Well, Diaz came to PSU directly from a HC position (yeah, I factored in Temple), did okay. (I’m trying to convince myself that this hire is the right one.)
New DC
- Thread starter Pride
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Franklin will never learn to run things by the experts here before making key decisions. Who in the hell does he think he is?
This is my fault. Once again I failed to insert a sarcasm emoji in a post.
Thanks for posting Ryan. I’m hoping the transition goes seemlessly.
Penn State football targets former head coach to be its next defensive coordinator
Penn State football is targeting a familiar face, former Indiana head coach Tom Allen, to be its next defensive coordinator.www.on3.com
Under Franklin , our Total D rankings have been good regardless of the DC. Our Total O has not done nearly as well despite the changes .
Interesting side note, CJF hired Howle as the TE coach despite also interviewing Kotelnicki. Now Andy is Howle’s boss .
Do you think there would be mutual interest for Al Golden at DC. Its a lateral move at worse for A.G. if he ditched ND
I think the Allen move is done. Golden is still trying to count to 11 ever since the OSU game.
Manny Diaz is 49. Not sure 4 years is a big deal. I know old 30 somethings and young 60 somethings.
Agree. Diaz seems so much younger than Allen. Just my perception.
When Allen was handling the Defense, they were very tough especially the Line Backers followed by the D- Line.
Manny's HC performance wasn't spectacular either, but we saw what he could do dialed strictly in to the Defense.
I thought Tom Allen or Jim Leonard would be the best hires , Dex is either waiting for Virginia or he just likes
where he is at.
Manny's HC performance wasn't spectacular either, but we saw what he could do dialed strictly in to the Defense.
I thought Tom Allen or Jim Leonard would be the best hires , Dex is either waiting for Virginia or he just likes
where he is at.
We can only hope that it is for an analyst role, if he becomes DC we become Iowa in 2 years
worse than that, he is what a successful Jerry Faust would have looked like. Lots of screaming, uniform changes and hearts were in it garbage
True, which translated on the spectrum of excellence means, he coached teams that played hard and lost to a non-elite team. JCF must really fear those IU recievers in the portal who rebuffed us.
Exactly, hopefully he will be fired when another DC becomes available in January
He has like five or six NCs. Coordinators don’t matter there; he matters.
No matter who was hired, they were going to have a difficult time upholding the standard left by Diaz. Hopefully Allen is up to the challenge.
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While Allen has not led a defense as nationally respected or statistically comparable to what Penn State has become accustomed to, the better part of his coaching career since 1992 has been spent on the defensive side of the ball, with noteworthy stops at Ole Miss and South Florida as well as his most recent eight-year stint at Indiana. However, a big fit for Allen and Penn State is both’s familiarity and reliance on 4-3 and 4-2-5.-- Ben Jones
Um. He’s not coaching the offense. Iowa’s downfall was nepotism on the offense. Phil Parker’s defense was annually pretty good.
Allen’s lack of a top rated defense in his previous spots shouldn’t be a deal breaker for fan acceptance. He’s never had the type of talent he will have at PSU. His defenses at Indiana were sound and played hard to the final gun. If given a chance I believe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Agree. He’s fine - just hoping he can get the most from PSU talent like Diaz did.
Last year I think IU was the 13th D ( yes he was the HC) in the B1G. I hope Franklin is making the right call . A lot of question marks heading into 2024.
IU years
DC 2016 120 ranking Total D
HC 2017 45
HC 2018 27
HC 2019 45
HC 2020 20, COVID season
HC 2021 109
HC 2022 120
HC 2023 86
Had a few good seasons sandwiched in the middle .
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I suggest a zoom call with the new OC and DC and the BWICAC so that these two new hires have a full understanding of what is expected of them. We will have to prepare an agenda, with documented goals and expectations clearly spelled out for the new hires.
FWIW:
Parker never had "PSU Level" talent at Iowa either. But he developed a bunch of pluggers - and had outstanding defenses at Iowa.
Cranking out (from mid-level, at best, recruits) a slew of all-conference, if not all-american level guys -worked together to be one of the best defenses in the conference on a regular basis, Jack Campbell, Josey Jewell, Desmond King, Cooper DeJean (and a long long list of DBs), etc.
Of course, it is not like Parker was available.... but there certainly are coaches who have gotten more from 2nd tier talent (more than being consistently among the bottom performing defenses in the nation, anyway)
Allen spent 1 year as a D1 DC (IIRC) - then, after IU fired Wilson, moved to the HC job - largely due to the "players liking him". (which is 90% of the time the "kiss of death", Think Bobby Williams at MSU).
Anyway, after 2 lousy years, he was on the verge of getting fired, but won enough to go to a bowl game. Then had his big season during COVID - and parlayed that into a "would cost too much to fire him" long-term contract. But IU fired him two years later anyway - and gave him a wheelbarrow full of money too not coach their team.
At their peak, he had a couple of defenses that were average.... mostly dreadful.
Time will tell. Could work out great.
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When hiring a coordinator, the objective should absolutely not be to find a guy that will be there for a long time. If guys are leaving for head coaching jobs after 2-3 years is a massive win for Penn State and creates a lot attraction to the job when it opens back up. I absolutely hope Kotelnicki is here for 3 years and gone because that’ll mean he crushed it and the next hire will be a coveted opening. And if you ask people tapped into the coaching industry, there’s already a ton of respect for the program Franklin is running. He’s building himself a nice little coaching tree.
Not that it's important with respect to your argument, but he was D1 DC for two years - South Florida in 2105 and then IU in 2016.
I’m all for that especially if James is stupid enough to go outside the program instead of developing and promoting from within.
James deserves every bit of ridicule coming his way if this turns out to be true
Northwestern played PSU physically….Indiana repeatedly played dirty.
I can see how you, as a Franklin apologist, would love this hire…complete with warts of unsportsmanship prevelant under Buck Toothed Tom from IU.
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