James Franklin is, obviously, feeling the heat.
Which is kinda ironic, since the Nittany Lions are on the verge of earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time. And, as veteran Nittany Lions Kobe King and Dvon J-Thomas pointed out after their — and Franklin’s — 20-13 PSU SOP loss to Ohio State on Saturday in Beaver Stadium, goals as big as the national championship are still achievable.
About that heat: Rape charges against two former players, for alleged actions while they were on the roster. Literally stepping aside when faced with legit questions about those ex-players at a media scrum. Twice. (With an apology a few days later). The tone-deaf complaint that State College needs a longer airport runway ($50 million minimum) so his team of well-paid players do not have to take an extra 90-minute bus ride maybe twice a year. Getting into it with a Penn State student. Again.
Then there’s this from his boss, Pat Kraft, who this week told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports:
“I get it. We all sign up for it. We all come to Penn State to win national championships. I know [Franklin] doesn’t run away from it. I sure don’t. It’s why I came here and why we’re investing. You don’t come to Penn State to be mediocre. Michigan won the national championship last year. Ohio State has been in that mix. I think it’s our time.”
Our time. Like now — the 2024 season and the CFP. Just not Saturday vs. Ohio State. Or, almost any time vs. Ohio State.
I GET IT
In the words of Kraft and Franklin, I get it.
Franklin bemoans the high, high expectations from a fanbase that is bucking pissed about always losing to the Buckeyes. A fan base that has not experienced a national title in 38 years, that seemingly does not appreciate all the good he has done. For which he is well-compensated, at $24,761.64 a day, and over $72 million since he was hired by an institution of higher education in 2014.
On Saturday, he did not earn his money.
Let’s cut to the chase: The Penn State offense did not look very coordinated vs. Ohio State. Zero touchdowns. Two field goals. A pair of trips inside the Buckeyes’ 5-yard line that yielded zero points. Franklin: “We cannot have the ball inside the 5-yard line twice and come out with no points.”
Most of all — or, least of all — there was this final set of Penn State offensive plays on its final possession of the day, all from inside the 3-yard line. The four plays gained 1, 0, 0 and 1 yards. Here’s the final sequence as it appeared on the official stat sheets:
Franklin’s admirably honest assessment: “The pick-six [by Penn State defensive back Zion Tracy] was a huge play in the game. But we only scored six points on offense and scored seven points on defense against a really, really good team. Are they good on defense? Yes. But do we have to find ways to manufacture points and yards? There’s no doubt about it. We didn’t get it done.”
“We didn’t get it done.” Again.
So, Penn State lost to Ohio State. Again. Yes, the Nittany Lions are 14-26 against Ohio State all-time — but 13-16 when Franklin is not on the sidelines. And yes, the program was in shambles in many ways when he took over. (Though PSU was a respectable 3-4 vs. Ohio State from 2005-2011.) But that was then, this is now.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATING
And, the annual losses to Ohio State are mounting. No matter who the offensive coordinator is.
Well, not totally true. The transformational and truly ingenuous and refreshingly genuine Joe Moorhead was 1-1 vs. the Buckeyes as the OC, with the loss a one-point defeat in 2017 where Penn State led by 11 points with a quarter to go in Columbus. And OC Ricky Rahne came damn close himself in 2018, until a late-game fourth-and-5 call for which he — not Franklin — took responsibility. Good on Rahne for that.
Not counting interims, Franklin has had six offensive coordinators in 11 seasons, not counting Tyler Bowen’s one-game stint as interim OC for the 2019 Cotton Bowl, which Penn State won 53-39. Franklin fired three, and two went on to be head coaches. That’s a .400 batting average. Elite when you’re Ted Williams. Maybe good, but not great when you are hiring top-level executives.
Research by Harvard Business Review has found that 40% of newly hired executives fail within the first 18 months in their new roles. But that leaves a 60% success rate. If Andy Kotelnicki is deemed a success after the 2025 season, Franklin will be at 50% when it comes to hiring OCs.
Here are the Fired Guys, and The New Guy, with their results vs. Ohio State:
John Donovan, two games, 34 points, 17.0 ppg., two losses vs. Ohio State. Mitigating factors: Sanctions, scandal. Fired.
Kirk Ciarrocca, one game, 25 points, 25 ppg., one loss vs. Ohio State. Mitigating factor: COVID-19. Fired.
Mike Yurcich, three games, 67 points, 22.33 ppg., three losses vs. Ohio State. Mitigating factors: 0-3 and subsequent 2023 loss and just 15 points to Michigan, grumpy personality, lack of innovation. Fired.
Andy Kotelnicki, one game, 13 points, 13 ppg., one loss vs. Ohio State.
For Donovan and Ciarrocca, Franklin wanted a hall pass for himself for what were true, challenging and extraordinary circumstances. But that hall pass did not extend to his offensive coordinator at the time. Twice.
The third? Fired, in the first year of a new three-year deal. (Which means Kraft is forking over about $4 million this year for Franklin’s OC position, counting paying the old OC, and paying the buyout and the salary of the new OC. Ciarrocca, BTW, was due $900k in salary after one season as OC. There’s been a lot of dead cap money at PSU OC lately.)
The fourth? Time will tell. I think Kotelnicki will do just fine, and follow in the head coaching steps of JoeMo and Rahne.
The common denominator? Franklin himself — as in CJF the CEO.
And Franklin is the ultimate CEO when it comes to PSU Football, Inc. (annual revenues: $110 million and skyrocketing). When it comes to Penn State vs. Ohio State, Franklin is 1-10 vs. the Buckeyes. The only win came after a well-designed (by PSU special teams analyst Sam Williams) and perfectly executed blocked field goal (by Marcus Allen, now an international model) resulted in a transformational scoop-and-score by Grant Haley (man, he can run).
BIG GAME RESULTS
Franklin, for all the good he has done —returning Penn State to national prominence, upgrading the program in every way — has earned the derisive moniker Big Game James. According to the well-regarded Scott Dochterman of The Athletic: Against top-5 opponents in his 11 years, Penn State is 1-13; against the top-10, Franklin is 3-18; and against top-25 teams, Penn State is 13-27 under Franklin.
Against the Buckeyes the past two years — in The Horseshoe with Yurcich, in Beaver Stadium with Kotelnicki; both times with Drew Allar as QB — Penn State’s offense has scored just one touchdown (2023) and is 6-of-32 (19%) on third/fourth downs — 4-of-13 this year, 2-of-19 last year. Meantime, Ohio State has scored four TDs and was 13-of-30 (43%) on third/fourth downs.
Fair or unfair, we are, in life, judged by our finest moments (the 2016 season, three NY6 wins, Saquon Barkley) and our worst (Ohio State, Ohio State, Ohio State).
Franklin is a former offensive coordinator himself. TBH, not a great or elite one. Good, though. Here is where his offenses ranked nationally in major college football when he was the QB coach/OC for five seasons, at two stops, early in his coaching career. (Josh Freeman was the K-State QB in 2006-07 and Danny O’Brien was the Terps QB in 2010).
| Team | Year | Record | Passing Off. | Total Off. | Scoring Off. |
| Kansas State | 2006 | 7-6 | 57 | 85 | 69 |
| Kansas State | 2007 | 5-7 | 21 | 40 | 18 |
| Maryland | 2008 | 9-4 | 64 | 68 | 92 |
| Maryland | 2009 | 2-10 | 68 | 102 | 98 |
| Maryland | 2010 | 9-4 | 65 | 80 | 29 |
I’m not suggesting Franklin should call the offensive plays. Given their track records, Kotelnicki is the much better choice. Plus, being OC is Kotenicki’s job, and for good reason. Franklin’s plate is full. Penn State Football, Inc. is a massive undertaking. It serves, in many ways, as the front porch marketing engine for the empire — with $10 billion in annual revenues — that is Penn State University. That’s why Franklin makes eight times what the CEO of PSU makes. And four times what the CEO of PSU ICA makes.
And, for the most part, Franklin earns it.
CAN’T PASS THE BUCK(EYES)
But, when the team fails as it did on Saturday — with gains of 1 yard, zero yards, 1 yard and zero yards on fourth-and-goal inside the 5 and the game with a potential berth in the Big Ten title game and an undefeated season on the line? Well, then, that’s on Franklin.
Even if all four calls were made by Kotelnicki, Franklin was on the headset, gets top billing, has the best parking space and truly earns The Big Bucks — though not, apparently, against the Buckeyes. So, if only tacitly, James agreed with Coach K’s call. (And, maybe, with the decision to not put the ball directly into Tyler’s hands was Warren-ted.)
So, ultimately, the loss is on Franklin. As the head coach himself said after the 402nd game in Beaver Stadium that was played in front of its largest crowd ever (111,030), “…I own it.”
He’s right. Passing the Buck(eyes) stops here.
But, I also get it: Franklin is on solid ground. He’d be very tough to replace at the same level. He’s a relentless grinder. His buyout on Jan. 1 is $48 million. Plus, he’s 28-6 (.832) over the last three seasons, with half of those to Ohio State and two others against Michigan. That’s great, practically (but not) elite, stuff.
Just not against Ohio State.
