Many of you hated on me for my conversation with Trent Dilfer on June 29th, 2015. Here it is again. I'm interested to hear your opinions now after week 1.
"When I boarded my flight yesterday from Houston to Austin (yes I fly the 30 minute flight) I found myself as the lucky recipient of a center seat. However, I then realized that I would be sitting next to Trent Dilfer and all of a sudden that center seat didn't seem so bad. He was coming from New Orleans after attending his daughter's club volleyball National Championship game and was going to Austin to visit friends with 2 of his daughters and wife who I also met. The lay over was in Houston where I boarded for the final leg of his trip to Austin. Very nice family.
I introduced myself and quickly jumped into football talk. I asked if he was on his way to Elite 11 knowing that it starts on July 5th in Oregon. He explained that he was doing a few days in Austin with the family before flying up there. He is the head coach of the Elite 11 and hand picks all the players throughout the entire process. He told me that Jake Zembiec was his sleeper this year. Said he is a super nice kid with a great head, but is as raw as they come. I asked how he compares to Hack and he said Hack was ready to start the moment he walked on campus. In his opinion he said, Zembiec will benefit from a red shirt, but should absolutely be the guy for PSU down the road. He then went on to say that he thinks Hack will be the top pick in the draft next year. He said NFL scouts already have him pegged to come out and there will be some major fighting for him. He expects the Redskins, Buffalo, Houston and the Browns to compete for Hack and Connor Cook.
This is where things got interesting...
I said hopefully our O-Line will play better than last year giving Hack more time to throw helping his draft stock. He agreed and then said "and hopefully your coach gets his head out of his ass". I asked what he meant. He said its all about James there, not the kids. He said sit down with the seniors and juniors this year and ask them how they really feel about James Franklin and you'll get some surprising answers. He thinks James lacks the football IQ to really excel and said that Donovan is a lost cause. He is high on the defensive coaches though. Really likes Shoop. He and Hack apparently are very close. I think he said that Hack is headed out to the Elite 11 to be a coach or something with him next week. Sounded as if Hack has mentioned his frustrations to him. He said that Bill O'Brien spoke to him before he took the PSU job and asked his opinion on it. He told Bill, it would be taking candy from a baby for him because of his football knowledge and where the program was. Said he told Bill that the college game "isn't ready for your scheming". Sounded as if he and BOB are still very close. I tried to dig deeper into the James Franklin comments, he said James is too caught up in whether or not the incoming players parents like him, than to better himself at football especially play calling. He worries that 7-5 will become the norm with an offense that continues to sputter year in and year out with no Hackenberg. He said if O'Brien had stayed and Hack was in year 3 in his system we'd be competing for a Nat. Champ this year because no QB would be as developed as Hack would be with scheming that fit his tool belt. No doubt in his mind we'd be in the top 10 talk. He said if Franklin wants to be successful he needs to bring in real Xs and Os guys who can bring in some major new elements to play calling because Franklin isn't going to do it himself.. He mentioned how much McGloin progressed under 1 year with BOB and laughed when he said, the fact that McGloin is STILL in the NFL and beating out other QBs shows you how good BOB really is. He said don't be surprised if BOB makes major moves to get Hack to Houston.
I can honestly say that he was incredibly nice and asked me a lot of questions about my life as well, making the conversation not all one sided. We talked about Joe Pa and the PSU night game environment, he mentioned that he has never been to a game at beaver stadium, but said it is on his bucket list. His daughters are all great volleyball players and there is a chance that his second oldest may be interested in PSU although he said right now she is really high on TCU. His oldest daughter plays vball at Notre Dame. We talked PSU volleyball and their domination, he knows a lot about NCAA volleyball and spoke very highly of Russ Rose. I asked why he hasn't taken a coaching job yet. He said his kids are his world and he missed enough of their lives as a player. He promised his wife he would take a step back until after they are all done school. Said he is most likely to do a high school gig before going to college or the pros. Said he loves finding talent and developing it. Great chat overall. Thought you guys would find some of it interesting."
"When I boarded my flight yesterday from Houston to Austin (yes I fly the 30 minute flight) I found myself as the lucky recipient of a center seat. However, I then realized that I would be sitting next to Trent Dilfer and all of a sudden that center seat didn't seem so bad. He was coming from New Orleans after attending his daughter's club volleyball National Championship game and was going to Austin to visit friends with 2 of his daughters and wife who I also met. The lay over was in Houston where I boarded for the final leg of his trip to Austin. Very nice family.
I introduced myself and quickly jumped into football talk. I asked if he was on his way to Elite 11 knowing that it starts on July 5th in Oregon. He explained that he was doing a few days in Austin with the family before flying up there. He is the head coach of the Elite 11 and hand picks all the players throughout the entire process. He told me that Jake Zembiec was his sleeper this year. Said he is a super nice kid with a great head, but is as raw as they come. I asked how he compares to Hack and he said Hack was ready to start the moment he walked on campus. In his opinion he said, Zembiec will benefit from a red shirt, but should absolutely be the guy for PSU down the road. He then went on to say that he thinks Hack will be the top pick in the draft next year. He said NFL scouts already have him pegged to come out and there will be some major fighting for him. He expects the Redskins, Buffalo, Houston and the Browns to compete for Hack and Connor Cook.
This is where things got interesting...
I said hopefully our O-Line will play better than last year giving Hack more time to throw helping his draft stock. He agreed and then said "and hopefully your coach gets his head out of his ass". I asked what he meant. He said its all about James there, not the kids. He said sit down with the seniors and juniors this year and ask them how they really feel about James Franklin and you'll get some surprising answers. He thinks James lacks the football IQ to really excel and said that Donovan is a lost cause. He is high on the defensive coaches though. Really likes Shoop. He and Hack apparently are very close. I think he said that Hack is headed out to the Elite 11 to be a coach or something with him next week. Sounded as if Hack has mentioned his frustrations to him. He said that Bill O'Brien spoke to him before he took the PSU job and asked his opinion on it. He told Bill, it would be taking candy from a baby for him because of his football knowledge and where the program was. Said he told Bill that the college game "isn't ready for your scheming". Sounded as if he and BOB are still very close. I tried to dig deeper into the James Franklin comments, he said James is too caught up in whether or not the incoming players parents like him, than to better himself at football especially play calling. He worries that 7-5 will become the norm with an offense that continues to sputter year in and year out with no Hackenberg. He said if O'Brien had stayed and Hack was in year 3 in his system we'd be competing for a Nat. Champ this year because no QB would be as developed as Hack would be with scheming that fit his tool belt. No doubt in his mind we'd be in the top 10 talk. He said if Franklin wants to be successful he needs to bring in real Xs and Os guys who can bring in some major new elements to play calling because Franklin isn't going to do it himself.. He mentioned how much McGloin progressed under 1 year with BOB and laughed when he said, the fact that McGloin is STILL in the NFL and beating out other QBs shows you how good BOB really is. He said don't be surprised if BOB makes major moves to get Hack to Houston.
I can honestly say that he was incredibly nice and asked me a lot of questions about my life as well, making the conversation not all one sided. We talked about Joe Pa and the PSU night game environment, he mentioned that he has never been to a game at beaver stadium, but said it is on his bucket list. His daughters are all great volleyball players and there is a chance that his second oldest may be interested in PSU although he said right now she is really high on TCU. His oldest daughter plays vball at Notre Dame. We talked PSU volleyball and their domination, he knows a lot about NCAA volleyball and spoke very highly of Russ Rose. I asked why he hasn't taken a coaching job yet. He said his kids are his world and he missed enough of their lives as a player. He promised his wife he would take a step back until after they are all done school. Said he is most likely to do a high school gig before going to college or the pros. Said he loves finding talent and developing it. Great chat overall. Thought you guys would find some of it interesting."
