Sunday, January 12, 2014
If you watched James Franklin’s press conference yesterday,
I’m assuming you are as fired up about this hire as I am. You would have to be. If you haven’t watched it, go watch it.
He was the guy I wanted all along (and it certainly appears
he’s the guy the search committee wanted all along). I already knew how
engaging and energetic of a speaker he was, so I was very much looking forward
to this press conference, and he still managed to exceed my expectations. I
realize it was just a press conference, and he hasn't even done anything yet
(actually he’s already added two verbal commitments to this year’s recruiting
class http://onwardstate.com/2014/01/12/penn-state-picks-up-two-recruits-from-vanderbilt-gives-scholarship-offers-to-four-others/),
but I don’t think I could be more excited about the future of Penn State
football.
One of the biggest concerns over Franklin was that he would
just bolt for the NFL after 2 or 3 years like O’Brien did. All along I insisted this should not be a
concern for a number of reasons. The
first, is that we have no reason to really even think this. Why would we assume he will leave for the
NFL? Just because O’Brien did? Because his name came up for a few NFL
openings that he never even interviewed for? Anyone who takes the time to look at his
background would think just the opposite… that Penn State looks like a final
destination for this guy. I say that for
a few reasons. First, the majority of
his coaching is in the college ranks, and I believe he is very much a college
coach rather than an NFL coach. He views
his job as not just coaching the game of football, but also educating and
developing young men. I think he enjoys
that part of the job too. I believe O’Brien
took this part of his job seriously as well, but deep down, O’Brien is an x’s
and o’s guy with a creative offensive mind, and ultimately he just wants to
focus on the game. I don’t think
Franklin is the same way, but only time will tell. Secondly, he is from Pennsylvania, so when it
comes to college football, there probably isn’t a job out there that would be
more appealing to Franklin than Penn State.
So if he doesn’t have a desire to coach in the NFL, I think it would be
likely that he stays at Penn State for a long time.
But let’s say he does leave after only a few years. So what? Then we just go out and make another great
hire. If he is taking another job after
a few years, that means he most likely had a lot of success at Penn State, and
we would be in a better position than we were when we hired him (just like O’Brien). Think about it, Penn State was at rock bottom
two years ago, and they were still able to make a great hire in Bill O’Brien. In two years, O’Brien manage to elevate the
program to a point where people don’t consider it to be nearly as doomed as
they once had. But there are still many
remnants of the Sandusky scandal, mainly the scholarship limitations and bowl ban,
so Penn State is still far from being all the way back. Yet despite this, they are able to go out and
hire the hottest coaching candidate in the country. So now if he has great success and leaves for
the NFL in a few years, think about who Penn State would be able to bring in at
that point. So once again, I’m not
concerned about Franklin leaving like many others were. I don’t think he will, and if he does, Penn
State will be just fine.
Here is what excites me most about James Franklin
- 1. High character: I’m not basing this off of anything I’ve read or heard him say in his press conference. I’m basing this off of personal conversations I’ve had with college athletic administrators that have all told me that Franklin is very highly regarded throughout the industry and is considered to have very high character. Perhaps the most telling is the way he handled his exit from Vanderbilt. Conducting a team meeting so he could address his players in person like a man. He didn’t run off and inform them via twitter from a private jet like Todd Graham did to Pitt. I think that speaks volumes about the kind of person he is.
- 2. High energy: Bill “Worm” Lippert is most grateful to Bill O’Brien not for his success on the field, or guiding the program through it’s darkest times, but for finally bringing some exciting football to State College. Whether they won or lost, Penn State was a lot more fun to watch these past two years than they had been previously. I can’t speak to the style of offense and defense Franklin will use, so I have no idea whether or not the football on the field will continue to be exciting and fun to watch. But anyone that watched yesterday’s press conference can tell that Franklin himself, will be very entertaining for fans. And that’s a good start.
- 3. Recruiting: Believe me, opposing coaches (especially at Pitt and Maryland, but far beyond that as well) are scared to death of what Franklin is going to do in recruiting at Penn State. Just look at what he was able to do at Vanderbilt. Listening to him speak, it’s easy to see why he is such a good recruiter. He’s very positive, full of energy, and perhaps most importantly, fully of confidence. Then, when you consider his PA ties, combined with his recruiting base that he established in SEC country, and you have the perfect storm. I truly believe, as he put it, Penn State is going to DOMINATE in recruiting. I love that he threw down the gauntlet and straight up challenged Pitt. They don’t stand a chance, as they shouldn’t.
When Derrick Williams committed to Penn State
as the #1 overall recruit in the country back in 2004, he referred to Penn
State football as a “sleeping giant.”
And he was absolutely right.
Between the facilities, the tradition of success, the strong alumni base
and fan support, and the lack of other major college football programs in the
northeast, Penn State SHOULD be a perennial top-15 program. It seemed whoever succeeded Joe Paterno was
going to be in a prime position to take the program to that next level (look at
what Jimbo Fisher has done succeeding Bobby Bowden). Then of course the Sandusky scandal hit and
set the program back significantly. I
believe James Franklin will be the man who wakes that “sleeping giant” and
elevates Penn State football back to where it belongs. And I couldn’t be more excited.
WE ARE
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