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The Nittany Nation has emerged from a week unlike one it’s ever seen.
It began with defensive coordinator Bob Shoop accepting a similar position at Tennessee and continued with six more defections.
Offensive line coach Herb Hand left for Auburn, graduating seniors (with eligibility left) Geno Lewis and Akeel Lynch are transferring, Lewis to Oklahoma and Lynch to a school to be determined.
Others leaving the program included linebackers Troy Reeder, a starter who showed promise much of the season, and reserves Gary Wootten and Daquan Worley.
Penn State has long been a place where almost no one left, certainly not assistant coaches and players. No matter how frustrated with their lack of playing time, most stayed.
Times are changing – and it’s not just this year.
You’ll recall the three underclassmen – offensive tackle Donovan Smith, defensive end Deion Barnes and tight end Jesse James – who declared for the NFL draft after the 2014 season as well.
None went in the first round. It used to be that only a player projected as a first-round pick would leave.
Add in Christian Hackenberg and Austin Johnson bypassing their final seasons, and it’s a concerning trend since James Franklin took over.
Or is it?
Taken individually, most of the defections, save Shoop, was expected, and each makes sense.
Regardless of what he said at the TaxSlayer Bowl, Shoop obviously felt he needed a change, evidenced by the fact that he must pay PSU a buyout of $800,000 – and Tennessee isn’t paying it.
I’m not sure you can blame Hand’s departure on Franklin. In fact, after two years of seeing this offensive line perform, the hunch here is Franklin, rightly, encouraged Hand to seek another opportunity and did him a favor by giving him time to land by not lumping him in with the John Donovan dismissal the moment the regular season ended.
The upcoming talent and offensive-line recruits should benefit Hand’s replacement, Matt Limegrover.
A case can be made, based on lack of improvement, that Franklin was patient with Donovan and Hand.
Though coaching staff stability and continuity are preferred – it served Joe Paterno well for the first three-quarters of his career – firing an assistant coach is not unheard of.
After all, Bill O’Brien fired a pair, Ron Vanderlinden and Charlie Fisher, and then he left a month later.
As for Lewis and Lynch, who can be surprised there? Like all the players who left for the NFL, they were not recruited by the current staff amd saw their roles diminished. Opportunities were likely to be limited in 2016 as well. Wooten and Worley didn’t see much time this year.
In all these cases, including the NFL defections, Franklin is one step closer to having a roster full of players he and his staff recruited.
That’s what made the Reeder move, to Delaware for family reasons, curious. Franklin and the staff had invested time in him, and his departure speaks to a disconnect, a concern he wouldn’t play as much next year when injured starter Nyeem Wartman-White returns or both.
As Franklin retools his staff and roster, he’ll now focus on keeping his recruiting class committed. Already, decorated Pittsburgh running back Miles Sanders is reportedly wavering.
These are anxious times – on top of riding a four-game losing streak – and Franklin has definitely taken some public-relations hits while being bombarded by Internet advice.
That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to flash his No. 1 sign in every Twitter photo.
Clearly, the book on Franklin will be determined by his won-loss record, which based on the train wreck he inherited, probably won’t get to 9-3 or double-digits wins until 2017 and beyond. But those who want the plug pulled after 2016 should be careful what they wish for: Another coaching transition would set the process back even further.
People don’t want to remember that Paterno lost six of his first 11 and in his first bowl game squandered a 17-0 lead by going for a first down deep in his own territory. Or that O’Brien let John Butler run the defense in 2013 and was blown out at Indiana.
The asterisks were Paterno’s 31-game win streak from his second through fourth seasons and O’Brien’s crisis management and offensive brilliance that included included wins over Michigan and Wisconsin twice.
Franklin’s bravado has somewhat taxed the Nittany Nation’s patience, and that’s not totally fair.
Consider: From 1994 on, Penn State lost plenty of games with more talent and certainly better facilities, and its basketball fans have spent an eternity in a waiting pattern.
It’s been suggested Franklin should rely less on style and his slogans and more on substance, and even that is convenient amnesia for those longtime diehards who pride themselves on their Nittany Lion history.
They do remember “The Grand Experiment,” don’t they?
Neil Rudel covers Penn State from the Altoona Mirror.