But Is It Enough?
Penn State announced that John Donovan was relieved of his duties as Offensive Coordinator and Tight Ends coach for the Nittany Lions, effective immediately. Head Coach James Franklin, who brought Donovan with him from Vanderbilt, thanked him for his service, stating, “I have tremendous respect for John and the work he has put in over the last five years. I wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
Yay!
OK, that was a little sarcastic, because the problems on this team, which was summarily taken apart by Michigan State 55-16 in the season finale, transcend just a single coach. If they’re just canning Donovan to take the pressure off the football administration for a while, I ain’t buying it. I know there are those out there who think Donovan was the beginning and end of all the problems with Penn State over the past couple of years, but hell, he had a dearth of talent in the offensive line, which is the beginning — and the end — of the offense. Sure, you can criticize his play calling, but when you have no offensive line, you can’t get too fancy, can you?
This is not meant as a defense for Donovan — just a statement that Penn State’s troubles are not magically erased just by getting rid of one pariah of an assistant coach who has been continually vilified by the fans and the media. When problems run deep, people are inclined to grasp at straws, looking for scapegoats and simple-ass solutions. Don’t let it end there.
This move included, there are no simple solutions that will transform Penn State into a viable contender in the Big Ten anytime soon. Who among us thinks that Penn State will be a ten or eleven win team next year? Realistically, begin with nine and then start subtracting.
Recruiting takes time, and the damage done by the sanctions transcends the scope of the scholarship reduction — the accumulated losses, the coaching follies, the inability to beat ranked opponents, the inability to win in November, and the general perception that Penn State is not a contender will drive premium recruits to Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. These kids want visibility, major bowls, and NFL viability. Why compromise all that? Sure, Penn State gets some decent talent, kids who care about environment and academics, but realistically, are the Nittany Lions going to out-recruit the Wolverines, Spartans, and Buckeyes just on the basis of Franklin’s salesmanship? Really?
It’s an old joke, but if you paint a goal line in front of John Donovan’s office, he’ll never be able to work again.
— JoePa’s Doghouse (@RowlffDogg) November 28, 2015
So, yes, I approve of the Donovan sacking, but in the words of James Franklin, “We have a lot of work to do.”
Now that Donovan is gone, the big question in this turkey’s mind is whether there is anyone at Penn State who knows even where to start.
I’ll be back later with some more sarcasm about yesterday’s fitting end-of-season effort (or lack of same) against the Spartans.
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Joe says
Well we all got what we clamored for! Is it the answer, who knows; it will simply depend on the replacement hired. Is it enough as you ask, I guess time will tell.
I was surprised with the speed at which Donovan was relieved of his duties, which suggests that either JCF & Donovan had one hell of a post game discussion that did not go in Donovan’s favor or there was some heavy pressure brought by the administration (read donors) that something had to be done and done quickly.
I think I mentioned before that JCF is not stupid and is not going to put himself in jeopardy of losing this plum job by being blindly loyal to his staff when results are not forthcoming. I also think he has to be cognizant of what the last three games could potentially do to his recruiting class. Hot shot 4 star offensive recruits had to be looking at this offense and starting to wonder if this is the right place to go looking at the results of his system.
As we all know, the effects of the sanctions are not over (ask USC how long that takes even with having a lush for a HC). There still is insufficient quality depth on this team that is apparent when the injury bug bites (I don’t remember a PS team being this affected by injuries in the past several years), too much youth and inexperience and perhaps some “talent” that is not living up to their “stars”, which is an all too real dilemma in the world of recruiting.
I also don’t know how culpable Hand is in the offensive line mess, but I will give him some benefit of the doubt considering the abysmal talent that he inherited. Also the OC usually sets up the blocking schemes, so perhaps there is some of Donovan’s hand in that mess. I also did not know Donovan was responsible for coaching the TE’s so perhaps their less than stellar performance this and last season is also his responsibility. I do know the play calling was a joke throughout the season and his pass routes looked like at times somebody just said “go get open”!
Finally, I thought JCF said he had a list of staff replacements always at the ready when Shoop was thinking about bolting last year? If that list exists, then why the hell are we embarking on a nationwide manhunt for an OC?? We will probably be looking for a DC when Shoop heads to Tulane.
This is not Vandy JCF!
startup says
Can you say Self Preservation. But I’m please that he didn’t do as JoePa would do and let his loyalty get in the way of doing what needed to be done.
The Nittany Turkey says
See post below from Joe. Perhaps he DID let loyalty get in the way. Perhaps he’ll wind up in the press booth as a non-coach coach who doesn’t coach but analyzes in a way that appears as if he is still coaching. Or not.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
A big Franklin mouth might have gotten some decent recruits up to now, as he inflated his Vandy record like a giant balloon before their eyes. But now, he must stand on his own record over two seasons, and that ain’t going to suck many four- and five-stars away from the top tier in the Big 10. If these recruits watched games during the final three weeks of the season, they got an inkling of where they could go and win. The big mouth has to put up or shut up. And Franklin ain’t putting up.
We’re embarking on a nationwide search for an OC — OK, I’ll answer your rhetorical question — because that’s Franklin bullshit for “I canned JD to save my own ass and I didn’t really have a plan in place when I thought of it.” Or did HE really think of it?
—TNT
Joe says
Hummh! As reported by Mike Poorman at StateCollege.com:
Was John Donovan fired?
The Penn State official press release read “that offensive coordinator and tight ends coach John Donovan has been relieved of his duties, effective immediately.” Donovan’s contract reportedly runs through June 2016 and given the wording of the release – and his longtime ties to Franklin – it is quite possible that Donovan while he’s no longer a coach, he’s not technically fired. (We’ve heard that one before.)
The Nittany Turkey says
I wouldn’t put that past Franklin — a token move to save his own ass. Time will tell, but I did wonder whether Franklin would provide a special golden parachute for his old buddy.
—TNT
Big Al says
Well, if Donovan’s under contract through June 2016, State probably does have to pay him until then. Violating the morality clause is probably the only way he wouldn’t get paid. Plus he’ll need at least 6 months to find another job given State’s offensive performance the last two years.
Firing Donovan was the right decision, but things aren’t going to improve unless Franklin can hire somebody better. I’m not sure a pro style offense will work given our shitty offensive line and incompetent tight ends. The current offensive talent is probably best suited for the triple option but that screws up the defense since they won’t get any meaningful practice against the types of offense that they play against. The new coordinator can certainly do a better job of calling plays and making game time adjustments. but the OL isn’t going to be fixed anytime soon.
It’s too bad Indiana won last weekend. If they hadn’t, maybe their coach would have been fired and State could have hired him as the OC. He knows jack shit about coaching defense, but their offense was probably the best in the B1G
The Nittany Turkey says
UCF just hired the Oregon OC as their HC to replace O’Leary. Too bad.
—TNT
Tom says
I think it’s time Franklin got his walking papers and we got a real coach, not a glorified recruiter. I’ll never forgive the Penn State brass for not calling the NCAA’s bluff and daring them to give us the death penalty, then take them to court if they did. No football at all would be better than what we see week after week with Penn State as the Big Ten’s doormat.
The Nittany Turkey says
You’ll get no disagreement from me.
—TNT