James Franklin went over to chat with Joe Moorhead during Penn State’s first 2017 summer football camp for high schoolers.
Once, twice, then a third time.
It was late Saturday afternoon. JoeMo was wearing an ugly floppy bucket hat. CJF sported a mid-summer quality mocha tan.
They literally rubbed shoulders. They laughed. Franklin pointed, Moorhead looked. They parted, then a few minutes met again to put their heads together.
The head football coach can’t miss his offensive coordinator that much.
As it is, even in the offseason, the two see each other every day — and what must seem like twice on Sunday — especially now, during the height of the camp season. Franklin, Moorhead & Co. are in the midst of a 15-day, nine-camp, five state-swing. Friday was Macon, Ga.; Saturday was University Park; and Sunday was Murfreesboro, Tenn.
WORKING SUMMER CAMP
When Franklin works a camp, he works it, man.
He gives hugs and kisses to the little daughters of assistant coaches. He escorts high school players around — be they past, present and future verbals or simply some under-sized kid who could use some encouragement. He is in constant motion, going from corner to corner to corner of Penn State’s tightly manicured practice fields, the ones that are adjacent to Lasch Building. (If the turf is indeed 10 years old, it looks great for its age).
But, on Saturday afternoon, as the sun beat down and and the high schoolers learned from both Nittany Lion assistants and current players — like Jason Cabinda and Juwan Johnson — Franklin repeatedly returned to the northwest corner of the practice field, tucked away under some enveloping shade. That’s where Moorhead and his aide de camp, Penn State sophomore quarterback Jake Zembiac (playing the role Trace McSorley had last summer), were tutoring QBs.
‘How many of you play basketball?’ Moorhead asked the dozen or so young quarterbacks.
A few shot up their hands.
‘Then you know all about the release point on your shot,’ said Moorhead, shooting an imaginary left-handed jumper. Then — ever the teacher — he equated the release techniques of a basketball forward with those of a football quarterback.
THE RIGHT HIRE
As the afternoon progressed, Franklin found his way back to Moorhead’s corner. Which is exactly where Franklin has been ever since he fired John Donovan and hired Moorhead as Penn State’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach on Dec. 12, 2015. It was a tough decision, for Franklin to fire Donovan, who he knew and worked with for over a decade, through stops at Maryland, at Vanderbilt and at Penn State. It came on the heels of back-to-back 7-6 seasons in Franklin’s first two years at sanction-ravaged Penn State, with an offense that averaged 20.6 points per game in 2014 and then 23.2 in 2015.
In retrospect, it was certainly the right decision. Not only for Franklin, but for Moorhead as well. Moorhead was the head coach, architect and play-caller of a high-flying offense at Fordham, his alma mater, where the Rams went 38-13 with three consecutive berths in the FCS playoffs.
Moorhead could have stayed, but his ultimate goal is to be the head man at a quality FBS program. And after a few overtures, he found out that making the leap directly from Fordham — despite its success — was like lugging seven blocks of granite, the lopsided victories against the likes of Lafayette, Columbia and St. Francis seemingly weighing him down. So after Franklin’s analytics consultants came up with Moorhead as the leading candidate to retool the Penn State offense — and thereby resurrect the program — the Penn State head coach headed to the Bronx to meet with a very interested Moorhead face-to-face.
Franklin’s travel plans went ajar, and he arrived late. But he and Moorhead talked into the night, and hit it off.
Not a surprise, in some ways. They possess a number of concentric circles: Pennsylvania guys, with Pittsburgh roots (Moorhead’s hometown; Franklin spent many of his summers as a youth there). Former quarterbacks, in high school and college. Football lifers, James a bit more peripatetic than Joe. Fortysomethings now, yet head college football coaches before they hit The Big 4-0. Family men, as much as possible out and about with their kids, and with pretty wives. They may have one day dreamed of coaching along the home sidelines in Beaver Stadium sidelines — Moorhead had made it as opposing assistant — but the reality, until recently, may have been far-fetched.
As it was, James hired Joe.
That was 11 victories, 526 points, 6,056 yards, 91 plays over 20 yards, 63 offensive touchdowns and a Big Ten championship ago.
A HALF ANNIVERSARY
Next Sunday, it will be exactly a-year-and-a-half since the union became official. Like an old married couple, the two will be together next weekend, first at a camp at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., on Friday and then back to Penn State for another one on Sunday.
While it may be Moorhead’s offense, it is still Franklin’s team. And vision. And as a former head coach himself, Moorhead gets it. He is deferential to Franklin, calling his boss ‘Coach’ — a title of respect, as well as acknowledgement that at Penn State, there is one coach above all others.
There’s no doubt, though, that Moorpoints calls the play, and runs the offense. Franklin has said repeatedly, ‘I have three head coaches. One for the offense (Moorhead). One for the defense (Brent Pry). And one for the special teams. (Charles Huff).’ It is their show to run. But, like was the case on Saturday during a high school football camp, Franklin is wont to add his two cents. Again. And again. And again. Until it likely adds up to a buck-and-a-half.
Such was the case last season. Franklin’s an early bird and Moorhead is a night owl. But the head coach would often accommodate the assistant’s nocturnal habits. Frequently, early in game week he would stay at Lasch extra late after arriving extra early, so the two former QBs and offensive coordinators — Franklin ran the O-Show at Maryland before taking the Vandy head job — could talk shop.
It paid great dividends. In addition to the 11 victories, Franklin won a few national coach of the year honors and got several #100K in bonuses, while Moorhead earned an offensive coordinator of the year nod. And, we might guess, a decent raise, too — especially after some other schools came knocking on his door in December, inquiring about his interest in being a head coach again.
(Franklin, the benchmarking king, certainly told his own boss that fellow Big Ten East rival Michigan now has three assistant coaches each making over $1 million.)
MORE, JOE
Moorhead’s day as a head coach will come soon enough.
Prior to the Rose Bowl, Moorhead said any big career moves will be predicated on factors that are personal, professional and financial. All three must align. For now, Moorhead and his family look at home at Penn State and in State College. He has a job that he loves, is good at and for which he is well-paid.
And he has a boss he likes and who likes him — whether it’s a Saturday in October in Beaver Stadium or a Saturday in early June coaching high schoolers. Both, lest we forget, are equally important.
