For Penn State & Big Ten Football Powers, Stability is the Key to Success

Stability + consistency = sustained success.

That’s what Penn State head coach James Franklin is counting on.

While Franklin did lose a trio of key assistants, Saquon Barkley and countless defensive starters in the offseason, the infrastructure of his program — and the support system throughout the university — is still intact.

Which is saying something, considering all the changes that have occurred at Penn State this decade.

In fact, only one Big Ten Conference president-athletic director-head football coach troika has been together longer than Penn State president Eric Barron, A.D. Sandy Barbour and Franklin. (All three were hired in 2014.)

That would be at Northwestern, where its triumvirate of Morton Schapiro, Jim Phillips and Pat Fitzgerald has been together for a decade. The Ohio State trio of Michael Drake, Gene Smith and Urban Meyer has also been together for five years.

This synergy is key, for financial and moral support from the top down, for open communication lines and shared values. And, ultimately, for success. Northwestern’s stunning new $260 million lakeside indoor practice facility (see it here) doesn’t happen if the three university principals aren’t all on the same page — and haven’t been so for quite awhile, both publicly and privately.

Among AD-head coach combos, Barbour and Franklin rank No. 4 in longevity, as they head into their fifth football season together. Among the 14 Big Ten members, only the duos at Iowa (13 years), Northwestern (11) and Ohio State (7) have worked together at their respective schools longer than the PSU pair.

INSIDE LASCH BUILDING

While Franklin lost three key assistants — including his offensive coordinator and his special teams coordinator — three important groups that point to the program’s sustainability remain:

The Nittany Lions’ current defensive coordinator (Brent Pry) and offensive coordinator (Ricky Rahne) have been with Franklin throughout his entire stops at Vandy and Penn State. Rahne was Franklin’s GA for two years at Kansas State more than a decade ago, and CJF has known PRY for almost 25 years. Add in Sean Spencer, who is now the associate head coach and also has been with Franklin for eight years, and you have a leadership core that has 26 years of working for Franklin.

Franklin’s four-man, executive level administrative staff — Jemal Griffin, Kevin Threlkel, Michael Hazel and Andy Franks — has been with him for a combined total of 39 seasons. Griffin, who worked with Franklin at Maryland, Vanderbilt and Penn State, is the leader. He oversees the day-to-day management and operation of the football program, its administrative staff and the football budget. He’s also the program’s primary liaison with Penn State’s intercollegiate athletics department (headed by Barbour) and university administration, which not only includes Barron but also top-level Old Main executives and trustees.

Just last week, Griffin was named an assistant athletic director. When Franklin speaks out about keeping people and maintaining momentum and continuity, that’s also what he is talking about. Also promoted to an assistant athletic director position was Kris Petersen, who since 2015 the primary communications contact for the football program, overseeing all communications and media relations initiatives for the team. (More on both promotions here.)

Then there’s Dwight Galt, Penn State’s assistant athletic director of performance enhancement. Talk about continuity: Galt was with Franklin for eight years at Maryland, three at Vanderbilt and all five at Penn State. His contributions were evident at the 2018 NFL Combine. His staff, which includes his son, has remained largely intact as well.

ASSISTANTS AND THE BIG TEN

These very loyal and longtime behind-the-scenes members of Franklin’s program help offset the loss of key on-the-field coaches. And even that is somewhat of a mixed bag.

After researching the status of all 10 fulltime assistant coaches’ positions in all 14 Big Ten football programs, I found their longevity falls into three bands:

There are those West division traditional Big Ten programs, which keep many of their coaches around for a long time. Pat Fitzgerald’s assistant coaching staff at Northwestern has the most experience with the Wildcats (91 years), while Kirk Ferentz at Iowa and Mark Dantonio at Michigan State both have staffs with 80 years at their respective schools. It’s no surprise that those three head coaches are also the most-tenured.

Then there’s the group in the middle:

Wisconsin, guided by the heavy hand of longtime athletic director and Wisky football godfather Barry Alvarez, ranks next with 49 years with the Badgers, followed by Michigan (33), Penn State (32) and Ohio State (32). This middle group is the Big Ten’s true elite. The numbers point to a fair amount of turnover, which can mean that talented (and successful) staff are leaving for higher-titled jobs, as well departing for less-intense and/or friendlier waters — i.e., away from ubiquitous Barry, crazy Jim, angry Urban and OCD James. It also means that the best programs are bringing in an influx of new ideas.

Finally, there’s the third group. The least successful programs have the most turnover, not only with the assistants but (ipso facto) even moreso with the head coaches. There is an interesting phenomenon developing, though — and you could say Franklin instigated it.

More and more, stability and consistency are actually portable. Plug and play, even.

When Franklin came to Penn State from his previous institution (Vanderbilt) in 2014, he brought along eight assistant coaches who had worked for him at one time or another at Vanderbilt, in addition to those aforementioned four key non-coaching staffers and Galt.

It’s now a trend in the Big Ten. When Jeff Brohm went from Western Kentucky, where he was 30-10 in three seasons, to Purdue prior to the 2017 season, he brought a host of assistants — including his brother, Brian, who has served as the co-offensive coordinator for his bro at their last two stops.

When P.J. Fleck left Western Michigan after a 13-1 season to go to Minnesota in 2017, he brought most of his staff. And when former Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost returned to coach his alma mater this past offseason, he brought his entire staff from Central Florida, where UCF was 13-0 last season. That included both his defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator, as well as Cornhusker alltime great Barrett Rudd, who is Nebraska’s alltime leading tackler.

The Frost move certainly reinforced the stability within Frost’s staff at Nebraska, but because of his Cornhusker roots and a few others, it also did a lot for the renewed continuity of the Nebraska brand.

(This stratgegy is the antithesis of what Rip Engle did when he came to Penn State from Brown in 1950. Engle could only bring one new assistant; every other assistant remained from the previous staff. That one new coach? Brown’s former quarterback, Joe Paterno.)

BY THE NUMBERS

Here’s an overview of the Big Ten Conference, highlighting some key categories that point to a football program’s stability (information was gleaned from the schools’ official websites):

 

ILLINOIS

Football record since 2013: 20-43 overall, 8-34 Big Ten; 1 bowl (0-1)

President: Timothy Killen, hired in 2015 (4 years)

Athletic Director: Josh Wittman, 2016 (3)

Head Coach: Lovie Smith, 2016 (3)

Head coaches since 2010: 6

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 21 seasons at Illinois

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 3 seasons at Illinois

 

INDIANA

Football record since 2013: 26-36 overall, 12-30 Big Ten; 2 bowls (0-2)

President: Michael McRobbie, hired in 2007 (12 years)

Athletic Director: Fred Glass, 2009 (10)

Head Coach: Tom Allen, 2016 (3)

Head coaches since 2010: 3

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 30 seasons at Indiana

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 1 season at Indiana

 

IOWA

Football record since 2013: 43-23 overall, 27-15 Big Ten; 5 bowls (1-4)

President: Bruce Harreld, hired in 2015 (4 years)

Athletic Director: Gary Burta, 2006 (13)

Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz, 1999 (20)

Head coaches since 2010:1

Fulltime Assistant Coaches:80 seasons at Iowa

Strength & Conditioning Coach:19 seasons at Iowa

 

MARYLAND

Football record since 2013: 27-36 overall, 10-24 Big Ten; 3 bowls (03-)

President: Wallace Loh, hired in 2010 (9 years)

Athletic Director: Damon Evans, 2018 (1)

Head Coach: D.J. Durkin, 2016 (3)

Head coaches since 2010: 3

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 19 seasons at Maryland

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 3 seasons at Maryland

 

MICHIGAN

Football record since 2013: 40-24 overall, 24-18 Big Ten; 4 bowls (1-3)

President: Mark Schlissel, hired in 2014 (5 years)

Athletic Director: Warde Manuel, 2016 (3)

Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh, 2015 (4)

Head coaches since 2010: 3

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 33 seasons at Michigan

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 1 season at Michigan

 

MICHIGAN STATE

Football record since 2013: 49-17 overall, 30-12 Big Ten; 4 bowls (3-1)

President: John Engler, hired in 2018 (1 year)

Athletic Director: Bill Beekman, 2018 (1)

Head Coach: Mark Dantonio, 2007 (12)

Head coaches since 2010: 1

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 80 seasons at Michigan State

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 23 seasons at Michigan State

 

MINNESOTA

Football record since 2013: 36-29 overall, 18-24 Big Ten; 4 bowls (2-2)

President: Eric Kaler, hired in 2011 (8 years)

Athletic Director: Mark Coyle, 2016 (3)

Head Coach: P.J. Fleck, 2017 (2)

Head coaches since 2010: 5

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 17 seasons at Minnesota

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 2 seasons at Minnesota

 

NEBRASKA

Football record since 2013: 37-27 overall, 25-17 Big Ten; 3 bowls (1-2) 

President: Hank Bounds, hired in 2015 (3 years)

Athletic Director: Bill Moos, 2017 (2)

Head Coach: Scott Frost, 2018 (1)

Head coaches since 2010: 3

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 11

Strength & Conditioning Coach:11

 

NORTHWESTERN

Football record since 2013: 37-26 overall, 22-20 Big Ten; 3 bowls (2-1)

President: Morton Schapiro, hired in 2009 (10 years)

Athletic Director: Jim Phillips, 2008 (11)

Head Coach: Pat Fitzgerald, 2006 (13)

Head coaches since 2010: 1

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 91 seasons at Northwestern

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 10 seasons at Northwestern

 

OHIO STATE

Football record since 2013: 61-8 overall, 39-3 Big Ten, 6 bowls (4-2)

President: Michael Drake, hired in 2014 (5 years)

Athletic Director: Gene Smith, 2005 (14)

Head Coach: Urban Meyer, 2012 (7)

Head coaches since 2010:3

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 32 seasons at Ohio State

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 7 seasons at Ohio State

 

PENN STATE

Football record past 5 years: 43-22 overall, 25-17 Big Ten, 4 bowls (2-2) 

President: Eric Barron, hired in 2014 (5 years)

Athletic Director: Sandy Barbour (5)

Head Coach: James Franklin (5)

Head coaches since 2010: 5

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 32 seasons at Penn State

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 5 seasons at Penn State

 

PURDUE

Football record past 5 years: 16-45 overall, 7-35 Big Ten; 1 bowl (0-1)

President: Mitch Daniels, hired in 2013 (6 years)

Athletic Director: Mike Bobinski, 2016 (3)

Head Coach: Jeff Brohm, 2017 (2)

Head coaches since 2010: 5

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 19 seasons at Purdue

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 2 seasons at Purdue

 

RUTGERS

Football record past 5 years: 24-38 overall, 7-27 Big Ten; 2 bowls (1-1)

President: Robert Barchi, hired in 2012 (7 years)

Athletic Director: Patrick Hobbs, 2015 (4)

Head Coach: Chris Ash, 2016 (3)

Head coaches since 2010: 3

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 22 seasons at Rutgers

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 3 seasons at Rutgers

 

WISCONSIN

Football record past 5 years: 54-14 overall, 35-7 Big Ten, 5 bowls (4-1)

President: Ray Cross, hired in 2014 (5 years)

Athletic Director: Barry Alvarez, 2004 (15)

Head Coach: Paul Chryst, 2015 (4)

Head coaches since 2010: 4

Fulltime Assistant Coaches: 49 seasons at Wisconsin

Strength & Conditioning Coach: 5 seasons at Wisconsin