For James Franklin and Penn State, Why Hiring Jim Haslett is a Low-Cost Win-Win

By

Mike Poorman

–

June 25, 2015

Columns, Latest Penn State News, Local & Penn State Sports, Local News, Penn State Football, Penn State Sports, Sports News, State College, StateCollege.com

Hiring Jim Haslett as a consultant for the Penn State football team makes a lot of sense for coach James Franklin – as it does for Haslett himself.

And, likely, doesn’t cost many dollars. At least not for Penn State.

But the real bottom-line is that it is a win-win situation for both sides.

First, the money:

When Haslett left the Washington Redskins on Dec. 31, 2014, after serving as the NFL team’s defensive coordinator for five seasons, he had one year remaining on his contract.

The parting, after a 4-12 season in Jay Gruden’s first year as the Redskins’ head coach, was described as by “mutual agreement” by all parties.

Haslett, hired in 2010 by Gruden’s predecessor, Mike Shanahan, was given a contract extension in 2012. In all likelihood, Haslett’s departure on the last day of 2014 included a generous financial parachute, especially since just two days before leaving, Haslett had been given a vote of confidence by Gruden.

What does that mean for Penn State, still strapped for cash after a few years of NCAA sanctions, even though the Big Ten recently began giving Penn State its share of bowl revenues?

Washington is still picking up the tab, so Haslett likely comes at a very good price. And he’s worth it.

WHY D.C. WAS NOT OK

Although the Redskins’ defense often struggled under Haslett, the 2014 season offered an extreme set of circumstances. Several Washington starters suffered season-ending injuries, forcing the Redskins to go with 13 different defensive starting lineups in 16 games. That was compounded by an unbalanced Dan Snyderian payroll. According to ESPN.com, in 2014 the Redskins spent a total of $59.8 million on 28 offensive players compared to $53.2 million on 36 defensive players.

Gruden understood the situation. Two days before Haslett left the Redskins, the Washington head coach had this to say: “I have a lot of respect for Jim Haslett. Coach Haslett had his hands tied a little bit this year. We had a lot of injuries, a lot of issues to our defense, the personnel, that not many people have had to go through in this NFL season, or the history of the league, playing with as many different guys, as many key positions throughout the season.”

A Pittsburgh native, Haslett was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2000-05 and was the interim head coach for the St. Louis Rams for part of the 2008 season. A College Football Hall of Famer who was named a four-time Little All-American linebacker at Indiana (Pa.), he was the 1979 Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Buffalo Bills, for whom he played from 1979-85.

The agreement between Haslett and Franklin didn’t come totally out of left field. Haslett attended a few of Penn State’s spring drills in March and April. During practice inside Holuba Hall, he walked freely around, chatting with former Nittany Lions like Deion Barnes (in the accompanying photo, with Haslett), as well as several PSU coaches and staffers. He looked like he was having a good time.

The next step was to formalize the arrangement, which was announced on Tuesday. Here’s why it works for both sides:

WHAT’S IN IT FOR HASLETT

Haslett gets to be close to two generations of his family while keeping his hand in the game. His father-on-law lives in State College and his son Chase is a fifth-year senior quarterback at Indiana (Pa.) after transferring from Illinois following three seasons of not playing for the Illini.

Haslett was on hand last fall for Chase’s Indiana Division II debut against Mercyhurst, because the Redskins had played a Thursday night game two days before. Chase had a big game in his first start for his dad’s alma mater, completing 12 of 15 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. The last time Jim had attended one of Chase’s games was back in 2007, when the son was a freshman at Clayton (Mo.) High School and the dad was the D-coordinator for the St. Louis Rams.

The dad will want to see more in 2015, especially given the potential Chase showed last season.

Chase started 10 of 11 games for a 6-5 IUP squad in 2014, as his 34 of 44 for 359-yard performance against California (Pa.; not Sandy Barbour’s old Cal), tied an IUP record for pass completions in a game. Overall, he completed 172 for 285 passes for 2,178 yards, with 16 TD passes and 15 interceptions. He had a passer efficiency rating of 132.5 and completed 60.4% of his passes.

Likely, being permitted to watch his son play – even if it means missing a PSU game — is part of Haslett’s deal with Penn State. As it stands, there are definitely four games on Penn State’s schedule where Haslett will be on hand to help the Nittany Lions. They are: at Temple (no IUP game that day), Rutgers (1 p.m. kick at IUP, 8 p.m. kick in Beaver Stadium), and regular season-enders with Michigan and Michigan State (IUP’s season concludes Nov. 14).

The way the schedule breaks, Haslett can’t attend games by both Indiana (Pa.) and Penn State on the Saturdays when the Nittany Lions play Indiana (Ind.) at Beaver Stadium and are on the road against Ohio State and Northwestern.

Penn State’s home opener on Sept. 12 against the University of Buffalo – where Haslett coached in 1988-90, PSU coach Brent Pry played in 1989-91 and Pry’s dad Jim coached in 1989 – begins at noon. IUP faces Kutztown at home at 4 p.m. that day. Mapquest says it’s 93 minutes from Beaver Stadium to George P. Miller Stadium in Indiana — sans traffic via 422 and I-99 – so Haslett could stick around for a half of the Penn State game and still see Chase play a full game against Kutztown.

That leaves home games against San Diego State, Army and Illinois up in the air, since Penn State has not yet announced the start dates for those contests. Penn State plays at Maryland in Baltimore’s MT&T Bank Stadium on Oct. 24; IUP plays Slippery Rock that day at 1 p.m. Even if the PSU-Maryland game is a night contest, it’s unlikely Haslett can make it to both in person; it’s nearly five hours from Slippery Rock to Baltimore.

Despite missing a few Penn State games, Haslett is sure to be involved, but it’s folly to think that he is – as a few early reports suggested – on hand as a safety net in case defensive coordinator Bob Shoop leaves PSU for a head coaching job. Franklin need look no further than Pry, already listed as co-defensive coordinator, to find his man should Shoop fly the coop.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR PENN STATE

Haslett’s title is consultant, and since we’re talking a college campus, you might want to liken him to a visiting professional. That’s typically someone accomplished from the professional world who comes to campus, teaches a seminar class or two, meets with faculty, offers insight into how things are done in the outside world, offer expertise in a selected area and then enjoy a few brews at a downtown pub.

Enter, Prof. Haslett.

Although he’s been a defensive player and coach his entire college and pro careers, that does not limit Haslett to that side of the ball. As an NFL head coach, he had to think globally, with game situations, small-roster management and self-scouting among his top priorities.

“Jim has an outstanding football mind and invaluable experience that will be a tremendous resource,” Franklin said. “He has great knowledge of the game at the next level and we plan to put that to good use. He will work with our offensive, special teams and defensive coaches and will be a fantastic sounding board for our staff.”

He will be a great resource for Penn State’s current players, too. They may be more apt to approach him for information about the NFL and football in general since he’s not a “regular” coach and therefore is likely to keep such conversations – and advice – confidential.

Haslett is also a recruiting tool. He adds NFL bulk and panache to the Penn State program, a key factor now more than ever given Jim Harbaugh’s arrival at Michigan in the tough-as-nails Big Ten Conference’s East division. Counting Harbaugh, eight of the Michigan coaches have had experience coaching in the NFL and two of them – Penn State alum Michael Zordich and Tyrone Wheatley – also played in The League.

Elsewhere in the East, Rutgers has five coaches who played or coached in the NFL, followed by Michigan State (four), Maryland (three) and Indiana (two). Not a single coach on the Ohio State staff has NFL experience – but, interestingly, five have coached at the high school level, four of them (including Larry Johnson) as high school head coaches.

Prior to Haslett’s arrival, Franklin had three coaches with NFL experience – beginning with the head coach himself. Franklin coached the wide receivers for the Green Bay Packers in 2005 under Mike Sherman, who has also come to Penn State to meet with Franklin’s staff. With Green Bay, Franklin worked with both Brett Favre and Donald Driver. In addition, Franklin has participated in the NFL’s Minority Coaching Fellowship program three times, with stints with the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings. At those camps, he worked with such coaches as Jimmy Johnson, Andy Reid and Darrell Bevell, and quarterbacks like Dan Marino and Donovan McNabb.

Penn State receivers coach Josh Gattis played two years in the secondary for the Chicago Bears, while running back coach Charles Huff was an assistant running backs coach with the Buffalo Bills for one season.

A KICK OUT OF JIM

Huff also coaches Penn State’s special teams. Given that the Nittany Lions ranked No. 106 out of 125 FBS teams for net punting average in 2014, Haslett should be a welcome addition to the staff.

While playing for Indiana, in addition to starring at linebacker Haslett also was IUP’s punter. He ranks second on Indiana’s all-time punting chart, averaging 38.9 yards on 156 kicks. He’s also No. 2 on the single-season punting list, averaging 41.5 yards on 60 punts in 1978.

That’s a net of 3.6 yards per punt better than the Nittany Lions averaged last season, 37 years after Haslett last kicked.

Would Haslett be that good today?

Unlikely. He is, after all, 59 years old.