Next coaching candidates

GregInPitt said:
Franklin always has and still does self evaluate himself as a "players coach". I don't believe as many of his players echoed that setiment as Franklin believes they would. Franklin's idea of being a players coach was sticking with his upper classmen players even when younger players likely would have added a spark to the team and would have developed more quickly to add quality depth to the team. Franklin seems to get so wrapped up in his relationships with player families that is overly impacts his decision making to the detriment of the team.

I believe that if Terry is the next coach he will keep enough of the current young players to have a successful 2026 season, especially if as you said there is a boatload of NIL available to address the team's needs in the portal. Terry would have a great chance to keep the young talent on the roster, the 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes, which along with some of the current upper classmen and some key portal additions would have a good shot at fielding a team contenting for a playoff spot. Tatsch, Howard, Coleman, Kemajou, Dixon, Adirika, Gilliam, Joseph, Goodman, Woseley, Toure, Speca, Harvey, Granville, Lane, Cousins and Reynolds are all in their 1st or 2nd season at PSU and would for a great nucleus for next season's team if they stay. Hopefully enough olinemen from the 2023 and 2024 classes stay as the trenches, particularly the OL where the losses are great after this season, will be the most difficult to replace.
Click to expand...
Penn State educated his dad. His dad used that education to escape the poverty of his home town. Terry IS what the grand experiment of Joe Paterno is all about
 
Forester Gump said:
We can pump the brakes but you can't sidestep the positives of TS. When he wins against Rutgers, he will have the same record as Franklin, but against a higher caliber of competition and with a freshman QB. He has the team playing better than Franklin and the coordinators are working with the coach. Franklin was changing OC every 2 yrs. You have to question why our receivers are doing better than they have the past 2 yrs. Singleton has woken up and the O line is playing like a unit. There is no more confusion. TS is a player's coach. Franklin is a corporate coach. We have to ask ourselves which one we want.

The shortfalls of Franklin when he came to PSU was that he was never in charge of a big program. It was supposed to be an elite hire, at the time. They gave him all the economic support. They threw money with better staff. But, the outcome was always the same. Franklin could recruit, but wasn't all that good in developing recruits. The portal showed some of those problems by players succeeding at other teams but were a bust at PSU.

The economic upside of TS is that he can be brought on with a lower salary. Add to the loss of several high cost players like Allar, Singleton, Allen, etal. and there is a significant pool of money to be invested in the portal or a great GM. Staff salaries will remain pretty much the same and there won't be any need for buyouts. Continuity will allow recruits the option of coming back to the fold and maintain the players that are already there.
The downside of hiring a big name coach is the expense. Next year will probably be a rebuilding year. No matter who is coach, the expectations might not be met. Do they fire him then? That probably scares a lot of potential coaches.
Click to expand...
Franklin was a successful head coach of an SEC team and long time assistant. When hired he was far more qualified that Terry
 
Sheriff Coffee said:
Franklin was a successful head coach of an SEC team and long time assistant. When hired he was far more qualified that Terry
Click to expand...
E. Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Idaho, Maryland, and a few maybe lucky years as Vandy's HC. At PSU, ran a Franklin team and not a Penn State team. Recruited anywhere from #5 to #15 classes. Never mentioned much less honored anything about the program prior to Franklin. Turtled and played not to lose. Extreme incongruence between schemes and players' skill sets. Little to no QB development. Didn't appreciate the trenches and LB and WR rooms. Poor Xs & Os, game management guy. Inauthentic, emotionless, and defensive. The players saw this and just went through the motions. Terry Smith, with the right coaching staff, will be a better choice than unproven interlopers Drinkwitz, Hartline, etc. All Terry would need to do is not micromanage and get a pulse of things and suggest (make) strategic decisions. From his post OSU press conference to the one from yesterday, you can tell that Terry now knows what to do and it doesn't include rocket science.
 
PSU Blue said:
Upsetting that we would get rid of one seasoned D1 coach for another. I'll be depressed if not a big splash. Just getting annoying (I have little patience ;o)
Click to expand...
Disagree. JF was "seasoned" but had reached his Peter Principle. If PSU was ok with 2nd tier and having a vibes guy, then JF was perfect until he retired in 15 yrs. If PSU is trying to be 1st tier, then you have to try ANYONE else.
 
Two words still haunt me about firing a coach who wins 8+ games every year. Bo Pellini. Nebraska never recovered. Compared a coach who beat many cupcakes in the Big 12 with a B1G schedule.
 
Forester Gump said:
We can pump the brakes but you can't sidestep the positives of TS. When he wins against Rutgers, he will have the same record as Franklin, but against a higher caliber of competition and with a freshman QB. He has the team playing better than Franklin and the coordinators are working with the coach. Franklin was changing OC every 2 yrs. You have to question why our receivers are doing better than they have the past 2 yrs. Singleton has woken up and the O line is playing like a unit. There is no more confusion. TS is a player's coach. Franklin is a corporate coach. We have to ask ourselves which one we want.

The shortfalls of Franklin when he came to PSU was that he was never in charge of a big program. It was supposed to be an elite hire, at the time. They gave him all the economic support. They threw money with better staff. But, the outcome was always the same. Franklin could recruit, but wasn't all that good in developing recruits. The portal showed some of those problems by players succeeding at other teams but were a bust at PSU.

The economic upside of TS is that he can be brought on with a lower salary. Add to the loss of several high cost players like Allar, Singleton, Allen, etal. and there is a significant pool of money to be invested in the portal or a great GM. Staff salaries will remain pretty much the same and there won't be any need for buyouts. Continuity will allow recruits the option of coming back to the fold and maintain the players that are already there.
The downside of hiring a big name coach is the expense. Next year will probably be a rebuilding year. No matter who is coach, the expectations might not be met. Do they fire him then? That probably scares a lot of potential coaches.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, the coaches salary is now insignificant to the scope of CFB. A cheaper, less successful coach is far more expensive than an expensive, successful one
 
Frank Lee said:
E. Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Idaho, Maryland, and a few maybe lucky years as Vandy's HC. At PSU, ran a Franklin team and not a Penn State team. Recruited anywhere from #5 to #15 classes. Never mentioned much less honored anything about the program prior to Franklin. Turtled and played not to lose. Extreme incongruence between schemes and players' skill sets. Little to no QB development. Didn't appreciate the trenches and LB and WR rooms. Poor Xs & Os, game management guy. Inauthentic, emotionless, and defensive. The players saw this and just went through the motions. Terry Smith, with the right coaching staff, will be a better choice than unproven interlopers Drinkwitz, Hartline, etc. All Terry would need to do is not micromanage and get a pulse of things and suggest (make) strategic decisions. From his post OSU press conference to the one from yesterday, you can tell that Terry now knows what to do and it doesn't include rocket science.
Click to expand...
No, respectfully.
Brian Hartline is universally considered to be a future HC. TS has never even been mentioned. He's done a nice job steering the ship since JF was fired, but he's not recruiting, he's not trying to keep the commits. He's doing half the job on a temp basis.
Hiring a guy who has never been a HC higher than HS would be tough to swallow.
 
NittanyLion99 said:
No, respectfully.
Brian Hartline is universally considered to be a future HC. TS has never even been mentioned. He's done a nice job steering the ship since JF was fired, but he's not recruiting, he's not trying to keep the commits. He's doing half the job on a temp basis.
Hiring a guy who has never been a HC higher than HS would be tough to swallow.
Click to expand...
Terry Smith doesn't recruit and Hartline being considered a future HC are not strong arguments IMHO.
Anyway, the point of my post is that a winning culture and motivating players may require more than the number of years one has on a resume. I'll go as far as saying that there has been no proof that Hartline has really done anything to make him HC material and that if it is actually true that he is a great recruiter, then 80% of that can be attributed to his employer.
 
Last edited:
Frank Lee said:
E. Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Idaho, Maryland, and a few maybe lucky years as Vandy's HC. At PSU, ran a Franklin team and not a Penn State team. Recruited anywhere from #5 to #15 classes. Never mentioned much less honored anything about the program prior to Franklin. Turtled and played not to lose. Extreme incongruence between schemes and players' skill sets. Little to no QB development. Didn't appreciate the trenches and LB and WR rooms. Poor Xs & Os, game management guy. Inauthentic, emotionless, and defensive. The players saw this and just went through the motions. Terry Smith, with the right coaching staff, will be a better choice than unproven interlopers Drinkwitz, Hartline, etc. All Terry would need to do is not micromanage and get a pulse of things and suggest (make) strategic decisions. From his post OSU press conference to the one from yesterday, you can tell that Terry now knows what to do and it doesn't include rocket science.
Click to expand...
Got the team to the national championship semi-final. Brought the school back to national prominence. Won a big ten title.
 
Frank Lee said:
Terry Smith doesn't recruit and Hartline being considered a future HC are not strong arguments IMHO.
Anyway, the point of my post is that a winning culture and motivating players may require more than the number of years one has on a resume. I'll go as far as saying that there has been no proof that Hartline has really done anything to make him HC material and that if it is actually true that he is a great recruiter, then 80% of that can be attributed to his employer.
Click to expand...
After his first game TS said he recruited over half the kids in the locker room.
 
Frank Lee said:
no proof that Hartline has really done anything to make him HC material and that if it is actually true that he is a great recruiter, then 80% of that can be attributed to his employer.
Click to expand...
100% wrong here. Hartline was a ga when long time underachieving Zach Smith was fired. Recruiting and production on the field immediately went up when he became receiver's coach. Last year Carnell Tate mentioned that he really wanted to make sure that Hartline was coming back.
 
Frank Lee said:
And in just ten years. But he did get the team past SMU and BSU in the playoffs, I'll give you that.
It was Franklin's time to go.
Click to expand...
Well, the conversation is in comparison to Terry smith. So I guess your position is Terry is a nice, plan spoken guy who achieved position coach status. Awesome. Oh yeah, Terry is three years older.
 
Sheriff Coffee said:
Well, the conversation is in comparison to Terry smith. So I guess your position is Terry is a nice, plan spoken guy who achieved position coach status. Awesome. Oh yeah, Terry is three years older.
Click to expand...
If something fails consistently, then fix it or replace it. If Terry is a nice guy, and has also played the game, and has a motivated locker room, then it's worth a shot. And the game is not rocket science as we're all led to believe. It's about blocking, tackling, running plays, and pass plays. As we saw last night. Nothing that only a Drinkwitz, a Key, or a Hartline can do.
 
Dailybuck777 said:
100% wrong here. Hartline was a ga when long time underachieving Zach Smith was fired. Recruiting and production on the field immediately went up when he became receiver's coach. Last year Carnell Tate mentioned that he really wanted to make sure that Hartline was coming back.
Click to expand...
And Terry Smith has improved the team's performance (Singleton, OL, DDS, and Grunkemeyer, in particular) and the players are more motivated and want him as head coach.
 
How about BC's Bill O'Brien? He worked for both Belichik and Saban, coached Tom Brady, was an NFL head coach, and held a couple of HC gigs at the DI college level. Quite the resume and a sure home run. /s
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top