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re: Just why did Penn State fire James Franklin?
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:23 am to El Segundo Guy
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:23 am to El Segundo Guy
quote:
Matt Campbell is a better coach. And it's not close.
I bet you only watch the SEC and ESPiN talking heads.
This argument only works if Campbell was their first choice. He was plan G when everyone else turned them down.
1
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:23 am to I-59 Tiger
Franklin was all about himself. Reportedly asked for another contract extension after the Oregon loss, was told by the AD it wasn’t the right time, and then went to the president behind Krafts back asking for the same.
I knew PSU was overrated from the outset. I expected two or three losses, Oregon and Ohio State for sure, and then one other team that they would have no business losing. I didn’t see Indiana coming.
With that said, Franklin was just collecting a paycheck after Oregon and biding his time. The players knew it, and they mailed it in after that.
Franklin is all about himself, not the school he is coaching. Egotistical beyond belief.
I knew PSU was overrated from the outset. I expected two or three losses, Oregon and Ohio State for sure, and then one other team that they would have no business losing. I didn’t see Indiana coming.
With that said, Franklin was just collecting a paycheck after Oregon and biding his time. The players knew it, and they mailed it in after that.
Franklin is all about himself, not the school he is coaching. Egotistical beyond belief.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:27 am to The Third Leg
quote:
They thought they were Ohio State and Michigan level prestige, but they’re more like Iowa and Wisconsin.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:28 am to LSUGrad9295
LSU fans started to see the faults in our offense early on, Kelly was the one that kept saying it was fine when it was obvious to everyone that it was not
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:31 am to I-59 Tiger
Campbells floor is 10 wins a year minimum. But now he HAS to beat Ohio State and Michigan and Oregon and the other Big Ten big boys.
Otherwise what’s the point?
Otherwise what’s the point?
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:39 am to I-59 Tiger
Sometimes things just come to a head. Franklin likely wasnt liked by some up top, they hit the wall on the field this year(it happens everywhere just the walls are different shapes and sizes) and the people in charge didnt see "upside" to keeping him. Likely that the program had reached its peak under him. Change is good for everyone sometimes.
What they didnt calculate, however, was the total lack of interest top candidates have in that job. They wanted their cake and it wasnt as good as they thought. Now they have Matt Campbell. Essentially a lateral move in the grand scheme. They bet and lost but at least they got change! Well see how it works out.
What they didnt calculate, however, was the total lack of interest top candidates have in that job. They wanted their cake and it wasnt as good as they thought. Now they have Matt Campbell. Essentially a lateral move in the grand scheme. They bet and lost but at least they got change! Well see how it works out.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:40 am to LSUGrad9295
quote:
Basically the same thing as LSU.
Maybe. I think Kelly did several things that basically made things much worse than they would have been otherwise. He doubled down suggesting his team was better than it was. He openly ignored glaring weaknesses on the team. And, he actually went so far as to berate the media and fans for questioning it.
Maybe Franklin did that too. I just don't know enough.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:41 am to El Segundo Guy
quote:
Matt Campbell is a better coach. And it's not close.
He is a better gameday coach, absolutely. However, can he build a program and recruit at the level needed to win at PSU? If he can’t recruit at a comparable level to Franklin, is he as good a coach as Cig?
Posted on 12/8/25 at 10:51 am to I-59 Tiger
quote:
Just why did Penn State fire James Franklin?
Perhaps they don't settle for mediocrity?
Posted on 12/8/25 at 10:56 am to El Segundo Guy
No he’s not
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:06 am to I-59 Tiger
Hiring Campbell away from Iowa St should have been their 1st call, he has done more with less for 10 yrs, he was a good hire
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:07 am to I-59 Tiger
Hiring Campbell away from Iowa St should have been their 1st call, he has done more with less for 10 yrs, he was a good hire
Posted on 12/8/25 at 1:07 pm to I-59 Tiger
Franklin’s tenure ran its course. Although he’s a terrific recruiter, he had same fatal flaws. He was unable to develop talent, especially quarterbacks. It’s not an accident that Trace McSorley was his most successful QB. McSorely was able to improvise-Franklin was unable to develop traditional pro-style quarterbacks. His inability to develop Christian Hackenberg after his freshman year under Bill O’Brien was terrible. You could argue the same for Drew Allar. He also isn’t a good game day coach, as evidenced by his record against ranked opponents.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 2:45 pm to I-59 Tiger
James Franklin's record against ranked teams at Penn State 17-26 record against Top 25 opponents and 3-17 record versus Top 10 teams
Posted on 12/8/25 at 3:32 pm to grich31
quote:.
Hiring Campbell away from Iowa St should have been their 1st call, he has done more with less for 10 yrs, he was a good hire
I was downvoted in another thread about this, but I think they did try to reach him early but he had switched agents. This was reported by one of the main PSU podcasts, and Kraft alluded to this in the press conference today. He didn’t come out and say it, but he sounded like they did have him on the list early.
ETA: Lavar Arrington said over the weekend that Jay Paterno was causing problems in the background, which didn’t help matters. Arrington is annoyed with Paterno because not only is Arrington a Penn State letterman, his son is also on the current team, and Paterno was making the process more difficult than it needed to be.
This post was edited on 12/8/25 at 3:36 pm
Posted on 12/8/25 at 3:41 pm to I-59 Tiger
They gave him a war chest after last season to get over the hump. They brought back every meaningful piece of the team that still had eligibility. They also let him hire Jim Knowles for over $3 million a year. They looked bad from the start this season, struggling early against vastly inferior non-P4 competition, then losing to a terrible UCLA team and a 6–6 Northwestern team in State College. When you add that to all the bed-wetting against top-10 teams over the last decade, it honestly was the right move.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 3:45 pm to I-59 Tiger
Matt Campbell is a way better coach than Franklin. He’s beat more ranked teams at Iowa State than Franklin did at Penn State.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 3:48 pm to I-59 Tiger
Penn State had a delusional senior moment and thought it was 1986 again. They fired Franklin thinking coaches would be chomping at the bit to get there.
Turns out they're not.
Turns out they're not.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 3:54 pm to I-59 Tiger
If James Franklin had happened to any fanbase that posts regularly on this board, they'd all demand him gone too. I can't fault PSU for trying something different- the absurd part is the extension they gave him in 2021
Posted on 12/8/25 at 3:57 pm to boston vol
One other item with Franklin. He was responsible for allocating the NIL money there, and really fighting have a GM there that had influence. The prime example was the money they had in two of their running backs. Most teams would have allocated to one, and use the rest of the money for a diffferent position.
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