Is there a rule or bylaw someone needs to confess here? Perhaps there's something to say about stepping away from the keyboard, during and for a brief time after a game. One thing I do understand. I am not privy to all the information that goes into a play selection. Are you?
FC: Conversation about James Franklin.
- Thread starter Midnighter
- Start date
So consistently beating teams you are favored to defeat is a negative? Because anyone who watches football knows that isn't something everyone can attest to.
Who said it was a negative? Certainly not me.
But almost *never* pulling an upset while occasionally *being* upset is an unseasoned dish.
LOL
“However, there is a vocal “fire Franklin” crowd that can be seen on social media after a Penn State loss.”
I just hope the next guy meets our standards of excellence. We have rights. We are "investors" in the program. We demand deserve a National Championship.
Maybe give it a rest until spring ball? I think most folks don't care what happens in the bowl game.
I think most PSU fans want a W. 6-5 Bowl record for James. Would like to see a Peach Bowl win. Tired of the SEC posters beating PSU down. That's our job.
I am not the one who started this thread.
But, I also disagree with your statement about "most folks don't care what happens in the bowl game." I think people DO care, because they want Penn State to win.
WE. DEMAND. A HIGH RETURN. ON. INVESTMENT!!!!!!!
Eh, I care. I know not much is on the line, but winning a bowl game, beating an SEC squad (with a smug coach) is always worthwhile.
I like an AD willing to lie for the program.
They are only 60 million dollars away from being relevant.“However, there is a vocal “fire Franklin” crowd that can be seen on social media after a Penn State loss.”
Franklin will almost certainly get a raise and/or extension by the end of next year. Right now he’s underpaid compared to B1G peers to be honest.
If you remove Tucker then CJF is 11th highest paid HC, second only to Day in B1G. Jimmy will leap him (again) after the season. I mean, it's tough to argue he's not paid perfectly for his results. Stoops, Heupel, and Kiffen are right above him, wouldn't trade any of them in for CJF.
FWIW, since Franklin has been here PSU has the 4th most wins in Big Ten. I know that does not appears most people.....
www.teamrankings.com
But no one is even close to Ohio State
College Football Team Win Trends - All Games
Free college football team win trends and splits in simple, easy to read tables. This page tracks all games results.
www.teamrankings.com
But no one is even close to Ohio State
Shirley, you jest?
Highest Paid College Football Coaches & Salaries - USA TODAY
Not that all of them are not grossly overpaid - thanks to the wheelbarrows full of burning money flowing to P5 football programs - with no need to pay the "help" (yet)
Ah - was mistaken that Rhule was in/around the same salary as Fickell. Franklin's $8.5mm is $7.5mm base plus some kind of insurance, so it's not cash, but is valuable. He should probably make more than Heupel, Stoops, and even Kiffin. Definitely more than whoever is coach at MSU. Harbaugh will likely get a massive raise after this season too.
FWIW, since Franklin has been here PSU has the 4th most wins in Big Ten. I know that does not appears most people.....
College Football Team Win Trends - All Games
Free college football team win trends and splits in simple, easy to read tables. This page tracks all games results.
But no one is even close to Ohio State
Looked up Paterno's record his first ten years in the B1G - eerily similar:
89-33, 6-1 in Bowls, 1 x B1G Championship, 1 x Undefeated Season, 8 x 9+ Win Seasons, (4 x 10+ Win Seasons Included), 2 x Losing Seasons
To be fair all of them are GROSSLY overpaid, but that isn't getting walked back. This program grew stale in the late 90's but a good season every 4-5 years kept the pulse. While that was going on other schools had coaches that weren't sleeping at the wheel and driving forward with the arms race and they blew past PSU. They embraced the changest hat were going on with introduction of the internet. PSU had a HC who didn't check email and we all did back flips when that same HC actually took some time to zoom with Terrell Pryor.
Then after those stale years and they were stale with the 4-5 year exception....the Jerry fiasco hit setting the program back even further. When OB arrived he did a good job along with the players of keeping the heads above water, but OB himself stated everything was outdated and he was right. Hell we still have butt hurt fans who are mad at OB for daring to leave. JF had the same fights to move the program forward after OB. I was never a fan of his annual hold the program hostage, but I see why now. It's was a completely dysfunctional AD office and up the chain from there. He had to fight for facilities, coaches pay increases, and all along the way he had people who care more about a statue fight him along the way. Now he's gotten the program to the cusp, but I have zero faith of much more. Somehow what the BoT did years ago is JF's fault to some....so they'll continue to kick, whine, and scream like he's doing any worse than their hero for life did.
He's honestly doing roughly the same with better players and more money. He also faces a much tougher B1G conference schedule (especially next year). Ohio State has separated itself from everyone else in the B1G and that wasn't the case when Joe was coaching. They were very good, but now they're elite.
Top to bottom, the Big Ten was immensely more competitive from the early 90s to the mid 2010s. And the last couple years? The Big 10 from #4-#14 is a clown show.
Through the 90's, with PSU in the conference, the Big Ten averaged 4.5 ranked teams per year - out of 11 total.
Now? Not so much - even with 14 teams.
And Penn State, specifically, still played some reasonable OOC games until recent years (PSU played 9 ranked teams OOC in their first 10 years in the Big Ten - regular season, not counting bowls).
Since 2011 (when they played Alabama) PSU has played .... ONE.
ONE ranked team OOC in 12 years - and that was Auburn in 2021 - who ended up being far less than ranked as the season played out. And the vast majority of those games were not just "unranked", they were beyond cupcake level.
In recent years, PSU has basically played a 2 game schedule, against 2 teams they don't beat.
It is what it is.
And also without the additional game (the 12th game) during those earlier years against another cupcake (ie, 9 win season then = 10 win season now)
I can agree
that Franklin inherited a mess...in more ways than one. However, not everyone who revered Joe did James dirty. Joe is long gone. His era and the record should always be given utmost respect. James is a worthy successor ...it may be his fate that his work won't receive the recognition it deserves until he is gone. I doubt there is a better fit for PSU available.
Move on from the Paterno era. It’s long gone. Get behind “10-2 forever” and be happy!
Not everyone did him dirty for sure, but a few most certainly did....and I'm not talking about fans or other coaches. He had administrative road blocks that he wouldn't have had at other schools that didn't hit pause for a decade or so. Again I wasn't a huge fan of his holding the school/program hostage every single year(hated it), but I kind of get it now.I can agree
PSU has fans/alums that think it's 1987, but it's not and hasn't been for a long time. They aren't there yet, but it's nice to know you have a HC who can recruit and still give you a punchers chance even without some of the $$$'s other schools are tossing around annually (not his salary either). It's been just about 30 years since PSU was last undefeated and it was 9 year prior to that when they last won a MNC. I get the frustration with the losses, but my issue is the lack of awareness and reality of where PSU really is at. They are a legit top 10 program again, but need to take one more step which may not occur.
That narrative will never die with some people. But it is abject nonsense. Really hard to imagine where it came from (not really
), but it is so factually incorrect Not that it matters. Anyway, enough said.
Well the people covering and surrounding the program have said it as well as some other folks who have been around the block who were right about a few things. Not to mention both coaches both alluded to this stuff....so it's not really a narrative. If you think PSU kept up with the Jones...feel free.That narrative will never die with some people. But it is abject nonsense. Really hard to imagine where it came from (not really
Anyway, enough said.
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Excellent advice.....I have enjoyed both! Reminds me of Mark Twain...".Don't regret growing older.....its a privilege denied to many."
The BWICAC hiring the next coach:
They've ascertained that coaches are merely an impediment to ultimate victory.The BWICAC hiring the next coach:
I think there were substantial hurdles with facilities, housing, compensation of assistant coaches, overall support staff and some "set in their ways" trustees and administrators. James has won a few "battles" that don't show on the record. I don't think these were issues in the past 10 years at Alabama, LSU, Ohio State etc.That narrative will never die with some people. But it is abject nonsense. Really hard to imagine where it came from (not really
Anyway, enough said.
PSU football was a massive cash cow for decades, but very little of the proceeds were reinvested in the "infrastructure."
I agree that the JoeBot myth was vastly over "blamed." I think that was largely a Dave Jones fable.
No one admired and respected Joe more than I did. It doesn't hinder me one bit from admiring what James has going on now.
All the talk about how would Joe have done "today" is hogwash. If he had been born in 1960, he'd be a product of his environment and experiences and possess the same unique skills to succeed.
Franklin has navigated a difficult course with sanctions and the aforementioned hurdles. Those who ***** about 10-2 are the only real losers IMO.
Like when I talk to young people and they remark on my age. Well, you'll be my age someday, or you'll die first. Only two options.
Don't disagree that the football program generated a large cash surplus. But if the money wasn't "reinvested", where did it go?
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