Our coaching staff is hitting the recruitment trail hard, and.......

[Jerademan74]

should pay dividends when signing day officially comes and goes. I just hope they can show us that their on-field coaching abilities are as productive. I will stay positive and wait for the season to play out before judging any further. It is interesting to read though that some opposing HC's trying to steal our best verbal commits had put doubts in these kids that CJF was maybe getting fired! This is upsetting on many different fronts.

 

[Nashville Lion]

First off....when you compare say JF and Dantonio at MSU...in terms of first 5 years as head coach...their records are almost identical. JF has about a one or two win advantage actually. And Dantonio never had to deal with the sanctions like JF has. People need to be patient. JF is going to get this thing right.

 

[Option Bob]

The single greatest football coach in the history of the planet (or so it seems) had 2 losing seasons to begin his brief tenure at Stanford despite not facing unjust NCAA sanctions. With a full roster of scholarships he won 8 in his 3rd year. Yet no one has expressed any doubt in his ability to coach.

James Franklin has proven that he can coach through his success at Vanderbilt. I understand why those who fear a return to power by the Nittany Lions continue to spout nonsense that there is doubt of Franklin's ability to coach.
But why on earth do Penn State fans doubt him?

Go back and look at the recruits O'Brien was able to sign. Blue chippers? Hackenberg and Brenneman. Franklin has had the former for both years, but the latter has been injured the entire time. The junior-senior classes that drive all successful college programs were severely weakened by the NCAA. Yet some fans think the 2014-15 Lion squads had talent levels close to those of the Big Dogs and that only Coach Franklin's inept game-day coaching prevented wins against those 10-win teams.

Franklin is working tirelessly to raise the talent level at PSU. Rather than join the naysayers in casting doubt in our coach, we Lion fans should support his efforts and judge him only when he is playing on a level field as his opponents.

 

[canuckhal]

What I found interesting is that some hold up BOB as a great coach but yet he was 8-4 and 7-5 with more upperclassmen and depth than Franklin had. I hope the coaching changes on offense will pay dividends and am confident they will. Franklin deserves 2017 and 2018 to determine his future. I hope that PSU doesn't become Georgia or LSU where winning at all costs becomes the bench mark. PSU needs stability.

 

[rocky_dog7]

Cjf is doing everything he can to rebuild this program.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

There is a lot of fear and loathing and utter BS being thrown around by coaching staffs that fear honest competition with CJF. UM has virtually hired Adam Friedman or the fried-man thinks they have for some reason....to use his seat in front of PSU commits to badger them into backing out on their commitments. Pathetic. The Moorhead hire was brilliant. Shoop was replaced by a younger more energetic Shoop protege with more personality...pretty astute ..... The dolt David Jones doesn't see what CJF brings to the table....like hell he doesn't ...charisma and executive clarity and decisiveness....he knows talent and his relentless positive outlook will prevail....not with the morbid Jones...but with the young talent. Harbaugh the horrible is trying to imitate him with pajama parties ... Pathetic.. But it speaks clearly to the influence CJF has had on his peers in this league already.

Perhaps the unrealistic fans here and deadbeat Jones don"t get it....but name one coach that has faced sanctions this stiff and done any better than this one. I can't predict how this will all play out....but I am excited by what is happening here.....and the bashing by the programs detractor competitors....that just reinforces my observations and thoughts. That is when I am not thinking of Barkley, Sanders and McSorley in the same backfield with our received corps at their flanks.....PBS

 

[JoeDidntKnow]

CJF is a top 5 coach. Give the man 2-3 years to compete.

 

[theengineer]

The single greatest football coach in the history of the planet (or so it seems) had 2 losing seasons to begin his brief tenure at Stanford despite not facing unjust NCAA sanctions. With a full roster of scholarships he won 8 in his 3rd year. Yet no one has expressed any doubt in his ability to coach.

James Franklin has proven that he can coach through his success at Vanderbilt. I understand why those who fear a return to power by the Nittany Lions continue to spout nonsense that there is doubt of Franklin's ability to coach.
But why on earth do Penn State fans doubt him?

Go back and look at the recruits O'Brien was able to sign. Blue chippers? Hackenberg and Brenneman. Franklin has had the former for both years, but the latter has been injured the entire time. The junior-senior classes that drive all successful college programs were severely weakened by the NCAA. Yet some fans think the 2014-15 Lion squads had talent levels close to those of the Big Dogs and that only Coach Franklin's inept game-day coaching prevented wins against those 10-win teams.

Franklin is working tirelessly to raise the talent level at PSU. Rather than join the naysayers in casting doubt in our coach, we Lion fans should support his efforts and judge him only when he is playing on a level field as his opponents.

Absolutely right!

 

[theengineer]

What I found interesting is that some hold up BOB as a great coach but yet he was 8-4 and 7-5 with more upperclassmen and depth than Franklin had. I hope the coaching changes on offense will pay dividends and am confident they will. Franklin deserves 2017 and 2018 to determine his future. I hope that PSU doesn't become Georgia or LSU where winning at all costs becomes the bench mark. PSU needs stability.

I thought BOB did an excellent job holding the program together.. and he left at the right time (and took John Butler with him). 2014 would have been a disaster for him as the expectations had already reached unrealistic levels.

I think a lot of the discontent with CJF is driven by the press (a very outdated term)... they don't like him because he will not give them any information about injuries or other issues involving player status - so they actually have to go out and work for the story rather than have it handed to them.

the BIGGEST loser in this is David Jones who provoked BOB into saying some things that he said he did not mean and has not established any relationship with CJF because Franklin knows (as JoePA did) Jones has a nasty habit of going public with people venting in confidence.

Give the man a chance.. I think he's been all-in. We need to be.

 

[Doc-M]

My advice to Coach Franklin: Avoid David Jones and Geiger, give them one line answers in press conferences. Coach Franklin is going to build a fine programs. Do not judge him on his record in the next two years.

 

[Jerademan74]

I thought BOB did an excellent job holding the program together.. and he left at the right time (and took John Butler with him). 2014 would have been a disaster for him as the expectations had already reached unrealistic levels.

I think a lot of the discontent with CJF is driven by the press (a very outdated term)... they don't like him because he will not give them any information about injuries or other issues involving player status - so they actually have to go out and work for the story rather than have it handed to them.

the BIGGEST loser in this is David Jones who provoked BOB into saying some things that he said he did not mean and has not established any relationship with CJF because Franklin knows (as JoePA did) Jones has a nasty habit of going public with people venting in confidence.

Give the man a chance.. I think he's been all-in. We need to be.

I agree that CJF is all in! I will give him a chance with cautious optimism!

 

[lionlurker]

Agree with JF being careful about Jones. JF learned very quickly about who to trust, and not trust. I would not be surprised if O'Brien gave JF some advice on this.

 

[Judge Smails]

DAMAR HAMLIN ‏@HamlinIsland

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

Here is a video depicting our staff at work. Sorry, the only link is facebook. I will let somebody else describe it for the non-users here.

 

[Elwood Blues]

Thanks to all for a refreshingly positive thread! Agree all around. On the day sanctions were imposed, who here would have predicted no losing seasons? BOB and Franklin have done amazing jobs, all things considered.

 

[LTFox14]

I believe Franklin can be to Penn State what Mike Tomlin is to the Steelers. A very successful leader. However he is going to need strong coordinators like Tomlin. I was happy about the Franklin hire but was a little apprehensive that he was bringing a lot of his Vanderbilt staff with him. Now he is getting some new blood hopefully better coaches and we should start to see what he can do. He seems like a good leader and recruiter. Enough that he should be win on talent at some point. But his game day could be better hence the need to have strong coordinators. But I also believe most of the top college coaches are average game day coaches that win on talent and need good coordinators. In summary, I believe he is a keeper.

 

[StinkStankStunk]

Thanks to all for a refreshingly positive thread! Agree all around. On the day sanctions were imposed, who here would have predicted no losing seasons? BOB and Franklin have done amazing jobs, all things considered.

There are 65 "Power 5" programs country.

None of those programs, obviously, had handicaps placed on them like PSU did.

Over the last four years, only TWENTY of them have managed to put together 4 winning seasons.

Penn State has had 4 straight winning seasons.....despite being saddled with the greatest handicaps ever imposed on a program competing in Division 1 NCAA .


Throughout these 4 years under tremendous handicaps....a partial list of some programs with worse records than PSU....NONE of whom were operating under handicaps (well, except for the last one - a program trying to recover from an un-natural disaster....You are welcome Lafayette ):

Texas
Auburn (LOL)
Tennessee (Double LOL)
Pitt (Triple LOL)
West Virginia
Arkansas
Virginia Tech
Virginia, Boston College, Maryland, Syracuse
and
Cal

 

[TheGLOV]

Hi!

 

[AWS1022]

I believe Franklin can be to Penn State what Mike Tomlin is to the Steelers. A very successful leader. However he is going to need strong coordinators like Tomlin. I was happy about the Franklin hire but was a little apprehensive that he was bringing a lot of his Vanderbilt staff with him. Now he is getting some new blood hopefully better coaches and we should start to see what he can do. He seems like a good leader and recruiter. Enough that he should be win on talent at some point. But his game day could be better hence the need to have strong coordinators. But I also believe most of the top college coaches are average game day coaches that win on talent and need good coordinators. In summary, I believe he is a keeper.

We are sitting in a good place right now, a top notch coaching staff and a lot of talent coming into the program. Whether CJF is a great game day coach or not really doesn't matter if he has good coordinators. And I'm not sold that he's not a great game day coach just because posters on a message board say so. But give me a great recruiter with a great coaching staff any day of the week and that's what we seem to have now. The future is bright.

 

[Doc-M]

Please do not perpetuate myths created by a so called journalist from Harrisburg. He is an enemy of Penn State. He is creating negative narrative by scanning these boards without any original research. Our informal discussions get woven into stories and negative truisms he espouses.

Yelling and screaming on the sidelines when a youngster makes a mistake is not appropriate. Coach Franklin observes and lets position coaches coach and lets players play. Together with position coaches, he coaches during the week.

Anybody who writes that our coach is a salesman, push back. He represents Penn State as a face of the program in the best way possible. He makes me Penn State proud.

Franklin is a perfect fit for Penn State. Do not echo what our enemies are saying. Fight back.

 

[rokar]

First off....when you compare say JF and Dantonio at MSU...in terms of first 5 years as head coach...their records are almost identical. JF has about a one or two win advantage actually. And Dantonio never had to deal with the sanctions like JF has. People need to be patient. JF is going to get this thing right.

First of all, he has not proven to be a very good Game Day coach. I hope the new Assistant Coaches will help in that respect.
I am happy that he has now shifted gears and gave Donovan his walking papers. I wasnt expecting Shoop to leave on the Defensive side. He has done a nice job with recruiting and I am cautiously optimistic about Moorhead as OC.
I hope he has built a solid Coaching Staff, but only time will tell!

 

[Jerademan74]

There are 65 "Power 5" programs country.

None of those programs, obviously, had handicaps placed on them like PSU did.

Over the last four years, only TWENTY of them have managed to put together 4 winning seasons.

Penn State has had 4 straight winning seasons.....despite being saddled with the greatest handicaps ever imposed on a program competing in Division 1 NCAA .


Throughout these 4 years under tremendous handicaps....a partial list of some programs with worse records than PSU....NONE of whom were operating under handicaps (well, except for the last one - a program trying to recover from an un-natural disaster....You are welcome Lafayette ):

Texas
Auburn (LOL)
Tennessee (Double LOL)
Pitt (Triple LOL)
West Virginia
Arkansas
Virginia Tech
Virginia, Boston College, Maryland, Syracuse
and
Cal

These facts seem to escape most Penn State fans (including me during mental lapses caused by my frustration at times). We were expected to have losing seasons for up to 10 years based on those ridiculous sanctions AND allowing those first sanction years players to transfer without penalty. No, we aren't a national power right now, but we should be proud of what we accomplished despite the NCAA. B1G , ESPN and most of college football fans desire to have Penn State football just die! We are alive and kicking, and given another 2 years, should be up there in the top 10 against horrific odds! This is a testamant to the core of the Penn State family sticking together when our backs were against the wall! That core was the fans, faculty, football team and some administrators. Our own BOT's left us exposed out in the cold to die and admit guilt to something we didn't deserve. How shamefull!!!

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Here is a video depicting our staff at work. Sorry, the only link is facebook. I will let somebody else describe it for the non-users here.

View embedded media

Classic!

 

[bmw199]

There are 65 "Power 5" programs country.

None of those programs, obviously, had handicaps placed on them like PSU did.

Over the last four years, only TWENTY of them have managed to put together 4 winning seasons.

Penn State has had 4 straight winning seasons.....despite being saddled with the greatest handicaps ever imposed on a program competing in Division 1 NCAA .


Throughout these 4 years under tremendous handicaps....a partial list of some programs with worse records than PSU....NONE of whom were operating under handicaps (well, except for the last one - a program trying to recover from an un-natural disaster....You are welcome Lafayette ):

Texas
Auburn (LOL)
Tennessee (Double LOL)
Pitt (Triple LOL)
West Virginia
Arkansas
Virginia Tech
Virginia, Boston College, Maryland, Syracuse
and
Cal

These facts seem to escape most Penn State fans (including me during mental lapses caused by my frustration at times). We were expected to have losing seasons for up to 10 years based on those ridiculous sanctions AND allowing those first sanction years players to transfer without penalty. No, we aren't a national power right now, but we should be proud of what we accomplished despite the NCAA. B1G , ESPN and most of college football fans desire to have Penn State football just die! We are alive and kicking, and given another 2 years, should be up there in the top 10 against horrific odds!

How many have 11 straight? It has to be single digits.

 

[PSUTENN1]

should pay dividends when signing day officially comes and goes. I just hope they can show us that their on-field coaching abilities are as productive. I will stay positive and wait for the season to play out before judging any further. It is interesting to read though that some opposing HC's trying to steal our best verbal commits had put doubts in these kids that CJF was maybe getting fired! This is upsetting on many different fronts.

Coach Franklin and staff should have 2 more seasons before anybody "judges" them.

 

[Locolion]

Please do not perpetuate myths created by a so called journalist from Harrisburg. He is an enemy of Penn State. He is creating negative narrative by scanning these boards without any original research. Our informal discussions get woven into stories and negative truisms he espouses.

Yelling and screaming on the sidelines when a youngster makes a mistake is not appropriate. Coach Franklin observes and lets position coaches coach and lets players play. Together with position coaches, he coaches during the week.

Anybody who writes that our coach is a salesman, push back. He represents Penn State as a face of the program in the best way possible. He makes me Penn State proud.

Franklin is a perfect fit for Penn State. Do not echo what our enemies are saying. Fight back.

Love these discussions. The vast majority of penn staters feel this way -Franklin is our guy, he's on track, keep the train rollin'!

 

[Tweedbear]

To follow Jerademan's comments, why do you think Rutgers and Maryland are in the Big? They were going to hold the NY DC marketplace that was going to disappear right along with Good old PSU.
A logical TV market expansion would have been Boston College and the New England market. On their own R&M bring nothing to the football market.
We fooled them and now they have to live with it.

WE ARE WE WERE and WE STILL ARE

 

[Jerademan74]

To follow Jerademan's comments, why do you think Rutgers and Maryland are in the Big? They were going to hold the NY DC marketplace that was going to disappear right along with Good old PSU.
A logical TV market expansion would have been Boston College and the New England market. On their own R&M bring nothing to the football market.
We fooled them and now they have to live with it.

WE ARE WE WERE and WE STILL ARE

So therefore, let's stick together as a fan base as we have already beaten the odds. We all don't have to like the coaching and player carousel that evolved, but this is a normal function of should I dare use the term "natural selection"? Let's now get the stronger talented players at all positions and show the world that Penn State is strong, and don't ever put Penn State "Baby" against the wall?

 

[Osprey Lion]

What I found interesting is that some hold up BOB as a great coach but yet he was 8-4 and 7-5 with more upperclassmen and depth than Franklin had. I hope the coaching changes on offense will pay dividends and am confident they will. Franklin deserves 2017 and 2018 to determine his future. I hope that PSU doesn't become Georgia or LSU where winning at all costs becomes the bench mark. PSU needs stability.

Coach O'Brien won his division and took Houston to the Playoffs.

 

[canuckhal]

Coach O'Brien won his division and took Houston to the Playoffs.

So what? And he was still 9-7. And his team got destroyed by KC. You missed my point. I'm not knocking BOB. Just saying viewing BOB as a great coach and Franklin as a lesser coach based on records at PSU doesn't make a lot a sense.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Coach O'Brien won his division and took Houston to the Playoffs.

Wow, he won the weakest conference in football and one of the weakest conferences in the history of the NFL as proven by his "Conference Champion" team got utterly destroyed at home by a Wild Card team 30-0. I'm pretty sure that is one of the worst shutout destructions in NFL Playoff history, let alone the worst destruction in NFL history by a WC team playing on the road against a "conference champion". I mean the game wasn't even remotely competitive which demonstrates how embarrassing the AFC South has been the last couple years from a "competitive" standpoint. Yea, his 15-9 record with a PSU roster he inherited that was loaded with pro players was just oh so impressive....if you say so BroTein Shake.

 

[TheGLOV]

Tomlin is an ass!

Franklin is not!