As the Portal turns ..,,

GregInPitt said:
It would also seem that a couple of the PSU players that went into the portal may eventually be taken back to PSU given the crazy number of players in the portal, the need to stock the PSU roster, and the carry over of coaches still at PSU including coach Terry Smith.
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I wonder about that. On3 portal player rankings by On3

Grunkemeyer is 92 (Becht)
Coleman is 97
Reynolds is 93 (Brahmer)
Williams is 87
Shannahan is 88
Campbell is 84
Belgrave Shorter is 88
Jaylen Harvey is 87
Zuriah Fisher is 92
Gilliam is 89
Mack is 91 (Neal)
AJ Harris is 91
Washington is 90

I think all of these guys are going to get a nice paycheck somewhere else. I don't expect any of them to come running back to PSU because they couldn't get a better deal elsewhere.
 
bdroc said:
I wonder about that. On3 portal player rankings by On3

Grunkemeyer is 92 (Becht)
Coleman is 97
Reynolds is 93 (Brahmer)
Williams is 87
Shannahan is 88
Campbell is 84
Belgrave Shorter is 88
Jaylen Harvey is 87
Zuriah Fisher is 92
Gilliam is 89
Mack is 91 (Neal)
AJ Harris is 91
Washington is 90

I think all of these guys are going to get a nice paycheck somewhere else. I don't expect any of them to come running back to PSU because they couldn't get a better deal elsewhere.
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We'll see. There are only so many teams with big budgets, and players like Wylie, Williams, and Washington aren't sure starters for top 15 teams. I'd like to see Campbell spend money on talented players that have 2+ years of eligibility, although signing them to an NIL deal would likely only get a commitment for 2026.

Grunk, coleman Reynolds, Harris and Gilliam look like starters on top 10 teams so obviously they'll get big paydays. On the very top teams Grunk would have competition that he might not want to face. Fisher was an adequate starter but I can't see Oregon, OSU, Bama or any other big spending team offering him starters $$.

It seems that Campbell won't over pay just to keep the roster together. As a fan I'm partial to the returning players, but it seems Campbell is taking the realistic approach to get the most from the PSU NIL.

As was mentioned, a couple of weeks from now there will likely be good players that found out they aren't worth what they thought they were worth that will be available to sign for depth.
 
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Latest Depth Chart:

QB: Becht, Manske
RB: Martin, Hansen
TE: Rapp, Brahmer, Burkle
WR: Howard, Denmark, Eskildsen
OL: Donkoh, Cousins, Onoh, Aliciene, Buhr, Kuol, Thompkins, Goodman?

DE: Granville, Kemajou
LB: Rojas, Tasch, Bacon, Ebel, Brezina
DB: Tracy, Dixson, Collins, Lane, Toure, Neal

The only big name that seems realistic is LB Biles from Pitt. I'd like Jontez Williams from ISU but it looks like he's committing to USC.

Can the portal kids enroll in January and participate in spring practices?
 
SummitLion said:
You can't be patient, as other teams will snatch everyone up. Look who Indiana has already brought in. We may be the next Nebraska.
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Indiana just won the Big Ten and was the number one playoff seed.

We had Big Game James.

It is going to take a couple of seasons.
 
bdroc said:
Latest Depth Chart:

QB: Becht, Manske
RB: Martin, Hansen
TE: Rapp, Brahmer, Burkle
WR: Howard, Denmark, Eskildsen
OL: Donkoh, Cousins, Onoh, Aliciene, Buhr, Kuol, Thompkins, Goodman?

DE: Granville, Kemajou
LB: Rojas, Tasch, Bacon, Ebel, Brezina
DB: Tracy, Dixson, Collins, Lane, Toure, Neal

The only big name that seems realistic is LB Biles from Pitt. I'd like Jontez Williams from ISU but it looks like he's committing to USC.

Can the portal kids enroll in January and participate in spring practices?
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I don’t think Biles even thinks about us. OSU or other big names
 
LionDeNittany said:
Indiana just won the Big Ten and was the number one playoff seed.

We had Big Game James.

It is going to take a couple of seasons.
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if you take out the ISU (7th in the powerful Big 12) players, we are doing worse in the portal than just about everyone. This is pathetic. Franklin is going to have VT in the playoffs, and PSU won't be back for many many years.
 
SummitLion said:
if you take out the ISU (7th in the powerful Big 12) players, we are doing worse in the portal than just about everyone. This is pathetic. Franklin is going to have VT in the playoffs, and PSU won't be back for many many years.
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That's great for Franklin. The guy who loved PSU so much he tanked the season then stole the coaches and players.

Just like hiring a coach, you guys are really fearful of nothing.

We can hardly do worse than we did this season with Franklin guiding our portal and starting inferior backs.
 
LionDeNittany said:
That's great for Franklin. The guy who loved PSU so much he tanked the season then stole the coaches and players.

Just like hiring a coach, you guys are really fearful of nothing.

We can hardly do worse than we did this season with Franklin guiding our portal and starting inferior backs.
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Taking the top 7-10 players from any middle of the pack program is really not a bad thing. Just don't take all of them.
 
SummitLion said:
if you take out the ISU (7th in the powerful Big 12) players, we are doing worse in the portal than just about everyone. This is pathetic. Franklin is going to have VT in the playoffs, and PSU won't be back for many many years.
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Please back away from the ledge. JF built a house of cards and was running it from a place of fear. He was never going to be anything other than a 2nd tier hack that was non-competitve in every game against a team of same/better talent. PSU is not the next Nebraska. MC turned IAST into a competitive program. He will be fine at PSU. MC has to build a staff, which includes deciding whether to retain certain PSU staff, evaluate current players, scour the portal, etc, etc, etc. Respectfully, you expect too much in a time span measured in weeks.

College Free agency is a sh*t show. It's not worth agonizing over. I expect PSU to be B2G upper middle-tier in 2026, helped by a favorable schedule. MC is engaging in the literal definition of a rebuild. Be patient. Save some cash. No need to blow the NIL wad on a bunch of 1 yr mercenaries for 2026.
 
NittanyLion99 said:
Please back away from the ledge. JF built a house of cards and was running it from a place of fear. He was never going to be anything other than a 2nd tier hack that was non-competitve in every game against a team of same/better talent. PSU is not the next Nebraska. MC turned IAST into a competitive program. He will be fine at PSU. MC has to build a staff, which includes deciding whether to retain certain PSU staff, evaluate current players, scour the portal, etc, etc, etc. Respectfully, you expect too much in a time span measured in weeks.

College Free agency is a sh*t show. It's not worth agonizing over. I expect PSU to be B2G upper middle-tier in 2026, helped by a favorable schedule. MC is engaging in the literal definition of a rebuild. Be patient. Save some cash. No need to blow the NIL wad on a bunch of 1 yr mercenaries for 2026.
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VT may be the favorites to win the ACC next year, while PSU will be lucky to win 7 games. Toucan say ehat you eant about Franklin, but with the team he is putting together, PSU is in a class below them.
 
Don’t fret yet over the PSU portal class. We still have to play the games next season. As a frame of reference in present day college football, Alabama has about 50 four star players and Indiana has 7. The Hoosiers gave the tide their worst loss since 1992. I’m looking forward to the 2026 Penn State Nittany Cyclones turning out to be the 2024 Indiana football team.
 
247sports.com

2026 Transfer Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.
247sports.com 247sports.com
Based on these numbers plus taking the Indiana approach (aka the classic PSU approach) to team culture, toughness, and execution, PSU will be kicking tail in 2026. It's about assembling a team and not just collecting players. I'm good with USC, Bama, and TAMU having their collections of prima donna 5-stars.
 
SummitLion said:
VT may be the favorites to win the ACC next year, while PSU will be lucky to win 7 games. Toucan say ehat you eant about Franklin, but with the team he is putting together, PSU is in a class below them.
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You may be correct, but that doesn't negate anything I said. He is a great self-promoter, a solid recruiter, and a great politician, but he is a poor football coach vs his peers and he has a ceiling that he hit at PSU. I gave him every benefit of the doubt. For a decade, I held out hope that he would figure out to not go for it on 4th and 2 from the PSU 40. I held out hope that he would figure out how not to blow big leads in the 2nd half. He talked about being elite and set bit expectations. In 2025, he made a hail mary with big $$ for Allar, Singleton, & Allen. Instead, what we all suspected was revealed.
Once upon a time, Andy Reid needed to leave Philadelphia. The situation had become untenable with family issues and team issues. He was burnt out. He needed a fresh start. JF might do fine at VT with a fresh start and in the ACC, but he will not find the success that Andy Reid has in KC. He will always get outcoached when it matters.

PSU hired MC for the future, not 2026. I don't care if PSU makes the CFP in 2026. I care that PSU was never going to be a real threat to win under JF.
 
NittanyLion99 said:
You may be correct, but that doesn't negate anything I said. He is a great self-promoter, a solid recruiter, and a great politician, but he is a poor football coach vs his peers and he has a ceiling that he hit at PSU. I gave him every benefit of the doubt. For a decade, I held out hope that he would figure out to not go for it on 4th and 2 from the PSU 40. I held out hope that he would figure out how not to blow big leads in the 2nd half. He talked about being elite and set bit expectations. In 2025, he made a hail mary with big $$ for Allar, Singleton, & Allen. Instead, what we all suspected was revealed.
Once upon a time, Andy Reid needed to leave Philadelphia. The situation had become untenable with family issues and team issues. He was burnt out. He needed a fresh start. JF might do fine at VT with a fresh start and in the ACC, but he will not find the success that Andy Reid has in KC. He will always get outcoached when it matters.

PSU hired MC for the future, not 2026. I don't care if PSU makes the CFP in 2026. I care that PSU was never going to be a real threat to win under JF.
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This ^^^. Franklin couldn't even do basic clock management let alone win against teams with peer talent
 
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