I had just finished my prior article by asking what’s next when the news broke that offensive line coach Herb Hand is bailing out on James Franklin, heading to Auburn in yet another lateral move for an assistant coach.
Hand worked with Auburn’s head coach Gus Malzahn at Tulsa back in 2007-08, where they were co-offensive coordinators.
Now, I’m sure everybody will pile on to express joy that Hand is gone, in the same manner as they did for Donovan, blaming all of the offensive line woes on Hand as they blamed the offensive woes in general on Donovan. But this simplistic scapegoating is the wont of chronic malcontent fans who seek simple explanations and simple fixes where none exist. The offensive line situation was more directly related to a lack of talent on the field than anything Hand did.
Hand is a good recruiter, and I believe he’ll be missed — perhaps not by the aforementioned chronic malcontent fans, but by the program.
Of course, there might have been a change in direction due to the hiring of a new offensive coordinator. God only knows what went on behind the scenes.
Who will be the next rat off the sinking S.S. Franklin?
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Big Al says
Welp. It sure does seem like the rats are lining up to desert a sinking ship. Reeder and Wooten are also transferring and that will further deplete Linebacker U’s already thin and erratic linebacker corps – Wooten sucked but he was at least cannon fodder for the special teams. I guess we will realize just how bad morale really is when Cabinda transfers to North Dakota State because we wants to play for a championship team. Joking aside this isn’t a exactly a ringing endorsement for Brent Pry since he was their position coach.
I wonder what the Vegas odds are on Ricky Rahne remaining on the payroll until Grundsau Daag. Although his Cornell background probably makes him unemployable in the S$$$ EEEE CCCC- maybe he get an FCS job somewhere.
State has a ceiling of 7 wins next year and will need some luck to even reach .500. Personally, I just don’t GAF anymore. And I won’t be surprised if both Chambers and Franklin are gone before New Year’s Day, 2118
The Nittany Turkey says
Next rat: Akeel Lynch. He, too, was gracious, thanking everyone from St. Joe to BoB to Franklin to John Cappelletti for allowing him to wear #22. I don’t blame him. He has a year of eligibility to play with, and he wouldn’t be getting much PT with Barkley as the feature back. As Akeel said, “Football isn’t forever.” He has his degree, so why not do a post-bac somewhere and do a little ballin’?
—TNT
Joe says
You’re seeing an upgrade in talent and people realizing they’re not going to play when 4 and 5 star players are coming in each year.
You’ve got Barkley and Sanders coming on board in February. You also have Andre Robinson coming off his red-shirt who has to be considered in there as well (I saw him play as a senior at McDevitt and he is good). Where was Lynch going to fit-on the bench, so why not go someplace else. I think you’ll potentially see one or two of the other backs take off (Allen, Scott, Thompson) as other than special teams they are not going to supplant Barkley, Sanders or Robinson in the backfield.
Same applies to Lewis-there was no room for him at WR and he’s moving on. In addition to Godwin, Hamilton, Blacknell and Polk, Johnson and Irwin come off their red shirts and are expected to be big contributors in 2016.
Wooten? Remember Mr Cement Feet when he was put in as a replacement for Wartman-White? Not a loss anyway you look at it. Losing Reeder hurts, but he gets to play on the same team as his little brother (who as I understand it had hoped to play at PSU, but was not offered) at a school that’s a few mile from his home at which his Pop played. He also was going to most likely move from a starter to the number 4 or 5 LB with Wartman-White supposedly back at full strength next season.
Worley? Lots of talent at CB and he was hurt more often than not, so why not go somewhere that you have a chance to play.
Will there be more? Maybe, but remember Ohio State, Bama and some of the other big dogs lose more and better talent than this every year. This is what should happen when you consistently bring in top 15 recruiting classes each year. Kids don’t want to sit on the bench, most of these guys have their degrees and can take advantage of the NCAA grad degree provision or move out of the FCS and play next season. From my perspective, at least the staff isn’t blowing smoke up a kid’s ass to get him to stay for a meaningless 5th year or to be special teams canon-fodder. It also frees up scholarships, which in our case are as valuable as hen’s teeth in trying to rebuild this roster. Other than Hackenberg, I’ve been impressed in how these guys decided to move on.
Regarding the coaching changes, I’ve said before on your blog that Franklin is going to do everything in his power to keep his dream job and if it means throwing some “family” overboard, so, be it.
Look, you’ll get no argument from me that Donovan had to go and I actually believe there was pressure from the big dollar contributors at PS to show him the door. At least on paper based on past performance (something you couldn’t say about Donovan) Moorhead looks like a huge upgrade, but we’ll see. (I also don’t think McSorley is the answer at QB.)
I think Hand was gone after he talked to Moorhead. Regardless of the talent he inherited, he could not coach these guys to at least a serviceable level after two years, so perhaps Joe said he had to go. I watched a whole bunch of college football this year where teams were replacing 3 and 4 of their 5 OL starters with new guys and by mid-season were doing just fine. I like the Limegrover hire from Minny. Minny is not noted for bringing in 4-5 star talent and he was able to consistently take unknown kids and have lines that gave up about half the sacks we gave up during the last two seasons. Must be something there.
I’m glad Shoop is gone! The BS at the bowl game about staying at PS for ever and ever and then blowing Dodge two weeks later, just doesn’t cut it with me. I don’t expect the same geriatic loyalty that we had under St. Joe (who was a poor coaches ultimate cover), but if you’re looking then don’t stand up and say you’re not. just look and go if the opportunity meets your needs! I also saw today that in his eyes the Vol DC position did not involve rebuilding their defense, which to a certain extent the PS defense would in 2016. I also think he realized that performance would drop again in 2016 (there were times that we did look like crap) and perhaps that put him in a position where he would now come under fire from the alums. I also believe after seeing Franklin dump Donovan, Shoop realized that “We Are Family” (as sung by Sister Sledge!!) was no longer going to be the mantra for the PS coaching staff.
So I think we got two pretty good replacements and we’ll see how the rest of the staff performs in this new environment, but we still need a Safties or Special Teams coach and I certainly would prefer the latter. I think our fans need to understand the damage that was done by St Joe staying too long and the real long term impact of the sanctions-this is going to take a couple more years to fix! I also think 2016 will be a make or break season for Franklin with 6-6 or worse being a possibility, but I believe he has the full five years of his contract to make this work.
I’m also going crazy reading the shit about bringing Bradley back or hiring Munchak away from the Steelers, however this one intrigued me:
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2016/1/13/10759722/lavar-arrington-apparently-wants-to-coach-at-penn-state
The Nittany Turkey says
Happy New Year to you, Joe!
Yeah, the idiots speculating on Munchak being the next HC are simply that — idiots. I hadn’t heard the one about getting Bradley back; otherwise, I would have lambasted that notion from all angles. asking the musical question, “Why the hell would this be a good move for anyone except some simplistically nostalgic St. Joe loyalist fans living in the past and denying the present?”
I agree that Lynch and Lewis certainly saw that they would be spending their extra year of eligibility bench warming, so with degree in hand, why not transfer to where they could get some playing time? That makes perfect sense, and it is not an indictment of anything other than guys wanting to play football. I don’t regard any of the departures except for Hack’s as a negative statement about Franklin.
Coaching departures, though, cannot be so easily explained away. I do think that Franklin’s ego and meandering self-preservation motives might convey a sense of instability. Shoop is heading for a head coaching job, so why did he take a lateral? Concern with the viability of the program at PSU over the next few years? The realization that Franklin might be a short-lived phenomenon? Perhaps he accomplished all he could accomplish at PSU and wanted to hop off the train while it was still going marginally forward, so he could put his stamp on another program that had more tools to work with before stuffing that one in his resume to enhance his HC chances. If the Tennessee opportunity was too good to resist, there had to be a complex dynamic at play.
Hand’s departure had a simple explanation for those who wanted to accept the notion that he left merely to rejoin old friend Gus Malzahn. However, if things were going well at Penn State, the lateral move wouldn’t have been indicated. He was the best recruiter on the staff, one factor that forestalled the further decline of the Nittany Lions. On the other hand, he’ll forever be associated with one of the crappiest offensive lines anyone ever hoping to be a FBS contender ever put on a football field. Perhaps he wanted to disassociate himself from that stigma, cleansing himself of it before making his next life move.
The offensive line is not likely to improve measurably in 2016, although the consensus opinion out there is that it has no direction to go but up. Up what, I might ask. Moorhead’s offense might be better equipped to deal with a crappy OL, and he’ll need a QB with a quick release. The jury is obviously still out on McSorley, Stevens, and Zembiac.
The honeymoon is obviously over for Franklin. When his AD is talking about “improving” Beaver Stadium by reducing its seating capacity, the reality of being a perennial also-ran seems to be setting in. Meanwhile, Franklin faces tougher recruiting competition from guys like Harbaugh, who won’t stop short of sleeping at recruits’ houses, even while the recruiting effort recovers from the loss of Herb Hand. What does Franklin have to offer recruits? Does he have the guts to tell them that they can make their mark by being part of a long rebuilding process to restore Penn State to national relevance? Or will he act like some of our delusional fans, as if Penn State never departed the national championship contender ranks and is only a gnat’s pube hair away from the CFP in the next year or so?
I expressed this before, but I’ll say again that if Franklin shows up with a six or seven win season in 2016, which is probably the best he can hope for, he may not last out his contract. The discontent is growing among the same people who were insistent about Donovan leaving, and they’re not so stupid as to believe that Donovan’s firing was a panacea for the team. Three years is enough for most of these natives to grow restless — and it doesn’t look good for a turn-around in 2016.
A big question mark for me is how much personnel autonomy Moorhead will have. I’m not sure Herb Hand’s departure was his idea. I’m not sure of anything at this point. If someone with Fordham credentials shows up to coach the OL, then I might start to be convinced that Moorhead is being given free reign, or at least SOME reign over off-field decisions.
I hope the new year brings you health, happiness, prosperity, and a Steelers march to the Super Bowl, even though you’re not a Steelers fan.
—TNT
Joe says
Au contraire mon frère , I have been a Steelers fan forever!!!! The earliest game I remember watching was the Steelers vs. the Lions back in the early 60’s and seeing John Henry Johnson rumble 99 yards for a touchdown. I also remember Dick “Night Train laying out 2 or 3 Steelers in that game. As I recall he was voted the number 2 or 3 most feared tackler of all time. Nope I’ve been riding the Black and Gold bus as long as I can remember. Everyone else in my house is an Eagles fan, but not I.
Joe says
That’s Dick Night Train” Lane!
The Nittany Turkey says
John Henry Johnson was my childhood idol, footballwise. I had a jersey that bore his number 35 and I fancied myself being the pile-driving fullback JHJ was back in the day when fullbacks were fullbacks.
Just got the news that neither Brown nor Williams will play Sunday. No official word on Big Ben’s capabilities, so I’ll assume that they’re keeping it close to the vest and he won’t be the Ben we all know. I’m thinking that absent those major components of offense, the Men of Steel will have a rough time in Denver.
Now Chip Kelly can run his west coast offense on the west coast after your family ran him out of town.
—TNT
Joe says
Apparently Big Ben was able to complete most of his route tree passes today, so at least that’s promising. Pretty much no running game and Ben not 100%, I guess we’ll have to rely on the defense, but like you, I’m not holding my breath for this one.
The Nittany Turkey says
The Steelers’ defense has been bothering me all year. I’m not one who laments the firing of St. Dick, but Butler needs to figure out how to show these secondary guys how to tackle. It drives me up a wall. The offense has carried the defense this year.
The three remaining big-play receivers provide a ray of hope. A small ray, but I was impressed by how Martavous Bryant responded to Big Ben’s challenge. That TD circus catch would have been dropped by 10 out of 9 NFL receivers.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
Oops… missed the bit about Limegrover getting the nod for OL coach. He’s a Jerry Kill disciple, but otherwise, I don’t know much about him. I still have to wonder how much input Moorhouse had into the hiring of Limegrover.
—TNT