I gotta admit this was a classy move by new Penn State head coach James Franklin. Franklin took out a near full page ad in The Tennessean to thank Vanderbilt for everything they gave him. Now you can get a small glimpse of why people like Franklin are so successful.
I've been arguing with some friends about Franklin. For some wacko reason they think he will be a massive failure in Happy Valley. I can't even grasp that bullshit. The guy won at Vanderbilt! Before he got to Nashville the Commodores had been to one, yes, one bowl game in the last 28 years. During his 3 years they went to 3 bowl games. I would say that is pretty damn good. Also they beat up on Tennessee, Georgia and Florida who are all SEC East blueblood programs.
If the Big Ten is ever going to get back to dominant conference play (have they ever?) they need to poach coaches from the SEC. Last year they did it with Urban Meyer going to Ohio State. This year it is Franklin. He will kill it for State Penn. College football needs Franklin to succeed at Penn State. It's so much more entertaining when at least a few teams from up north are competing for National Titles. We need to revive the Civil War of College Football. Yee Haw!
It is interesting my local paper today had an article about how PSU actually paid for these Franklin ads. Also he beat up on teams like Elon, Presbyterian, Austin Peay and UAB. He had a losing record against SEC teams in his 3 years and when you say he "beat up" on blueblood programs such as Tennessee, Georgia and Florida it is worth noting he beat a 5-7 Tennessee team and a 4-8 Florida team who lost to Georgia Southern (not exactly "Blueblood" years). I will give you Georgia as his only quality win in 3 years. In the end as a PSU hater I like the move and wish ND would schedule them again for some easy wins.
ReplyDeleteStill it's Vandy. It's not like he had a ton of talent on the roster. The schedule might have been weak but he still took them to three straight bowl games with a program that is traditionally awful.
ReplyDeleteI agree, he will be getting better players at PSU and seems like an energy guy who can recruit. It will be interesting to see how all in he will be or if this is just another stepping stone which is sad for a storied program like PSU to become that.
ReplyDeleteI think this job is just another stepping stone like you said for Franklin. I give him 3-4 years in Happy Valley then the NFL will come calling.
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