The challenge of Penn State’s pending offensive coordinator hire is what the hire is really all about. Penn State doesn’t need to a coordinator to help it beat Maryland, it doesn’t need a coordinator to help it solve the mysteries of Indiana. It really needs a coordinator that can help it crack the code of Ohio State, Michigan and whichever incoming Big Ten programs prove to be worthy of the conference’s top tier.
And that poses a lot of hiring challenges because the margin for error is so much smaller. You can find a lot of people who could beat Iowa, you can find a lot fewer coaches who can clearly give you an edge against Ohio State. It’s mostly a guessing game, and that means drilling down on what matters the most in the search process. To get those answers, enter James Franklin. Let’s start with the basics.
“It’s still [a lot of] the same factors, right?” Franklin said. “It’s who has going to be great on third down? Who has got the data to back up explosive plays – because in college football nowadays to just be able to go four yards is hard to do all the way down the field. Opening drives [matter too.] But a big one is data and information based on the people that have been able to score against their best competition in whatever leagues they’ve come from. I think that’s an important piece of this as well. Obviously, we’ve got even more competition coming into the league.”
Franklin spoke for nearly four minutes on Tuesday evening following Penn State’s practice about the hiring search to replace Mike Yurcich, a search that will results in Franklin’s sixth offensive coordinator decision of his tenure in State College. Over that span the importance of experience, and proven success were a thread through all of his comments. Up-and-coming coaches perhaps need not apply.
“Overall, our numbers are pretty good but we’ve got to make sure that we put ourselves in the best position [to play well against the best teams] and have the data to back it up and the evidence to back it up, and the experience to back it up,” Franklin added.
“That’s really the biggest difference. Hopefully [it’s] someone that’s done it long enough that you have a true indication [of success]. Because we have to be careful – somebody could have a special quarterback, or somebody could have a generational wide receiver and it skews all the stats. That’s what makes it hard, right? So that’s where the bigger the sample size, the bigger body of work, it allows you to eliminate some of that risk and feel more confident in the decision. It’s also somebody that’s going to come in and be able to use the personnel based on how it’s already been built.”
Franklin’s comments here are an interesting – intentional or not – nod towards former Penn State graduate assistant Joe Brady who has been a popular conversation piece among fans and media as potential replacement for Yurcich. For his part, Brady made his mark on college football working at LSU as the passing game coordinator as the Tigers won the 2019 national title, led by quarterback Joe Burrow. That iteration of the Tigers is still considered to be one of the best offenses in college football of all-time, a product almost entirely the result of generational personnel. Brady parlayed that success into various NFL positions in the following years and he is currently the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator following an in-season firing by the Bills.
Summarized – Brady isn’t a bad coach, but he might not check off the boxes Franklin is looking for.
“I think the perception out there [is that there are lots of options] whether it’s offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams, coordinator, position coach or head coach, there are fewer options out there than people think when you really dig into it there’s a small sample size. When I hired [Penn State defensive coordinator] Manny [Diaz], there were like three or four guys out there that have that track record, and there’s probably eight schools that are trying to get them, so it’s not as obvious as people may think.”
“Even if you look at hiring a guy with NFL experience, that seems like that sounds good but there’s not a whole lot of evidence of that model working on the college level as well. So it’s a smaller pool than you would actually think. And there’s probably not as many obvious candidates as people think as well. And it’s no different than recruiting, you’re trying to get the five star guy but you’re also trying to reduce risk, as well. So all those things factored in. And on that note, that would also probably help if it’s somebody that you have a relationship with already, too, because you’re not trying to figure that out. Are they a cultural fit too? So it’s a smaller pool that I think probably people would think.”
Franklin has long tried to run a tight ship when it comes to coordinator and position coach hires, so it seems entirely possible that a name will not surface until things are nearly set in stone. For now Franklin says the program has a slightly head start in the process giving the timing of the firing of Mike Yurcich but as Franklin noted after practice – there are only so many hours in the day and the Nittany Lions have a game on Friday.
