Almost three years to the day it happened. All eyes on defensive coordinator John Butler after yet another underwhelming performance, this time against Ohio State.
Be it the sanctions or simply bad coaching, Butler wasn’t the man of the hour for the right reasons.
And then head coach Bill O’Brien had heard enough of it.
“That’s a bunch of crap that he’s taking heat,” O’Brien said at his weekly teleconference.
“John Butler is a helluva football coach. John Butler works his tail off. The kids respect him. He’s doing a helluva job. I don’t care what the scoreboard says or what the yardage says. This guy is our defensive coordinator. He’s my defensive coordinator. I’m proud to coach with him.”
While the constant desire to compare O’Brien and James Franklin is hardly fruitful given the wide gulf between their respective personalities, years later Franklin faces the same kind of criticism. This time the ire of the Nittany Lion faithful is directed towards offensive coordinator John Donovan.
And Franklin has been far less clear cut in his support.
“Let me say this: I am just aware of our challenges, and more so than anybody else that’s looking at it,” Franklin said on Tuesday. “I know on offense we have some challenges that we need to get cleaned up. I know on defense we’ve got some challenges we need to get cleaned up. I know on special teams we’ve got some challenges we need to get cleaned up. I know there’s academic work that we need to improve on that you guys aren’t aware of. There’s a lot of areas, and there is nobody that’s taking a harder, more detailed look than me.”
“But besides that, right now, our focus is on doing everything we possibly can to prepare for Michigan State. Any other discussions, any other conversations, I don’t see how they help us get ready to beat Michigan State. But I want to make sure that you and your fans and everybody are aware, I can identify and I can see the problems and the challenges that we have just like everybody else can, and we’re addressing them every single day. We’re addressing them every single day.”
So to recap, Franklin’s endorsement of his offensive staff is largely the argument that unless you plan on making a change today -which itself makes no sense- there is little reason to discuss it now. Not that he thinks he has the right coaches, not that he wants to defend them as they face immense pressure.
He’s just interested in addressing the whole thing when the season is over. Which depending on how you read between the lines is good or bad news for Penn State’s offensive coordinator.
In turn Penn State faces yet another holding period with program altering decisions. Truthfully it’s not very logical to make changes at this stage in the season, but until Franklin takes a definitive stance, the issue will likely direct the conversation for the next month and a half. On a day that NFL early entry hopefuls Christian Hackenberg and Austin Johnson spoke with the media, Franklin added his name to the list of people Penn State is waiting on.
And in turn Franklin waits on the passage of time. Something that you can’t recruit or buy. You just have to wait.
“I think in a lot of ways, in a lot of aspects, we’re on schedule. We have a lot of work to do, and we have got to get better. Yeah, are there quick fixes? No doubt about it. That first year we could have went out and signed 15 junior college players. This year could have went out and signed 15 junior college players. But I don’t think myself or the administration or our fans really want to do it that way. We want to do it for the long haul. Once you start doing that, then it’s almost you have to commit to continuing to do that because your turnover happens every year or two.”
“And like I’ve said from day one, we want to build this thing the right way for the long haul, and when you do that, it takes some time. There needs to be a little bit of patience. I think for the most part, people understand that.”
Franklin isn’t wrong, which for all of the complicated decisions he has to make in the coming weeks, is probably the most important thing Penn State has going for it right now.
