STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The widespread panic that accompanies any coaching rumor seems to have at least a fraction of the Penn State fan base up in arms this week.
James Franklin is spending the bye weekend in Texas recruiting, the place where the Lions have two verbal pledges in the 2018 class and an area that’s long been loaded with talent. So then, why all the panic about Texas? Well, CBSSports.com reported Thursday, citing unnamed Penn State sources, that Texas A&M is expected to make a run at the Lions’ head coach and that Penn State is willing to fight to keep their multi-million dollar man.
Well, Franklin came out and seemingly debunked this theory with a tweet Friday morning.
Recruiting is a crazy business, people will do anything to create drama
1. From PA
2. #3 Ranked Team
3. #3 Ranked recruiting Class#WeAre
— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) October 13, 2017
There are a few details with this rumor that make it seem to me at least a little far fetched:
1) The Texas A&M job is still occupied by Kevin Sumlin. It’s no surprise Franklin’s name would pop up in any potential coaching search right now considering the Lions are No. 3 in the country and have a top-5 recruiting class that’s just about full. Wouldn't anybody want Urban Meyer or Nick Saban right about now, too?
2) He’s successful here, but there’s also nothing to suggest Franklin isn’t happy here or doesn’t want to be here long-term. Why wouldn’t he be happy here? He’s got a contract extension that took some time, but ultimately was inked in August and runs through 2022. There's a facility master plan that’s in the works to eventually upgrade Beaver Stadium, and much improved facilities in the football building that have all transpired during his Penn State tenure. There's a coaching staff that features a few members who could be in the running for several different jobs in the offseason, but the head man leaving? I just don't see it.
3) Franklin has recruiting ties seemingly everywhere given how many different places he’s worked and recruited during his coaching tenure, but his ties are certainly strongest on the East Coast. That was a factor when he moved on from the Vanderbilt job to Penn State, so I don’t understand why he’d want to give that up.
4) A reminder of the figures associated with Franklin's backloaded contract extension that runs through 2022:
• 2018: $4.5 million
• 2019: $5.35 million
• 2020: $5.65 million
• 2021: $5.95 million
• 2022: $6.25 million
Again, not sure what side wanted to push this information out there, but it just seems like a very odd bye week narrative. Franklin next meets with the media Tuesday afternoon where, like usual, he’ll want all the focus to be on the Lions’ next opponent, but this rumor will certainly be addressed then as well.
Until then, I'll be working on next week's midweek reader that's a deep dive on Franklin and the place that molded him. Great timing, right?
SECOND DOWN: Now this story is one worth monitoring closely.
Penn State 2018 verbal pledge Dorian Hardy’s playing career at football powerhouse Paramus Catholic likely has come to an end and his football coach has been fired. It’s unclear where Hardy could be headed next.
Hardy’s suspension stems from a post-practice brawl last Friday – and it remains unclear who or what started it – as two different stories have emerged. One side, as told by Hardy’s father to NJ.com, is that his son was punched two times in the face by an assistant coach while trying to come to the aid of a teammate.
Another account, as told by ex-Paramus Catholic football coach Michael Mitchell to NJ.com, is that Hardy and another teammate were the aggressors of the brawl. Mitchell’s story is that Hardy and another teammate injured Mitchell’s son – a Paramus Catholic freshman football player – so bad that Mitchell’s son was hospitalized.
Surely there are going to be more details to emerge from this and one has to think it puts Hardy’s scholarship – should it be proven he was on the wrong side of this – in jeopardy at Penn State.
“I don’t understand why my child was wrong for protecting his teammate and fighting him after getting hit with a helmet,” Hardy’s mom, Sharon, told NJ.com. “I don’t understand why my son gets suspended, his scholarship may be in jeopardy, when another kid used a weapon and hit somebody upside the head.”
Hardy, a four-star defensive end, gave the Lions his verbal pledge in June. There certainly is precedence of the Lions cutting ties with an elite prospect should an altercation arise.
Penn State pulled a scholarship offer from safety Myles Hartsfield back in October of 2014 when the then Penn State pledge was taken into custody on charges of juvenile delinquency stemming from a hazing incident at his high school. Hartsfield then attended Massachusetts' East Coast Prep before signing with Ole Miss in 2016.
Every situation is different, but this already ugly story still has many details that need to be ironed out.
Updated at 12:40 p.m. : Lions247 reports Hardy is no longer a Penn State verbal pledge. Well, there you have it. Another space is freed up.
This means the Lions' push for Micah Parsons, Tyreke Smith and Jayson Oweh should only intensify.
THIRD DOWN: What about UNC?
The Tar Heels didn’t receive any penalties Friday afternoon stemming from what many have dubbed the worst academic scandal in the history of collegiate athletics.
The NCAA’s ruling stated that the governing body “could not conclude that the University of North Carolina violated NCAA academic rules.” The NCAA said it couldn’t prove that UNC’s courses in question, ones where attendance wasn’t taken and one paper per semester made up the student’s grade, were directed solely toward student-athletes.
“The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine whether academic fraud occurred,” said Greg Sankey in a statement. Sankey is the chief hearing officer of the panel charged with investigating the fraud and is also the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. “Ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership.”
If the NCAA defers to the schools for academic fraud, then I wonder what’s stopping universities from having their athletes enroll in all online courses? This would be one way players could stay in the football or basketball building all day with academic support nearby, rather than walking around campus and interacting with the rest of the student body. They'd have more time for film and game preparations this way, too.
This would certainly make athletics seem more professional at the collegiate level, but given the NCAA’s ruling one has to wonder if we’ll even see athletes in the same classes as their peers in the future. Sure, they’d be missing out on much of the college experience this way, but let’s not kid ourselves -- if there’s a competitive advantage to be had, someone is going to find it. If UNC’s “paper courses” weren’t concerning enough for the NCAA, then why would online classes scare them off?
Enjoy the bye weekend. I’ll be back in town next week ready to roll with the Lions' White Out against Michigan on deck.