James Franklin Appreciation Thread

[SportsingHard]

I hate Franklin as much as the next guy and two bad losses are two bad losses but I don't think he should get fired. Penn State is basically a northern version of Clemson historically arent they?

Pre-Dabo, Penn State was far better: 10th in winning percentage with 2 NCs vs 30th in winning percentage with 1 NC. There was a time, though, when Penn State was the Eastern version of Boise State (or BYU before them): King of the Cupcakes mostly beating up other cupcakes.

 

[MacIrish75]

tbh I used to find it pretty easy to root for PSU before the whole Sandusky deal and especially since hiring Frames Janklin. For anyone who loathes scUM, and O$U like I do, they were easy to support a couple weeks a year.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

tbh I used to find it pretty easy to root for PSU before the whole Sandusky deal and especially since hiring Frames Janklin. For anyone who loathes scUM, and O$U like I do, they were easy to support a couple weeks a year.

I agree. They were independent & considered a blue collar team…kinda like ND’s little brother…lol. But before Sandusky scandal & finding out how much Paterno hated ND, I kinda Liked them too

 

[Bane]

Cig is old, but I imagine he is looking for a big time job and validation before it's too late. I actually think he'd strongly consider the PSU job. As someone that is not a fan of PSU, I personally wouldn't like it, but I think it would make sense for both parties.
The other 3 choices seem completely delusional

PSU seems like the optimal landing spot for a guy like Cig, I could absolutely see him there.

 

[GowerND11]

This year is their 2016.
I hope for their JF 2.0 to perform worse than BK 2.0

That’s what I’ve been saying

 

[thekid33]

tbh I used to find it pretty easy to root for PSU before the whole Sandusky deal and especially since hiring Frames Janklin. For anyone who loathes scUM, and O$U like I do, they were easy to support a couple weeks a year.

I wouldn't say I ever found them easy to root for. But, growing up I did not specifically root against them and 100% rooted for them when they played Ohio State and Michigan.

There were 3 things that really changed for me to hate them. In chronological order:

1) Graduating college and moving from the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem) area of PA to Central PA (Lancaster/Lebanon area).

The Penn St. fans that I knew growing up were generally not assholes about Notre Dame. The Penn State fans in this part of the state are almost exclusively assholes about ND. I have a theory that it's at least partially because the Lehigh Valley is much more culturally Catholic. This area is not as traditionally Catholic and in fact there's an undercurrent of anti-Catholicism amongst the people who are generationally from here.

2) The Sandusky stuff and aftermath. #1 reason for increasing my hatred. Fucking gross and shameful. And a good portion of the fans are still totally delusional about it.

3) James Franklin era. The guy is a prick.

 

[GowerND11]

As a Pennsylvanian, as a Skook, FUCK ‘EM. Their fans have always been obnoxious to us ND fans here. Some of the loudest callings to join a conference, which I find ironic since they didn’t join one until 1992. Always claiming we had a cupcake schedule while they routinely scheduled Temple, two MAC schools, and Indiana State.

 

[GowerND11]

I wouldn't say I ever found them easy to root for. But, growing up I did not specifically root against them and 100% rooted for them when they played Ohio State and Michigan.

There were 3 things that really changed for me to hate them. In chronological order:

1) Graduating college and moving from the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem) area of PA to Central PA (Lancaster/Lebanon area).

The Penn St. fans that I knew growing up were generally not assholes about Notre Dame. The Penn State fans in this part of the state are almost exclusively assholes about ND. I have a theory that it's at least partially because the Lehigh Valley is much more culturally Catholic. This area is not as traditionally Catholic and in fact there's an undercurrent of anti-Catholicism amongst the people who are generationally from here.

2) The Sandusky stuff and aftermath. #1 reason for increasing my hatred. Fucking gross and shameful. And a good portion of the fans are still totally delusional about it.

3) James Franklin era. The guy is a prick.

Even with our heavy Catholic population in Schuylkill county… it was quite the dividing line. My Catholic friends and neighbors, randos who’d comment about ND would also say stuff like, “It’s a French school, why are they called the Fighting Irish?” “Why wouldn’t you root for the school here in state?” And more.

 

[thekid33]

Even with our heavy Catholic population in Schuylkill county… it was quite the dividing line. My Catholic friends and neighbors, randos who’d comment about ND would also say stuff like, “It’s a French school, why are they called the Fighting Irish?” “Why wouldn’t you root for the school here in state?” And more.

It's possible I was just friends with the few Penn State fans that weren't assholes in the Lehigh Valley.

And the biggest fan I knew was our neighbor. One of the nicest guys I ever met. He had season tickets for Penn State but I never heard him say a negative word about ND.

But, it really seems like those types of Penn St. fans are the outliers.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

I agree. They were independent & considered a blue collar team…kinda like ND’s little brother…lol. But before Sandusky scandal & finding out how much Paterno hated ND, I kinda Liked them too

They were very similar to us in the 70-80's. Underdogs, independent, traditional uniforms, graduated players, and APPEARED to do things the right way. I found myself rooting for them if it didn't actively hurt our chances at a title. Now they're basically a SEC school.

 

[thekid33]

They should have been given the death penalty.

I get the NCAA not wanting to apply it for on field sanctions after how much it hurt SMU.

But, when your football program, really the entire athletic department, is knowingly harboring a pedo who used his position with the school to get victims and committed crimes on school property....your entire program needs to go away for a few years.

And, Paterno knew way before the McQueary stuff.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

They should have been given the death penalty.

I get the NCAA not wanting to apply it for on field sanctions after how much it hurt SMU.

But, when your football program, really the entire athletic department, is knowingly harboring a pedo who used his position with the school to get victims and committed crimes on school property....your entire program needs to go away for a few years.

And, Paterno knew way before the McQueary stuff.

Agreed.
If I was a Penn St alum or fan, I would've stopped following and supporting the school.

 

[stlnd01]

They were very similar to us in the 70-80's. Underdogs, independent, traditional uniforms, graduated players, and APPEARED to do things the right way. I found myself rooting for them if it didn't actively hurt our chances at a title. Now they're basically a SEC school.

This was kind of where I was as at with them. Basically until the Sandusky stuff, they were the team I rooted for after Notre Dame. (They are also basically the only relevant program in the entire Northeast).

But the Sandusky episode highlighted how toxic it all is. And Franklin’s a prick. Still like the uniforms tho.

 

[thekid33]

Agreed.
If I was a Penn St alum or fan, I would've stopped following and supporting the school.

Instead they doubled down on support for the school and the JoePa cult of personality. Truly insane shit.

 

[KMac151993]

Reports that there are conversations going on about his future and the buy out.

Just imagine spending $50 million on NIL for a team then being asked to pony up another $50 million to get rid of the coach.

 

[thekid33]

Reports that there are conversations going on about his future and the buy out.

Just imagine spending $50 million on NIL for a team then being asked to pony up another $50 million to get rid of the coach.

I am sure he wants out of a toxic situation but you would have to pry any of the $55.6 million they owe out of my dead hands if I was him.

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

James Franklin this week

 

[greyhammer90]

I don’t really see the big deal. The man is paid $10M to win football games and just lost to Northwestern and UCLA. I’d boo too.

I'm fine with booing, but going down to ground level where you know the team will be leaving the field specifically to yell at Franklin closer just seems like a waste of energy and unnecessarily hateful. I boo'd the ND team from the stands at the Stanford game a few years ago, but I wasn't going to wait for Tommy Rees to leave the stadium and tell him he sucks just to be a dick.

If a person ever finds themselves in a crowd rubbing their hands together saying "Here comes the daughter of the guy we're looking to tar and feather! He must be nearby!" That person should reevaluate.

Franklin knows he's doing a bad job. So does the AD. That's all that matters.

 

[jprue24]

PSU seems like the optimal landing spot for a guy like Cig, I could absolutely see him there.

I'd wanna see Cig start dealing with NIL before I'm paying Franklin $50m to not coach. I also wonder if what he does would continue to work at PSU. He knows "his" type of player but there will be lots of pressure to recruit high star players who do not fit his RKG.

Regardless, I am very impressed with what he's done at JMU and IU. I wish he had broke through earlier and the delay makes me wonder if he is too abrasive and consequently passed over because of it.

 

[IrishLax]

Reports that there are conversations going on about his future and the buy out.

Just imagine spending $50 million on NIL for a team then being asked to pony up another $50 million to get rid of the coach.

It's such a joke, and I also think it's directly linked to why everyone there is so pissed. If they *didn't* spend untold millions to bring back this squad for a "natty run" this season, I think fans would give him a bit of a pass. But imagine you are a booster who just opened up the checkbook and now you're in Week 7 with ZERO wins over Power 4 schools. Last place in the Big Ten. I would be furious.

 

[stlnd01]

Cignetti.
Rhule.
Manny Diaz?

Who else?

They probably can’t afford him now but Elko would be interesting there.
Clark Lea probably wants none of that smoke.
Matt Campbell has probably missed his window?

 

[thekid33]

Cignetti.
Rhule.
Manny Diaz?

Who else?

They probably can’t afford him now but Elko would be interesting there.
Clark Lea probably wants none of that smoke.
Matt Campbell has probably missed his window?

Cignetti is the fan favorite among the fans I talk to.

They are split on Rhule, and I think they would owe Nebraska a decent amount of $ in addition to buying out Franklin.

Elko is a full-fledged cult member, so he isn't leaving A&M, especially with them doing well.

Would Clark Lea leave his alma mater? Would PSU go back to back with Vandy coaches?

Diaz is interesting.

 

[calvegas04]

Penn st board is saying news should drop by Thursday

 

[Katzenboyer]

PSU seems like the optimal landing spot for a guy like Cig, I could absolutely see him there.

If Franklin gets canned, PSU is going after Rhule.

 

[Katzenboyer]

This was kind of where I was as at with them. Basically until the Sandusky stuff, they were the team I rooted for after Notre Dame. (They are also basically the only relevant program in the entire Northeast).

But the Sandusky episode highlighted how toxic it all is. And Franklin’s a prick. Still like the uniforms tho.

The worst part, for me, is that everyone around Sandusky knew that shady stuff was happening, but never touched it because of his relationship with JoePa and the PSU program.

I dated a girl from Lock Haven, the town where a few of Sandusky's victims resided, and people were talking about how there were reports of abuse from Sandusky's "mentees" that were not being investigated. This was 2006, five years before anything done about that POS.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Diaz is interesting.

If you're moving on from Franklin for Manny freakin' Diaz, you've done something very, very wrong.

PSU ain't firing/moving on/"agreeing to separate" from Franklin unless they know someone else who can do as well/better is interested. This is a move that will have repurcussions for the next 5+ years of this program.

Manny Diaz is just a guy.

 

[ColinKSU]

PSU seems like the optimal landing spot for a guy like Cig, I could absolutely see him there.

Curious what Penn State can provide him that he doesn’t already have at Indiana, other than much more pressure and a vocal fan base? He has money, a supportive admin and fans and he has been to the CFP and *just* beat Oregon in Oregon.

 

[pumpdog20]

If Franklin gets canned, PSU is going after Rhule.

I don't get the Rhule love... but he'd fit in well as an unbearable fuck face going to program that should have been nuked.

 

[jprue24]

When PSU fires Franklin and starts eating that buyout, I'll again be annoyed by all the calls claiming there isn't enough money to pay players.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

FIRED

Wow. Notre Dame broke him.