No sense in any Franklin hater to read any of this as your mind is closed to any thoughts that you don't already have cemented in your cranium.
Most years, Franklin had Penn State ranked higher than where his salary ranks amongst college head coaches, thereby outperforming his worth. Some of the coaches that were paid more: Dabo Swinney, Brian Kelly, Lincoln Riley to name three did not do as well as James Franklin did, but Penn State "fans" that never coached in their lives complain about Franklin's salary.
2023 saw three of the largest six crowds in Beaver Stadium history so it's not like the fans have lost interest in Penn State football and it still generates revenue for all the sports programs.
In 2019, if Amani Oruwariye intercepts a pass that hit him in the hands on Michigan State's final drive, Penn State wins. The Spartans would go on to score a game winning touchdown shortly thereafter.
I have yet to see a coach miss a block, miss a tackle, drop a pass, miss a kick, fumble the football, have a holding or pass interference penalty called on him, or throw an interception in a game. Have you? Sometimes, it's not the coaches but the players.
Every team has injuries. It's part of the game although some years aren't as bad as others but I don't recall any team losing two game changers that would be relied upon heavily for an upcoming season like Penn State did when sophomore All-American Micah Parsons skipped his junior and senior seasons due to Covid thus missing out on a potential Butkus and Bednarik Award winner. One can't fault Parsons for his decision but there's a major impact player that would have been counted on immensely in his junior season.
Another was the health loss of Journey Brown. Brown rushed for 202 yards on 16 carries in the Cotton Bowl and Brown still had two seasons of athletic eligibility remaining and was lost due to health reasons. Then Ricky Slade transferred to Old Dominion, we lost Noah Cain to injury and we were down to 4th string Kevyonne Lee as starting tailback.
Sean Clifford getting hurt against #3-ranked Iowa definitely hurt Penn State that year. Should Franklin had his backup QBs more prepared? Definitely but Kinnick Stadium is a tough place to play for any opposing QB let alone against a #3-ranked team. Clifford's injury also affected his play the following week against Illinois.
In 2017, how many teams had to content with a three-hour plus weather delay on the road against a ranked team? It takes luck, beneficial scheduling, and being relatively injury-free to go undefeated. Nothing like having to play Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State some years consecutively. In 2017, Penn State had a one-point loss against Ohio State in Columbus and a three-point loss at Michigan State. A play here or there could have changed the outcome. Players make plays. Give Ohio State and Michigan State credit as their players are on scholarship too.
As for coordinator turnover, which doesn't help with team chemistry and cohesiveness and continuity of play and performance, Moorhead, Rahne, Pry, and Diaz all left to take head coaching jobs, a promotion, but there are those that falsely blame Franklin for coordinator turnover.
There are things about CJF that drive me nuts and he's not beyond criticism, but it's a multi-faceted thing winning and losing. Franklin runs a winning program and gets us to NY6 bowls. He has his weaknesses but runs a clean program.
"We're trying to win football games, don't misunderstand that. But I don't want it to ruin our lives if we lose. I don't want us ever to become the kind of place where an 8-2 season is a tragedy. Look at that day outside. It's clear, it's beautiful, the leaves are turning, the land is pretty and it's quiet. If losing a game made me miserable, I couldn't enjoy such a day."
- Joseph Vincent Paterno
We're talking about a bunch of kids playing a sport. Win or lose, the sun has come up the next day, EVERY time.
