I know Franklin, Kelly, et al. "earned" their dismissals, but I can't help but think major program ADs are saying, "If Cignetti can transform a shit program into a national contender in 18 months, why can't (Franklin, Kelly, et al.) do the same given multiple years with an established program?"
Right now, every G4 administration wants to build its own version of IU ... ASAP. If that means firing coaches with HOF(ish) records and paying $50M buyouts, so be it.
IU is the envy of college football. F*** me.
Ikr. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is as if I am suffering from being victimized for an extended period of time and don't deserve nice things...
And they are all going to pay up for new coaches. Cigs top three is going to go up soon.
But I think the Cig effect is real, and probably had an impact on some firings. Probably the finances and player payments had schools look at the numbers and feel they needed more for their money. Or their boosters and fans did anyway.
10 coaching jobs open before November is crazy, especially since most of the jobs open are good enough to poach some other schools coaches creating a domino effect
I think everyone is going to try and hire Kiffin, Drinkwitz, and Campbell, but I dont see any of them going anywhere. Why leave programs where they are in full alignment with the administration? Outside of Campbell, its not like they are being poorly compensated or not given enough NIL to compete.
I see 5, maybe 6 G5 coaches getting poached (Sumrall, Morris, Golesh, Silverfield, Chesney, Mullen)
PSU, LSU and Florida fans will all likely be very unhappy with their next coach hire (when its announced). There are just no big names available
10 coaching jobs open before November is crazy, especially since most of the jobs open are good enough to poach some other schools coaches creating a domino effect
I think everyone is going to try and hire Kiffin, Drinkwitz, and Campbell, but I dont see any of them going anywhere. Why leave programs where they are in full alignment with the administration? Outside of Campbell, its not like they are being poorly compensated or not given enough NIL to compete.
I see 5, maybe 6 G5 coaches getting poached (Sumrall, Morris, Golesh, Silverfield, Chesney, Mullen)
PSU, LSU and Florida fans will all likely be very unhappy with their next coach hire (when its announced). There are just no big names available
Drinkwitz will not be in COMO next season. I feel confidently about that.
I'm certain Penn St fired Franklin when they did, hoping they would put a bug in Coach Cig's ear, but that seams to have back fired. Some of them may be wanting their coach to raid the portal and slowly bring in the HS recruits. Now, the ADs could try to push teams that way but it doesn't look like that's what's happening.
Some Penn State boosters probably told the AD 'go get Cignetti, he's a Pennsylvania guy, we'll pay him whatever it takes' . So they fire Franklin and then the agent gets back to them "He says no..." LOLI'm certain Penn St fired Franklin when they did, hoping they would put a bug in Coach Cig's ear, but that seams to have back fired. ...
The great thing for IU is it opens up a lot of good players for Cig to chose from, thus strengthening our depth.
GoHoosiers
I know Franklin, Kelly, et al. "earned" their dismissals, but I can't help but think major program ADs are saying, "If Cignetti can transform a shit program into a national contender in 18 months, why can't (Franklin, Kelly, et al.) do the same given multiple years with an established program?"
Right now, every G4 administration wants to build its own version of IU ... ASAP. If that means firing coaches with HOF(ish) records and paying $50M buyouts, so be it.
IU is the envy of college football. F*** me.
Franklin had PSU in the semi's last year and lost on field goal with 7 seconds left to ND. Yes, he has a history of losing those big games but I'm not sure many would be able to do much better there honestly outside of a few top guys.
From a winning perspective, certainly a fair point. But the JF firing is about more than Ws and Ls. Based on multiple (credible) reports, his A-hole quotient is an 11 out of 10.
Moreover, this preseason quote didn't help: "This is the best combined personnel that I think we've had at Penn State ... from a depth, from a talent standpoint, and from an experience standpoint." If 'Big Game James' is losing to UCLA and Northwestern with his most talented Penn State team, how will he win a B1G or National title? I think this season's meltdown completely erased last season's (almost) title run.
The Oregon loss--at home--broke the program. Tough to recover from that, regardless of recent success.
@surjay - I agree. PSU puts a lot into their program but not MORE than LSU, ND, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee....etc. There are going to be have's and have nots even amongst the blue bloods because only the top 10 teams (plus a couple conf champs outside the top ten) make the CFP each year. Penn State was in that group of "have's" with Franklin but when the national narrative is always that you're right on the doorstep and never get over the hump, the fans mentality begins to think they're falling short.
Penn State had some rough years and really weren't the same program as they are now. They were 3-9 in 2003. 4-7 in 2004. 7-5 in 2010. 7-5 in 2013. 6-6 (beat IU 13-7) in 2014. 7-5 in 2015. James Franklin had Penn State competing at a high level most years and other than PSU fans upset because they weren't winning a title, I worry they could have higher expectations than they should.
@yothn Penn State should have title aspirations, so I don't think the expectations are that unreasonable. If you want unreasonable expectations, look no further than Lincoln, Nebraska. That fan base is stuck in the 80s.
@gthomas - Title aspirations, I agree. But title expectations are wild. They were in the final four in 2025, mere minutes from a trip to the title game and 10 months later he's not good enough? Overcoming Ohio States dominance on the B1G is a tough milestone, ask Michigan. Its now a tough milestone for the entire nation, with parity. James Franklin gave Penn State a real shot each year. They had better get a really good coach here in this cycle or I think they fall off.
@yothn Good call ... title aspirations seems more appropriate.
@zekeus I just said on Saturday that I’m not fully enjoying g this because it still doesn’t seem real. After years and years of football misery, the fact that we finally struck gold with a generational hire is still unbelievable.