As a caveat, I don’t think James Franklin and his staff are bad coaches. In the very least I don’t believe they made it to Penn State by mistake. And in turn good things on the field don’t happen by chance. There is coaching in the backbone of nearly every good play.
But Penn State beat Rutgers on talent more than coaching.
Penn State beat Rutgers because Saquon Barkely is allergic to gravity. Penn State beat Rutgers because John Reid can intercept a ball in wet conditions and return it 44-yards with little effort. Penn State won because the youngest Nittany Lions on the roster are giving fans reasons to watch occasionally unwatchable football.
This may have been less apparent on Saturday night if not for the bizarre occurrences where coaching seemed to most directly impact the product on the field. Christian Hackenberg’s halfhearted fourth-and-1 sneak that didn’t even manage to yield three feet following a dizzyingly predictable third down call. Penn State’s timeout with seconds remaining in the first half only to kneel the ball. Or perhaps the somewhat bizarre and seemingly intentional instance where Penn State trotted out its field goal unit only to take a delay of game penalty and punt. Or even having two players with the same number on the field for Penn State’s first punt return, a penalty.
Individually those issues are forgettable. Mistakes happen and a coaching staff shouldn’t be roasted at the stake for the occasional blunder.
But collectively -even in the hours following victory- there is an odd aftertaste. The feeling that Penn State is making big plays in spite of itself, that talent will eventually overcome its own occasional mismanagement. It’s an amazing, and nearly unthinkable stat to have a functioning offensive line (credit here to Herb Hand) and a 300-yard rushing night relegate Christian Hackenberg to a so-called “game manager” where his opposing quarterback throws more than twice as many passes. The fact Hackenberg completed just one pass in the second half is incredible, effective running game or not.
Hackenberg’s NFL future is already decided, which makes the backend of his collegiate career feel like a missed opportunity. The question becomes not what is next for Hackenberg, but rather if he is attempting only 19 passes in a game with his skill set, what is a freshman quarterback with far less experience and tools going to do in the coming years?
To be sure Penn State, under any coaching staff, would need time to rebuild. The Nittany Lions are not being mismanaged as much as they are seemingly trying the same variations of things and getting only a small range of results. It’s not that John Donovan and Franklin aren’t trying, it’s simply that it’s hard to say what Penn State is trying to be good at.
Because right now the Nittany Lions are good at letting Barkley work magic down the middle of the field.
And maybe that’s where Penn State is right now. It’s what made the wildcat such a “fan favorite” in 2014. Get the ball into the best player’s hands and see where that takes you.
If Penn State continues to bring in the talent then maybe it doesn’t matter. Half the SEC wins on ugly football complimented by 4-5 big plays a game. LSU for example has made a hobby of winning despite its best efforts not to. But as you watch teams across the country play, the Michigan States and Oregons of the world are getting involved in 60 minutes chess matches. Two coaching staffs getting as involved in a game as much as they can without actually playing.
It’s unfair, and illogical to suggest Penn State’s staff can’t coach. It’s unfair to suggest that they aren’t involved in the game as much as any other coaching staff in America. Equally true, a bumpy start doesn’t mean a bad finish.
But for every good play a Penn State player makes, there is another head scratching decision or predictable play call not far down the road. For all of Penn State’s sanction related issues there is also the truth that nearly all of the 128 DI programs in America are facing their own challenges. And for the most part they’re finding success. In the very least they’re scoring points and moving the ball.
To Franklin’s credit he has been open to the fact that he and his staff are growing, nor has he claimed any sort of perfection. And in a similar vein Urban Meyer is a different coach now than he was many years ago. A nod to the learning curve; the structure of how Penn State manages games as a staff has changed already this season to a model that reflects the success they had earlier in their careers. Ultimately they all are learning and they’re trying. And maybe at the end of the day Franklin – for all of his relative success in football – underestimated the nature of the beast he inherited.
Fair or not, that’s simply what it looks like.
And maybe Penn State doesn’t need a coaching staff full of John Urschels. Maybe all it needs is a lot of talent and the hope that the stars line up enough times each week to win.
That being said, you don’t see that formula winning many titles.
