Under Joe the tenure of the PSU staff was always the subject of sports writers. Many of us old timers can sit and rattle off all the OC, DC all the coaches on the staff from when Joe started till the time he left and do it quickly. That WAS stability but also in many ways WAS complacency.
Today, coaches moving upward and onward from a program is a sign of the success of the program not the opposite. Rattle off the teams that have occupied the top 10 frequently the past couple decades and assistant coaches in those programs move upwardly and onward in great frequency.
Those we call the chicken little crowd here have not yet adapted to the new PSU and probably long for the security of the old PSU ways. I, for one, do not. For the program to be vital and dynamic coaches must come and go and for that to happen in a way that enhances the program a master CEO is required to manage the organization. We have one of those.... a very good one and a very young one.... and it is exciting and not frightening or troubling to many of us.... I hope it is that way for all PSU fans soon.
I agree with much of your post. (And I think I understand what you are saying!
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You may be right about some of us lifelong fans needing time to process the fact that PSU is now much more like other top-tier programs in that assistant coaches, and even players, will come and go far more often than we have ever seen or imagined at one time.
JVP was big on not just loyalty, but also the consistency which brought better results over the long run. He was right; and a good number of the old-time coaches kept a good portion of the major cogs of their staffs together for significant periods of time. I'm not sure I would label it complacency, though. Imo, it was more of sticking to the process, sticking with what has been proven to be successful over the long run. However, those times have changed, to some degree before 2011, but certainly it is in full bloom in 2017.
Franklin is a really nice blend for us.... he also believes in loyalty and the success that is partly bred through consistency... but he understands the realities of today's college game, the pressures, the money, the goals that these type-A coaches have to find their own success. While I cannot imagine leaving the beauty of State College for Starkville MS (no offense to StarkVegas!), I don't have the same long-term goals and aspirations as many of these coaches do.
I'm ok with that, or getting there fast, and I'm as old-school, pro-JVP, loved-the-way-it-was as anyone. We knew that post-JVP, things would change in many ways. The only untouchable for me is Success With Honor, and Franklin is keeping that going as well as we could want.
JoMo leaving was one thing; Huff leaving made me a little sad for a few minutes. But I knew that we would, at some point, start to lose a coach or two every year or two. I am trying to accept that as the new normal. It's a good sign in many ways; the necessary timing of those moves will always be a potentially bad thing. Franklin is the constant; we cannot lose him for another 5 or 6 years at least, and I certainly hope we keep him well beyond that (given his trajectory and approach is about what it is now). He'll get feelers or offers or crazy money thrown at him each year. (Just like JVP did early on, in the simpler terms of those times.)
The irony of course will always be that JVP's sense of loyalty to coaches and to players and to PSU - at the cost of more wins or more shots at the B1G title or the NC - was rather unique among the elite programs. Not saying he didn't want to win; he absolutely was highly competitive, but just not at all costs. But we were accused of having the exact culture problem - winning is the only thing - that nearly all other programs had and have
except for us. We criticize JVP's loyalty, we criticize him for many reasons, which shows that it was more we fans who had and still have the culture issue, while JVP and his staff did not.
Here's to Franklin not having to hear the same criticisms while maintaining Success With Honor. Do your thing, James, and we'll once again see many great seasons accomplished by terrific young men who are outstanding athletes. That's the PSU way.
