That is 2-16 lifetime vs top ten opponents. Let that sink in.
Sandy just inked a 10 year deal for a coach
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thank goodness you started this thread, I was afraid that nobody was going to discuss the extension
This is a valid question and got me thinking. So I went back and here's what I found.
He's 2-18 vs. teams ranked in the top-10 at the time of the game. (2-13 at Penn State, 0-5 at Vanderbilt)
He's 2-19 vs. teams that finished in the top-10. (2-11 at Penn State, 0-8 at Vanderbilt)
It’s far better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.
Thanks for clearing that up for us.
The top 10 teams right now have a winning percentage of .909
You're saying the top 10 teams have a winning pergcentage against Franklin of .889 if he's 2-16 against them.
So he's doing better than most coaches. And that includes 5 losses at Vanderbuilt when no one would ever expect Vandy to win.
Cool. I guess you made you point?
You're saying the top 10 teams have a winning pergcentage against Franklin of .889 if he's 2-16 against them.
So he's doing better than most coaches. And that includes 5 losses at Vanderbuilt when no one would ever expect Vandy to win.
Cool. I guess you made you point?
It's actually 2-18, so that would be an even .100 winning percentage.
Even if you only look at his resume since being at PSU, he's winning ~13% of his games against top-10 teams.
Now, you're right. That's slightly above "average" for all programs against top-10 teams. Obviously, that's well BELOW average for power programs against top-10 teams. Washington State or South Carolina or Minnesota should be expected to lose 85-90% of their games against top-10 teams. Programs like PSU should not.
Obviously, the "average" coach has far less at his disposal to beat a top-10 team than does James Franklin at a program like Penn State. I think most reasonable minds could agree with that.
I posted data yesterday showing most other power program coaches and their records against the top-10. Franklin is at the bottom of the list. Admittedly, I didn't look at Scott Frost (if we're still considering Nebraska a power program), so he would be worse as I don't believe he has beaten one while at Nebraska. Even Harbaugh's record is better.......and he beat 3 top-10 teams while at Stanford.
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Please stop posting facts here. It may ruin the holiday for the "defend our $80m dollar coach at all costs" people here.
This stat is absurd.
What coaches have winning records vs top ten teams? And how many of those games has Franklin been an underdog?
What coaches have winning records vs top ten teams? And how many of those games has Franklin been an underdog?
Records vs. top-10 teams for coaches at comparable programs. Only selected guys with at least 3 years at their school:
Kirby Smart is 11-6
Ryan Day is 5-2
Lincoln Riley is 7-3
Mario Cristobal is 3-2
Paul Chryst is 5-8
Brian Kelly is 4-12
Jim Harbaugh is 2-11 (and 3-2 while at Stanford -- 5-13 overall)
Dan Mullen was 4-7 at Florida
Tom Herman was 3-6 at Texas
Clay Helton was 4-8 at USC
Ed Orgeron was 13-6 at LSU
I didn't even include the likes of Saban or Dabo.
Not many have winning records, but nobody has a record as poor as Franklin.
It has sunk in and I agree. Apparently the administration is happy with his performance. Just maybe this will send a message of stability to future recruits and others can't use this in their negative recruiting tactics any longer.
So, you're including 3 losses to top 10 teams in 2014 and 2015, when we had ~50 scholarship players and barely enough OL to field a starting 5. Yeah, that seems like a fair criticism. 🤪
Those two years also account for 6 losses to OSU, Michigan and MSU.
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With all respect, that excuse is not as valid as it used to be early on in his time at PSU. There’s been many years since then. We are now finishing year 8.
Even if you use a very myopic view to try to have those 2 years excuse the rest, you’re only removing 3 of the losses. Franklin would be 2-10 (instead of 2-13) against top 10 ranked teams. That’s still at the bottom of the list, well below the other coaches mentioned.
So let's play the game your way and not even include 2014-15 because of aftermath of sanctions.
Franklin is still 2-10 in top-10 games since 2016. Which would be the second-lowest winning % of all those coaches I listed above. Although if Michigan wins today, Harbaugh would leap Franklin.
Speaking of Harbaugh......he inherited a Stanford program that went 1-11 the year before he took over. He beat a top-5 USC team in year 1 of his tenure, and went on to win 3 games vs. top-10 teams while at Stanford. People here use the excuse that Franklin shouldn't be expected to win big games at Vandy, but Harbaugh did it at Stanford while inheriting similar talent.
Apply all the asterisks you want. It's hard to win at Vandy. 2014-15 were thin years. COVID in 2020. Clifford banged up in 2021. 2-18 is a pretty horrendous record in big games.
Harbaugh had Andrew Luck at QB his last two years at Stanford. Not exactly similar talent to Vandy. Yes he gets credit for recruiting him but an elite QB can make you a better game coach
True, but he didn't have him in year 1 at Stanford, when they pulled off the 2nd largest point spread upset in FBS history by taking down USC. He also notched his other two top-10 wins at Stanford during Luck's true freshman season. A season in which Luck had a 56% completion percentage and threw for a total of 13 TDs. It's not like he won those games on the back of a gifted generational talent.
What he inherited at Stanford was little different from what Franklin inherited at Vanderbilt. The 5 seasons before Harbaugh: 2-9, 4-7, 4-7, 5-6, 1-11
