Are you done with Franklin?

Are you done with Franklin?

  • Yes

    Votes: 19 14.6%
  • No

    Votes: 111 85.4%

  • Total voters
    130
  • Poll closed .

psuro

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Oct 12, 2021
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Oops, my bad. I thought you made the original post I responded to and that you were referring to Franklin as a troll (which made no sense). I’ll just leave it there, but my apologies.
Snap Out Of It GIF by Becky G
 

1995PSUGrad

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Oct 30, 2021
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I will be honest and say I didn't read every post, just read a few and skipped to the end because I really have no interest in all of the negativity about the program, especially when we just had one of our best seasons ever. Regarding the original question, I just don't see what Franklin did to lose that game last night. Drew Allar did not play well and a few times ND put our linebacker in a coverage position that he could not handle, other than that, I think we played well. If Allar completes 2 or 3 more passes we win that game. I loved Franklin's aggressiveness last night.
 

Catch1lion

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Oct 12, 2021
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Well said, ro. Franklin is making too much $ to walk away and PSU can’t afford to buy him out. They’re stuck together.

The questions aren’t about last night’s game. They fought hard and were competitive.

The questions are about what Penn State wants to be as a program and whether Franklin can get them there. The 10-year trend is very clear. The current program just doesn’t win games like last night. Period.

Answering all of this is above the pay grade for most on the board. I think Penn State is thrilled to be Top 10 in most years and take lots of $ from the fans and alums. There’s strength there for a bloated athletic department with many mouths to feed.

The fear of a coaching change disrupting that is likely preventing them from going for it the way Ohio St and Michigan would. We are also a mid-tier school that lacks a true bench of top-tier alums and boosters with the deep pockets required to be elite.

Michigan and Ohio St have invested decades in building that. Penn State isn’t as well organized.

I’m clearly not thrilled with the plateau this program is on, but it’s entertaining most years, even if the ultimate outcome is preordained.
We are... the Jamaican bobsled team of college football. I can see clearly now ......a feel good story of overachievers.
 
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WestSideLion

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Oct 6, 2021
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Well said, ro. Franklin is making too much $ to walk away and PSU can’t afford to buy him out. They’re stuck together.


Below is a list of the top 15 AD by revenue - from May 2024. PSU is behind BIG co-horts Ohio State (by $70MM) and Michigan (by $39MM) OSU fields 33 teams Michigan fields 29 teams. PSU has 31 teams. Relative to the two other BIG ADs, it has to field approximatley as many teams with between $39M and $70MM less revenue.

Texas as 21 teams
Albama has 21 teams
Georgia has 21 teams
LSU has 21 teams
aTm has 20 teams
Florida has 19 teams
Oklahoma has 19
Auburn has 21
Michigan State has 23 teams
Indiana has 24 teams
Virginia has 27
Florida State has 18

So, not sure if "bloated" is the correct term. PSU fields as many teams as the two biggest ADs in the conference. And gets no assistance from a University allocation (like some schools do).



Rank School Conf Total Revenue Total Expense Allocation % allocated
1Ohio StateBig 10$251,615,345$225,733,418$0*0.00%
2TexasBig 12$239,290,648$225,153,011$0*0.00%
3AlabamaSEC$214,365,357$195,881,911$11,378,871*5.31%
4MichiganBig 10$210,652,287$193,559,375$153,059*0.07%
5GeorgiaSEC$203,048,566$169,026,503$3,530,802*1.74%
6LSUSEC$199,309,382$192,770,399$0*0.00%
7Texas A&MSEC$193,139,619$177,671,900$00.00%
8FloridaSEC$190,417,139$174,365,070$2,706,111*1.42%
9Penn StateBig 10$181,227,448$170,542,050$00.00%
10OklahomaBig 12$177,320,217$175,997,457$0*0.00%
11AuburnSEC$174,568,442$151,590,763$15,561,411*8.91%
12Michigan StateBig 10$172,799,513$156,449,795$1,358,948*0.79%
13IndianaBig 10$166,761,471$132,392,596$2,708,9751.62%
14VirginiaACC$161,916,231$150,584,173$24,468,84315.11%
15Florida StateACC$161,141,884$150,777,734$22,289,21213.83%

Regarding the 10 year trend - PSU (all under Franklin) has the 8th most number of wins (P4). during the time he has been here (so actually 11 seasons). Since 2021 (when NIL became "legal"), PSU has the 7th most wins.
That is a big difference on a revenue per sport basis, ro. OSU generates $7.6M per athletic team. Michigan is $7.2M. PSU is $5.8M.

So OSU is 31% higher than PSU. I’d argue on that basis, PSU’s AD is bloated and at a disadvantage to our primary B1G competitors.

And if those aren’t our primary competitors, then we should give it all up and go Ivy League.

The game is about $ and resources. The best programs earn and spend more on football. I don’t know this empirically but I bet the southern schools spend an outsized % of their athletic budgets on football.
 
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Calabrin

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Oct 16, 2022
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It's not Franklin's fault that Drew decides to throw into triple coverage. It's not Franklin's fault the DB slipped and fell leaving WR wide open. It's not Franklin's fault the DL had hands to the face penalty. The coach can't control players while on the field. That being said, I don't think he demands perfection during practice which seems to lead to some sloppiness on the field. Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. If practice is sloppy it reflects on the field during games. He seems to be a players coach and great guy and everyone loves him but I am questioning that is doesn't translate to crisp undisciplined play during games. He is not there to be everyone's friend he is there to lead. However, in this day and age of NIL and agents and transfer portal it seems it is a fine line he need to walk to keep players here(and coaches for that matter). I am not ready to move on from Franklin(also, who is out there to take over? Saban ain't coaching again). I am will to deal with the hardships of a coach trying to get over the hump and win the big ones. JoePA went thru it, Jimmy Johnson at Miami went thru, Tom Osborne, etc. It takes time and experience to learn what makes the difference to put your team over the top. The only downside is it seems when one area improves another area seems neglected. For example, the offensive line and running game improved immensely but now the WR room is a problem. QB improvement has been a problem since he got here. At least this is my observation on the outside looking in. I have faith in James but last night was hard to take. Time moves on, Go Birds!!
I think a lot of valid points are being made.

Losing 3 games by 1 possession sounds acceptable until you realize how often that's the situation: we're always right there, and then always shoot ourselves in the foot at the last minute to allow the opposition to cross the finish line ahead of us.

The trend is that we can't get out of our own way. When momentum is on our side, suddenly we become determined to steer directly toward the lone banana peel in our path, and skid out on it.

This takes several forms including: moving away from what's working, calling a bizarre play, or most often puckering up and trying to nurse a 1-point lead for the final 8.5 minutes, and then acting shocked that the other team didn't simply give up and "somehow" found a way to win.

Penn State loves to take their foot off the gas in tough games. At this point, you have to say it's our defining strategy. We do not play to beat good opponents. We play to hang with them as best we can, and then make excuses when we come up short. "It's hard to win football games." Yeah, we know. But somehow, other programs find ways to do it.

It's not Franklin's fault that a DB falls down, or a 5-star QB throws into triple coverage. But it's fair to ask: WHY is the QB throwing into triple coverage? WHY were we throwing the ball with the game on the line when the opponent was struggling to stop both of our running backs? WHY does the QB have trouble making decisions and hitting wide open targets in big games? WHY is the QB incapable of reading opposing defenses and responding to the blitz? WHY can't WRs consistently get open against any opposing secondary?

That's the thing: each isolated incident isn't the fault of the coaches. But when these Keystone Kops routines keep happening over and over again, every single time we face a tough opponent, then it very much is on the coaches because they're clearly not preparing the players to respond appropriately in these situations.

It's easy to point to Drew throwing a game-ending pick. But that's like saying the biggest tree in the forest is the entire forest all by itself.

There are a LOT of persistent issues that can justifiably be questioned. And anyone who sleeps on a giant pile of money absolutely deserves to have their feet held to the fire. That's the trade-off for being wealthy: you're more accountable for failure than people who aren't wealthy.
 

WVilleLion23

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Oct 27, 2022
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Don’t get me wrong, this post is about me exclusively. This was a ******* hard loss to take. We’ll all have our own ways to deal with it, no judgement from me.
Yep and I am sure the players and coaches are taking the loss harder than any of us on this board. For anyone on this board (not saying you, I am just listing on your post) to act like they wanted the win more than the players and staff is doing a huge disservice to our team.
 

Keyser Soze 16802

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Oct 12, 2021
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I will be honest and say I didn't read every post, just read a few and skipped to the end because I really have no interest in all of the negativity about the program, especially when we just had one of our best seasons ever. Regarding the original question, I just don't see what Franklin did to lose that game last night. Drew Allar did not play well and a few times ND put our linebacker in a coverage position that he could not handle, other than that, I think we played well. If Allar completes 2 or 3 more passes we win that game. I loved Franklin's aggressiveness last night.
Spot on. Allar stunk. 3 picks and the refs bailed him out twice. The INT at the end was a Testaverde-level brain fart. Missing Nick on the first scoring drive was terrible. If Allar is merely competent last night, Penn State wins.
 

psuro

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Oct 12, 2021
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That is a big difference on a revenue per sport basis, ro. OSU generates $7.6M per athletic team. Michigan is $7.2M. PSU is $5.8M.

So OSU is 31% higher than PSU. I’d argue on that basis, PSU’s AD is bloated and at a disadvantage to our primary B1G competitors.

And if those aren’t our primary competitors, then we should give it all up and go Ivy League.

The game is about $ and resources. The best programs earn and spend more on football. I don’t know this empirically but I bet the southern schools spend an outsized % of their athletic budgets on football.
I don’t agree with you on how you are defining bloated. OSU and Michigan may charge for tickets for sports PSU allows for free (I have no idea). Making less money per sport and less money overall seems like an odd way to determine if the AD is bloated. Additionally, PSU spends less than it’s two major big ten rivals. If it were bloated it would spend more.

The southern schools probably do spend more on football - Looking strictly at the data I provided, it would stand to reason that is the case - the southern schools don’t offer the other sports because there is not really a local interest in men’s and women’s hockey, lacrosse and a few other sports.
 
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CbusLion

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Oct 28, 2021
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I think a lot of valid points are being made.

Losing 3 games by 1 possession sounds acceptable until you realize how often that's the situation: we're always right there, and then always shoot ourselves in the foot at the last minute to allow the opposition to cross the finish line ahead of us.

The trend is that we can't get out of our own way. When momentum is on our side, suddenly we become determined to steer directly toward the lone banana peel in our path, and skid out on it.

This takes several forms including: moving away from what's working, calling a bizarre play, or most often puckering up and trying to nurse a 1-point lead for the final 8.5 minutes, and then acting shocked that the other team didn't simply give up and "somehow" found a way to win.

Penn State loves to take their foot off the gas in tough games. At this point, you have to say it's our defining strategy. We do not play to beat good opponents. We play to hang with them as best we can, and then make excuses when we come up short. "It's hard to win football games." Yeah, we know. But somehow, other programs find ways to do it.

It's not Franklin's fault that a DB falls down, or a 5-star QB throws into triple coverage. But it's fair to ask: WHY is the QB throwing into triple coverage? WHY were we throwing the ball with the game on the line when the opponent was struggling to stop both of our running backs? WHY does the QB have trouble making decisions and hitting wide open targets in big games? WHY is the QB incapable of reading opposing defenses and responding to the blitz? WHY can't WRs consistently get open against any opposing secondary?

That's the thing: each isolated incident isn't the fault of the coaches. But when these Keystone Kops routines keep happening over and over again, every single time we face a tough opponent, then it very much is on the coaches because they're clearly not preparing the players to respond appropriately in these situations.

It's easy to point to Drew throwing a game-ending pick. But that's like saying the biggest tree in the forest is the entire forest all by itself.

There are a LOT of persistent issues that can justifiably be questioned. And anyone who sleeps on a giant pile of money absolutely deserves to have their feet held to the fire. That's the trade-off for being wealthy: you're more accountable for failure than people who aren't wealthy.
A lot of great points. Although hanging with superior talent/$$$ teams deserves a lot of credit. Hanging with is a valid strategy toward beating those teams. Something Penn State has not always done, I remember plenty of blowouts against top teams.

Franklin has elevated Penn State to a legitimate top10 program in the country, with consistent performance. And we don't have top10 resources. All the good and all the bad, he is responsible and accountable for it. And the totality has been pretty impressive.

Hopefully they work hard this off-season to improve the glaring weaknesses of on-field discipline and WR play. While maintaining the numerous strengths, my god the OL played well this year.

As fans we will do what we can, which is ***** and complain and write the occasional check to the Penn State collective.
 

leinbacker

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Oct 13, 2021
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That is a big difference on a revenue per sport basis, ro. OSU generates $7.6M per athletic team. Michigan is $7.2M. PSU is $5.8M.

So OSU is 31% higher than PSU. I’d argue on that basis, PSU’s AD is bloated and at a disadvantage to our primary B1G competitors.

And if those aren’t our primary competitors, then we should give it all up and go Ivy League.

The game is about $ and resources. The best programs earn and spend more on football. I don’t know this empirically but I bet the southern schools spend an outsized % of their athletic budgets on football.
Remind me again, how many titles does A$M have?
 
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leinbacker

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If ABCs Wide World of Sports was still airing, they would show PSU football for the agony of defeat

 

laKavosiey-st lion

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Colin said the exact same thing and even said he’s a good guy. Is bill belichick a good guy?
 
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saturdaysarebetter

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Base upon his record (what it is not what we want it to be with all the excuses) he should have been fired the evening of the Indiana debacle a few years ago.

A virtual short course lesson in how bad Franklin is as a coach.
So being jobbed by Big 10 officials that night was reason to have him fired? Got it.
 
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NoSoup4U

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Oct 14, 2021
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Remind me again, how many titles does A$M have?
Remind me why you keep going to the aTm well. Just because people spend money doesnt mean they are not foolish with it. ………Checks notes at least they have the opportunity to be foolish with it…. No cash means little to no opportunity…..Pony up buttercup
 

MacNit

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Oct 12, 2021
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Nope---- what's it to you? you are neither of them ...both must be glad you are concerned for them and their image and got their back ....... until you stab it.... Et Tu Brute?

Pick another team dip$hit... pretty simple don't let the door hit you on the way out
I decline your request.
 

MacNit

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Well, we can start with USC and Minnesota this year.
As much as it pains me to say....Appalachain State in whatever year we played them.
Ohio State in 2016 - so that is obvious.
Michigan in 2019.
The beginning and end of the 2014 season - game winning kicks against UCF and Boston College. Rutgers was close that year also.
2015 - Maryland at Ravens Stadium.
2017 - at Iowa with a last second TD pass to Juwan Johnson
I think the 2018 game was close as well, with Iowa pulling out a lot of stops/crazy plays.
2021 vs Auburn.

So, I gave you more than two.

In the last two years, Marcus Freeman has had as many victories as James Franklin - while playing a much softer schedule. You really think the two are comparable? They are not.
Good grief, 2024 Minnesota? 2024 U$C?

I am talking about games against teams with a pulse? Maryland? Rutgers? App State? We had light years more talent than them. That’s the point.

Freeman just knocked of Georgia. And he beat Franklin mano-y-mano in a game he was crippled with injuries.

 

MacNit

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Funny question to ask this morning. I’ve been ready to move on for a while, even though I like the guy and think he represents our university quite well overall (except on Saturday afternoons). Ironically, I don’t feel it’s fair to slight him for last night’s loss. His kids were ready to play, and even wrestled momentum back after losing it in a well-fought game. Ultimately, I suppose he’s not going to take the final leap, so……
But he lost….again
 
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MacNit

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How about you pony up first? you got a mil for NIL??? ---if not , while your critique might be accurate is worth nothing/bukis till you pony up

put your money where your mouth is.... isn't that the saying

cognitive dissonance personified
No more NIL until Joe is properly honored.

Why do you think we are not currently at O$U level?
 

MacNit

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I don't disagree. What I am saying is that had PSU simply made a couple of plays and won the game - regulation or overtime- the spotlight comes off the mistakes because of a victory. And therefore this thread would not exist.
It would not exist if his record in big games was historically bad.

Easy button answer: Name his signature road win during his entire Penn State tenure.
 

MacNit

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I have no interest in the NFL. So, I will have to take your word for it.
Better prepare for high school football. As college football has nearly completed the trip to Minor league NFL. Last step will be no enrollment requirements.
 

MacNit

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Illinois was a good win....but our best win was Boise State. A team that came within an eyelash of beating Oregon at Oregon.
Boise State was bad. Only hideous play calling kept that game close. About as good as Minnesota.
 

MacNit

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Feel de rhythm. Feel de rhyme. Come on guys it's NIL time!

Great season, be mad at the WR room/coach if you want. Franklin is doing pretty damn well.
He hired the WR coach and recruited the WRs. Heck he was supposedly a WR coach himself.

0 catches by WRs.

Yeah, he doing pretty damn well.
 

MacNit

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Outside of beefing with students/fans in the stadium Franklin has never embarrassed Penn State. Good guy, good role model, good father, good husband.
He better get set for 2025 and arguing with students as he will be booed loudly- even at Blue-Whire game.

Heck, he was roundly booed at SMU game.
 
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MacNit

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I think a lot of valid points are being made.

Losing 3 games by 1 possession sounds acceptable until you realize how often that's the situation: we're always right there, and then always shoot ourselves in the foot at the last minute to allow the opposition to cross the finish line ahead of us.

The trend is that we can't get out of our own way. When momentum is on our side, suddenly we become determined to steer directly toward the lone banana peel in our path, and skid out on it.

This takes several forms including: moving away from what's working, calling a bizarre play, or most often puckering up and trying to nurse a 1-point lead for the final 8.5 minutes, and then acting shocked that the other team didn't simply give up and "somehow" found a way to win.

Penn State loves to take their foot off the gas in tough games. At this point, you have to say it's our defining strategy. We do not play to beat good opponents. We play to hang with them as best we can, and then make excuses when we come up short. "It's hard to win football games." Yeah, we know. But somehow, other programs find ways to do it.

It's not Franklin's fault that a DB falls down, or a 5-star QB throws into triple coverage. But it's fair to ask: WHY is the QB throwing into triple coverage? WHY were we throwing the ball with the game on the line when the opponent was struggling to stop both of our running backs? WHY does the QB have trouble making decisions and hitting wide open targets in big games? WHY is the QB incapable of reading opposing defenses and responding to the blitz? WHY can't WRs consistently get open against any opposing secondary?

That's the thing: each isolated incident isn't the fault of the coaches. But when these Keystone Kops routines keep happening over and over again, every single time we face a tough opponent, then it very much is on the coaches because they're clearly not preparing the players to respond appropriately in these situations.

It's easy to point to Drew throwing a game-ending pick. But that's like saying the biggest tree in the forest is the entire forest all by itself.

There are a LOT of persistent issues that can justifiably be questioned. And anyone who sleeps on a giant pile of money absolutely deserves to have their feet held to the fire. That's the trade-off for being wealthy: you're more accountable for failure than people who aren't wealthy.
Very fair critique.
 

MacNit

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A lot of great points. Although hanging with superior talent/$$$ teams deserves a lot of credit. Hanging with is a valid strategy toward beating those teams. Something Penn State has not always done, I remember plenty of blowouts against top teams.

Franklin has elevated Penn State to a legitimate top10 program in the country, with consistent performance. And we don't have top10 resources. All the good and all the bad, he is responsible and accountable for it. And the totality has been pretty impressive.

Hopefully they work hard this off-season to improve the glaring weaknesses of on-field discipline and WR play. While maintaining the numerous strengths, my god the OL played well this year.

As fans we will do what we can, which is ***** and complain and write the occasional check to the Penn State collective.
There is always hope:
1736579912119.png
 
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Calabrin

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Oct 16, 2022
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A lot of great points. Although hanging with superior talent/$$$ teams deserves a lot of credit. Hanging with is a valid strategy toward beating those teams. Something Penn State has not always done, I remember plenty of blowouts against top teams.

Franklin has elevated Penn State to a legitimate top10 program in the country, with consistent performance. And we don't have top10 resources. All the good and all the bad, he is responsible and accountable for it. And the totality has been pretty impressive.

Hopefully they work hard this off-season to improve the glaring weaknesses of on-field discipline and WR play. While maintaining the numerous strengths, my god the OL played well this year.

As fans we will do what we can, which is ***** and complain and write the occasional check to the Penn State collective.
It does, absolutely.

I think the biggest divide between fans on this message board is between those who accept that we're an A-tier program, and are content with 10-2 being our ceiling, and people who want us to be an S-tier program and expect that we should be beating Ohio State and Michigan closer to 50% of the time instead of almost 0% of the time.

It's one thing to be simply overpowered by a superior opponent, as we were against Michigan the last two times we played them.

It's another thing to play a great game and lose as we did against USC in the 2017 Rose Bowl.

And it's quite another thing to lose because you just can't get your crap together, and you constantly trip over your own feet when the opposition is practically bending over for you. This would be the Ohio State and Notre Dame games from this year as well as many others.
 

rudedude

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It does, absolutely.

I think the biggest divide between fans on this message board is between those who accept that we're an A-tier program, and are content with 10-2 being our ceiling, and people who want us to be an S-tier program and expect that we should be beating Ohio State and Michigan closer to 50% of the time instead of almost 0% of the time.

It's one thing to be simply overpowered by a superior opponent, as we were against Michigan the last two times we played them.

It's another thing to play a great game and lose as we did against USC in the 2017 Rose Bowl.

And it's quite another thing to lose because you just can't get your crap together, and you constantly trip over your own feet when the opposition is practically bending over for you. This would be the Ohio State and Notre Dame games from this year as well as many others.
And sometimes (in fact most times) it’s the Jimmies and the Joes on the other side that make better plays because they have better talent. Texas can feel the same way as we do from the results of last night. They were “right there” on the goal line but it turned into an 83 yd fumble return. So would you classify that as a “Franklin moment” or a “Sarkisian moment?”. FFS every one is frustrated with the results but it really is hard to get over the hump with talent disparity at times. Ask everyone in the NFL how they felt under the boot of the Patriots year after year.
 
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