on the cover of today's Post Gazette about his Pittsburgh "roots," which are complete B.S. He has roots here because he went to visit his uncle a few times. Then, at the end of the article, he calls a kid in the Hill District out for wearing Pitt gear. The guy is a walking douche nozzle.
Surprise, surprise. Another Franklin puff piece
- Thread starter fnihost
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Not that I'm trying to drive traffic to this POS, but sometimes it is nice to have a link.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...lebrate-Pittsburgh-roots/stories/201506140092
Such articles are expected when the writer is a graduate of the school that she's covering, and her previous job was writing for pennlive.
Plus, after the abuse and threats that a previous female writer received when she wrote something that wasn't too complementary, we should expect many more "fluff" articles in the future.
Obviously the guy has a hand deformity which allows him to only point at things like a two year old or give the inappropriate "were #1"...sign....
Yeah, no paranoia on your sight at all about anything. Although, I don't visit your site anymore, because I got banned for telling the truth. It was never funny there anyway. Douche nozzle coach for douche nozzle fans. A perfect fit.
Kinda like how your head coach calls Pittsburgh sports talk shows (using the handle "James from State College")? The talk show hosts get a big laugh from that, too.....
Maybe a better handle for him would be "Urban's B!tch"???
Ped St fans living in shame of their school's administration.
That is your paranoia!
12 - 0 now beat it kid
That is your paranoia!
12 - 0 now beat it kid
By the way, is there still a pinned post on your site with links to articles on the internet that don't follow the "crazy media narrative" in the Jerry Sandusky saga? No paranoia over there. Nope.
It must be a slow night for you. What's the problem? No NAMBLA meeting tonight?
Stupid. I don't understand coming here just to get banned. Over some stupid article. The last thing I'd ever do is go over to BWI and talk sh*t. What's the point?
Puff pieces get you access. Why be honest when you can be accepted by those whose acceptance you value.
You're right. Paterno had a stable of "yes-men" who wrote the company line and hid the bad stuff - an entourage of good ol' boy -type reporters who were afraid to print anything negative out of fear of being banished from his inner sanctum. That supposedly ended when one of the reporters broke ranks and printed the infamous/embarrassing Paterno quote: "I refuse to leave college football in the hands of the Jackie Sherills and Barry Switzers of the world."
No one knew it at the time, but Paterno had a different future: to protect his program's reputation and ignore little boys who were left in the hands of the Jerry Sanduskys of the world.
No, he didn't "call the kid out." Geez.
Anyway, according to some fans here, Franklin is just a slick guy who recruits well but can't actually coach football worth a damn. Seems like Pittsburgh fans would want somebody like that sticking around PSU --- a poor game-day coach would make it more likely Pittsburgh wins in the 2016-2019 era.
yeah I loved his great coaching in the Michigan and Illinois games last year. Great coach indeed!!!
If I was a UPS fan, I wouldn't worry about having a coach who could beat "lowly Pitt" (sarcasm, for those who don't get it). I'd be a lot more concerned about beating Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan (now that they have a big-time coach). And losing to Northwestern and Illinois won't get you into the national championship game either.
Right now, Franklin seems obsessed with Pitt, if his semi-anonymous calls to Pittsburgh talk shows and multiple appearances in the Pittsburgh area are any indication of his mindset.
So you clowns repeatedly come here to the Pitt board to tell us about our obsession with UPS and Franklin? Awesome!
(And you're so stupid that you can't see the irony.....)
Anyone who denies the PSU ball washing by the Pittsburgh media, this is a pretty clear cut example.
What kind of journalistic standard exists to put ROOTS in the title of this story.
Pittsburgh is in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it's a region important to Penn State football. Pittsburgh is on PSU's schedule in 2016-2019 and will compete with PSU in the long-term for recruits and publicity. Of course Franklin will have "multiple appearances in the Pittsburgh area" and of course he will want PSU to beat Pittsburgh in any way possible.
Why some Pittsburgh fans are upset about that, I just don't get. It's part of college football.
The best "James Franklin antidote" as it is --- win, beat Franklin. Pittsburgh gets their chance in 2016-2019.
I live in Cincinnati. Urban Meyer is on local radio and appears in the area frequently. Urban Meyer has also made comments about how Ohio State is going to "own" the city of Cincinnati. There's a certain segment of Bearcats fans that get upset about that, and hate Urban Meyer with a passion. Fair enough --- but then they also made excuses when the Bearcats lost up in Columbus 50-28 last fall. "Oh, Ohio State has all these inherent structural advantages, they're supposed to win anyway, they never come down here and play us at Nippert, Urban is shady and sleazy, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah."
Don't be like that dumb segment of Bearcats fans. Accept the reality that (1) Penn State will get exposure in your backyard, it's the way it is. And then come 2016-2019, either (2) beat Penn State and celebrate your victories, or (3) lose while not making excuses.
Is it me or do media outlets cover Franklin like he's running for governor or something? Almost like a politician. I realize being HC at PSU is one of the most powerful positions in the state but it's not like he needs votes.
Let me clue you in here - you are on a Pitt football message board. What do you expect to read? You have to love fans from another school coming on here to lecture. Unbelievable.
How many times are we going to hear that James Franklin visited Pittsburgh a few times as a child? I swear its referred to every other week by some media outlet.
It is VERY clear that Franklin wants Penn State to be the Ohio State of Pennsylvania and Pitt is a direct threat to that. Ohio State selects the best 10-15 Ohio recruits with no in-state competition then cherrypicks nationally. Cincy and the MAC schools cannot compete with OSU for recruits. The Facebook fan map shows that Ohio and Nebraska are the only 2 states where 1 school "wins" every zip code. For PA, that map shows that Pitt is the #1 team in Western PA (to no surprise). Franklin doesn't like this and is doing what he can to make PSU more visible here (visiting Tomlin, puff pieces, etc). Its his belief that Penn State should be the home team of Pittsburgh just like OSU is the home team in Cincinnati (and Cleveland).
This forced piece probably is to drum up support for the dismal schedule they have next year!! Ya, they are gonna get some wins, but the loses to OSU, MSU, and Mich. will be the ones that count and show where they are.
I only chimed in originally to negate the comment of "Franklin calling a kid out for wearing Pittsburgh gear." That never happened.
I'm not lecturing, Sean Miller's post above gets it too ---- "Dominate the state" is not a catchphrase, it's a direct cannonball shot against Pitt Panther football.
Fire back and fight and win! --- just don't make up stories like the OP did.
It's amazing how you guys love flaming on our board...yet ban Pitt fans like myself when we offer opinions on your board.
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Well, in his defense I don't think michnittlion is a flamer and is polite and respectful, but there were many BWI visitors that had the opportunity to post here after the board change but just couldn't help themselves. Strange.
Actually that is exactly my feelings. Good or bad, Franklin's great season at Vandy I believe didn't involve playing some of the better schools. He should have won a minimum of 8 -9 games with PSU's schedule last year. He took a great running school and a pretty good QB to mediocrity in 1 year. I was glad when O'Brien left because he was a good coach. I hope Franklin stays forever.
This year will definitely tell if 2014 was an aberration or an actual trend regarding Franklin's coaching ability.
I do think a lot people are drawing conclusions off of 1 year. Those who have done advanced statistics in college football typically conclude things max out by Year 3 of a coach's time at a school --- there is ramp-up time. Who knows, but I do think that if any individual year of a Coach's career is "forgivable from the point-of-view of being an aberration", it's the first year.
FWIW, the Illinois and Michigan games were winnable, but PSU also snuck out a lot of close games too (Rutgers, UCF, Indiana, BC). I simply don't see "should have won a minimum of 8 to 9 games last year." The team just wasn't particularly good.
Speaking of advanced statistics, if one puts any value in the S&P+ stats (I'm in the data analytic industry myself and think S&P+ is fairly well thought out) on Football Outsiders (link below), PSU actually over-achieved last year by 0.7 wins, they should have gone 6.3-6.7 given their metrics. Of course, that +0.7 is a -0.3 if the overtime of the BC game goes the other way. Point being, PSU at 7-6 (or 6-7) is essentially exactly right, even w/ some of Franklin's bizarre coaching decisions in those Illinois & Michigan games.
Also FWIW, S&P+ says Vanderbilt won an aggregate 1 game less than they should have (perhaps coaching?) in the 2011-2013 era. Anyhow, that's a data point in regards to Franklin being over-rated a bit at Vandy.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaa
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Much more so than just trashing JF on a Pitt message board, Narduzzi will need to respond on a personal level and make some waves for himself and for Pitt. You folks can trash JF all you want, but so far, he's winning the battles. Every year he wins the recruiting battles will make the next year that much easier. The ball is now in Narduzzi's court. Either he produces, or he doesn't. And the idea of whether or not JF is a good gameday coach or not will be moot if he keeps recruiting the way he has; even a mediocre coach is going to coach well if he recruits in the top 20 every year.
Oh yeah? How did that work out for Mack Brown? Or perhaps Lane Kiffin?
Woe, no one was trashing Franklin, just commenting on how some Media play him up, and that is about the Media. I have gone on record saying Franklin is a formidable coach and will be a challenge for many Coaches not just Pitt, but Michigan, MSU, Wisky, WVU, Rutgers, UVA, and UMD!
How can you get upset at Pitt Posters on the Media when BWI Penn State Posters trash Penn State University, Trustees, Presidents, and even O'Brien was backbitten by Jay Paterno when he was there just working through th sanctions, and did a great job.
I mean the very people that hired Franklin in President Erickson, Dr. Joyner, and the Trustees, Athletic Integrity Officer, and Director of Ethics & Compliance are, have been, and still being trashed by your very fellow Penn State Posters every day and that reflects more about what Penn State University educated or attracted from low brow types of people by their own actions and worse, than anything posted on the Lair, by any Pitt Posters????
When have you stood up to your own PSU BWI Posters when they trash the very people that brought Franklin to Penn State?
Don't come on the Lair Dear, when you got Nittany Liars abounding on BWI bashing Penn State more than anyone talking bad about Franklin, so, not here Dear is that Clear Dear?
I do agree with you, Coach Pat has to meet the challenge Coach Franklin is doing and has been doing for over 5 years as a Head Coach ay Vandy & PSU and none of us know until we see him do it, or fail at it.
The same can be said of Meyers, Harbaugh, Edsall, Dantonio, London too. Pitt-Girl has made a great counter point as well to your own logic. There are many coaches that have been great Recruiters but ended up not so great coaches on Game Day?
It is my opinion, Franklin proved at Vandy he can recruit, select a Staff, and win games with those he recruited, and will do the same at Penn State, and other Pitt Posters have said I am wrong, and do not agree. Yet, I respect their views knowing very well my own may be proven wrong.
This is how we do it on the Lair, we post, share or augment info, defend the post. or agree, or disagree, or agree to disagree. I welcome your thoughts, arguments, and posts, but if you want to find true trash of Penn State, you can read it everyday on BWI and I do not see you cleaning it up?
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This is just it. The Post Gazette already ran this story in May. Why again? What purpose does it serve? The Sports Editor is a PSU grad and an unabashed an unapologetic PSU football fan. Somehow, they are trying to paint James from State College as a Pittsburgher. He is not.
It works both ways my friend. He will need to beat a good team at some point. Talent will no longer be an excuse.
Actually, the photos are a matter of timing and photo cropping. I have it on good authority that most frequently, there is a large juicy boogie from a Franklin nostril on the end of his "picking" finger.
Yes and no. His recruiting will eventually give him 7 guaranteed wins out of the gate. The other 5 would be: Pitt, OSU, Mich, and maybe 2 others (West division team if they're good, maybe if MSU stays good or Md gets good or whatever). If he goes 2-3 in those games, he's 9-3 and playing in one of the 15 Big Ten NYD bowl games. 3-2 and he'll be a God. 4-1 and a statue will go up.
Right, and the Pitt coaching staff is creating a lot of excitement around the program right now. Before I go further, they will also have to prove it on the field.
Back to my point, the PSU marketing machine is responding to this excitement being created by Pitt on social media, on local TV, etc. Since there are so many Nitters working at the Post Gazette, they are throwing these pieces out there to keep PSU on the minds of recruits and fans. If Narzduzzi can create this excitement and build on it by getting some recruits and winning some games, then "fringe fans" will make their way to the bandwagon. It will be much more difficult to recruit Western PA for PSU. Chryst isn't here anymore. Narduzzi and staff are committed to recruiting. They have proven that by how much they are on the road. Now they have to prove they can finish the deal.
I disagree, just a tad, it is his scheduling that will give him 7 to 8 wins every season even more than his recruiting.
I still think Franklin has put together a great staff, at least on Defense. Yet, he will have his work cut out for him to beat Meyers, Dantonio, and Harbaugh.
On the other hand, the way the Penn State CULTists treated O'Brien especially the backbiting of Jay Paterno, I can see Franklin becoming a bit disenchanted if he starts to get criticized in Happy Valley! Once he wins 10 games he will be on his way, whether he can do that every year is his task and if he can't they will turn on him like they have on the New President, AD, and Trustees that fixed the Scandal Spanier and Paterno caused!
Pitt's Coach Pat & Staff is going to have to do great coaching first at Pitt to establish the Pitt Program just like Dantonio did at MSU. Rutgers, Maryland, and WVU will have to do the same.
While Franklin will have to out coach Dantonio, Meyers, and Harbaugh!
