you roll your eyes and point out all of their flaws, these are guys that have been in the program for a year or two, at most. They're better than they were when they stepped foot on campus, and will have some growing pains to go along with opportunities to get even better and more mature and experienced from here. Some might fail, but others might be wildly successful. We don't know yet! But whether it's this coming season or the one after, we're going to have a much better, fairer ability to evaluate all of the things that currently consume the fan base's concerns than we do now (player development, in-game coaching, etc.)
But, those players I just mentioned... All of those guys, the bright spots that people are so much looking forward to, is why yesterday's string of transfers were not unexpected. I'll reiterate, there are always smaller factors that color the decisions we make. Some discontent at being supplanted by younger players? Of course. Happens all the time. But first and foremost, Geno wants to play. Gary wants to be in Pittsburgh. And yeah, sometimes players and coaches don't see eye to eye, and transfers become necessary. Happens, quite literally, all the time.
But those conversations and realities were known a long time ago, and were not unforeseen or something the program hasn't been prepared for. As isolated incidents, I'm not sure any of these raise an eyebrow. As a string, they present a negative perception.
It's both and neither, all at the same time.
So pour yourself a drink, take a seat, lean back, feel free to raise an eyebrow, but remember to leave your preconceptions and biases at the door. They're premature. Be cool honey bunny.
SO to wrap this up, I'll do some light editing to our post's source of inspiration:
"That’s the (Lions Den) I know. That’s the (fan base) we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional (fandom) will have the final word. That’s what makes me so hopeful about our future (to not kill each other). Because of you. I believe in you. That’s why I stand here confident that (we're going to survive, either way).
"Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of (The Lions Den.)"
Good night, and good luck.
