StateCollege.com is reporting that James Franklin’s tenure at Penn State is over. Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith will assume interim head coaching duties.
This begs the question: What happens to Knowles and Kotelnicki?
I suppose we’ll be finding out.
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K. John says
Depends on who they hire as the new head coach. If I were Pat Kraft, I would be going after David Braun (Northwestern), Bronco Mendenhall (Utah State, formerly of UVA and BYU, but won’t happen because of religious reasons), Jeff Fisch (Washington), David Shaw (formerly Stanford who is the same age as Franklin but far more accomplished), and Eliah Drinkwitz (Mizzou). Of that list, Shaw is probably number 1. How he elevated the team after Harbaugh left was simply remarkable.
The Nittany Turkey says
I figure you left out Matt Rhule’s name so you could get a fanboy reaction out of whoever sees your list, and because the talking heads have kept him in the spotlight. If you listen to half of them, Rhule is the obvious pick.
But they’re idiots. It was like the clowns who wanted Mike Munchak back when the last head coach search occurred. Anyone with Penn State ties must be better than anyone else. Furthermore, Rhule coached at Temple when Pat Kraft worked there. Damn, that attitude gets under my skin! It’s always familiarity first, with little emphasis on candidate qualifications for the job.
While Rhule is conspicuous by his absence, you’ve proposed some interesting names. Thing is, I’m not qualified to pick PSU’s next head coach, so I’m not going to waste my time going through the meaningless exercise of vetting these people, including Rhule. When the selection is made, I’ll learn about the lucky sumbitch and express my opinion.
One thing I’m willing to be on right now is that there won’t be any Franklinesque 10-year bullshit contract for his replacement. I’d be surprised if they commit to more than a couple of years with some juicy performance-based options for extensions.
I babble on…
—TNT
Tom says
Far too late to salvage this season – or even PSU football for the rest of this decade. Recruiting will be abysmal and there will be a line out the door for players who aren’t already graduating.
The Nittany Turkey says
Yes, the season is shot, and yes, they could be 3-6 going into the Moo U. game. It’ll be up to Terry Smith to get the guys even halfway motivated to play the remaining games. Unlike the fans, the players loved Franklin, so Smith will need to get them over their separation anxiety. But if he can do that and convince them that the pressure is off, so they can play football and have fun on game day, maybe they can win a few and salvage some pride in product.
Regardless of who is calling the shots, they’ll be losing a shitload of talent to the NFL or graduation after this season. I do think recruiting will take a hit in any case. How long it will take to recover from the debacle of this year’s underperformance remains to be seen.
—TNT
Big Al says
We’re probably stuck with both not so special K’s for the rest of this miserable season. Could Smith make them run the stadium steps if Kot fails to attack more vertically or Kno doesn’t implement some blitz packages
Drinkwitz sounds like a good replacement. His offense works pretty well and he could probably bring some quality transfers with him. (Doesn’t Beau still have another year of eligibility left?)
The Nittany Turkey says
Tomorrow’s press conference where Pat Kraft presents Smith as interim HC should be interesting. What will be more interesting will be Saturday night in Kinnick Stadium.
I have no idea how much impact Smith will have, I know little about him, other than he was position coach for cornerbacks and was a PSU receiver in the 80s. He’s got an uphill motivational fight with the team, who seemed to lose their compass after the Oregon loss, then fell apart even more after the UCLA loss. Then, Northwestern and the blow of losing Franklin, their buddy, had to deflate them to an emotional nadir. So, how good a motivator is Terry Smith? We’re going to find out soon.
Frankly, I don’t expect much more than flying a holding pattern through the end of the season (and, perhaps mercifully, I expect no bowl invitations). So, anything that resembles a sign of life would be encouraging.
But the Not So Special Ks might have more latitude for creativity with the Sphincter Mode pressure off. Absent the constipation, perhaps we’ll see an unbridled offense and a stifling defense. Even if they lose another 3 or 4 games, I’d appreciate watching them play hard.
Having watched Pribula imitating Allar in the Mizzou-Alabama game, namely throwing an INT driving in Alabama territory with 3 minutes left while trailing 27-24, I am not sure I want him back, Drinkwitz or no. I remarked to friend Toejam, “That’s Allar’s understudy—great learner!”
—TNT