Penn State's James Franklin explains why he fired Kirk Ciarrocca

[BleedGopher]

per Chris:

“I would like to say this: I’m a huge fan of Kirk’s,” Franklin said this week. “Obviously the timing for college football in general, specifically for the Big Ten, was a challenge with our season being (postponed), with COVID. It was a very unique time for all of us.

“Some of the things that Kirk had to deal with were outside of his control. When you are hiring a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special-teams coordinator and you really don’t have — we had no spring ball," Franklin continued. "He got none of that. I think that is the best way we could describe some of the challenges and issues that had nothing to do with Kirk.”

"I can understand why P.J. (Fleck) brought him back," Franklin said. "He obviously did a great job for them (from 2017-19). I’m going to be rooting for him and his family every game but one. I got nothing but great things to say about Kirk, and a lot of the things that played out were out of his control.”

Penn State's James Franklin explains why he fired Kirk Ciarrocca - Sports Illustrated Minnesota Sports, News, Analysis, and More

The Minnesota Gophers are thrilled to have Kirk Ciarrocca back as their offensive coordinator, but his path back to Minnesota has more questions than answers.

www.si.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[swingman]

No, he doesn't explain why.

 

[gophernut1]

If Franklin was honest he would say, "I really am a great recruiter who does not develop players and coach them up. 2020 was a great example of this and lets face it when we went 0-5 someone was getting fired and it wasn't me. Plus, my underperforming and overrated QB didn't like him. So out he went."

 

[Go4]

If Franklin was honest he would say, "I really am a great recruiter who does not develop players and coach them up. 2020 was a great example of this and lets face it when we went 0-5 someone was getting fired and it wasn't me. Plus, my underperforming and overrated QB didn't like him. So out he went."

+o4

 

[hello-world]

He's coaching for his job every year, PSU's offense had a couple of down games with Ciarrocca at helm, and he thought that he was grabbing the next Lincoln Riley. It wasn't a personal decision, and I think the results spoke for themselves.

Penn State went from a borderline Top 25 offense with Ciarrocca in 2020 to a bottom half offense last year.

 

[MNVCGUY]

So I clicked on the article to see if maybe the explanation was just not in the portion that was posted but I don't really see an explanation of any kind in the rest of the story either. Very odd choice of headline.

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

It's the old "I liked him so much I had to let him go".

 

[Some guy]

Good talk

 

[FredCoxRocks]

“Some of the things that Kirk had to deal with were outside of his control. When you are hiring a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special-teams coordinator and you really don’t have — we had no spring ball," Franklin continued. "He got none of that. I think that is the best way we could describe some of the challenges and issues that had nothing to do with Kirk.”

So I'll fire you after one weird, abnormal year?...M'kay

 

[Word]

“Some of the things that Kirk had to deal with were outside of his control. When you are hiring a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special-teams coordinator and you really don’t have — we had no spring ball," Franklin continued. "He got none of that. I think that is the best way we could describe some of the challenges and issues that had nothing to do with Kirk.”

So I'll fire you after one weird, abnormal year?...M'kay

Basically just admitted he used him as a scapegoat.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

If Franklin was honest he would say, "I really am a great recruiter who does not develop players and coach them up. 2020 was a great example of this and lets face it when we went 0-5 someone was getting fired and it wasn't me. Plus, my underperforming and overrated QB didn't like him. So out he went."

Bingo. Probably some personality conflict as well.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

per Chris:

“I would like to say this: I’m a huge fan of Kirk’s,” Franklin said this week. “Obviously the timing for college football in general, specifically for the Big Ten, was a challenge with our season being (postponed), with COVID. It was a very unique time for all of us.

“Some of the things that Kirk had to deal with were outside of his control. When you are hiring a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special-teams coordinator and you really don’t have — we had no spring ball," Franklin continued. "He got none of that. I think that is the best way we could describe some of the challenges and issues that had nothing to do with Kirk.”

"I can understand why P.J. (Fleck) brought him back," Franklin said. "He obviously did a great job for them (from 2017-19). I’m going to be rooting for him and his family every game but one. I got nothing but great things to say about Kirk, and a lot of the things that played out were out of his control.”

Penn State's James Franklin explains why he fired Kirk Ciarrocca - Sports Illustrated Minnesota Sports, News, Analysis, and More

The Minnesota Gophers are thrilled to have Kirk Ciarrocca back as their offensive coordinator, but his path back to Minnesota has more questions than answers.

www.si.com

Go Gophers!!

Franklin being stupid is our gain, a huge gain for us. Thank you James.

 

[Gophers_4life]

Franklin has an Ohio State problem. He would love to be in the West division.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

If Franklin was honest he would say, "I really am a great recruiter who does not develop players and coach them up. 2020 was a great example of this and lets face it when we went 0-5 someone was getting fired and it wasn't me. Plus, my underperforming and overrated QB didn't like him. So out he went."

Franklin definitely fired Ciarrocca as a scapegoat, but this statement just isn't true. He's recruited and developed a lot of NFL players, including several stars. He's hit a rough patch the last two years, but he also has to deal with Ohio St. and Michigan every year.

 

[Gophers_4life]

Yeah the Covid year was bad. Then last year with Michigan's emergence and Mich State also finishing top ten so couldn't beat any of those three (including Ohio St), and losing at Iowa, and the weird loss to Illinois. Then losing the bowl game.

Seems weird to think his seat could be hot, needs a strong year.

2016, 2017, and 2019 were all 11 win seasons, NY6 bowls, and top 10 finishes.

 

[Gophers1992]

Yeah the Covid year was bad. Then last year with Michigan's emergence and Mich State also finishing top ten so couldn't beat any of those three (including Ohio St), and losing at Iowa, and the weird loss to Illinois. Then losing the bowl game.

Seems weird to think his seat could be hot, needs a strong year.

2016, 2017, and 2019 were all 11 win seasons, NY6 bowls, and top 10 finishes.

It's interesting to me that so many people want to say that 2020 doesn't count when evaluating our program but are happy to use it to criticize other coaches.

 

[Gophers_4life]

It's interesting to me that so many people want to say that 2020 doesn't count when evaluating our program but are happy to use it to criticize other coaches.

If their 2021 had been as good as their 2019, no one would care that 2020 was bad.

But with two in a row, then it counts more. I don't think that's unreasonable.

 

[Gophers1992]

If their 2021 had been as good as their 2019, no one would care that 2020 was bad.

But with two in a row, then it counts more. I don't think that's unreasonable.

I suppose

I'll say in their defense that outside of one head scratching loss to Illinois, their losses were all to pretty good teams.
@iowa with Clifford getting injured
@Ohio State
Michigan
@ Michigan State
Arkansas

All ranked teams, and mostly close losses. I'm not ready to declare that program in free-fall mode.

 

[Gophers_4life]

I suppose

I'll say in their defense that outside of one head scratching loss to Illinois, their losses were all to pretty good teams.
@iowa with Clifford getting injured
@Ohio State
Michigan
@ Michigan State
Arkansas

All ranked teams, and mostly close losses. I'm not ready to declare that program in free-fall mode.

Very much correct. But then again, compare that to 2016, 2017, and 2019. What has changed? (I don't know the answer to that myself, just posing the question)

I doubt I would say free-fall either, and his seat may not even be hot. But this is an important season to "do better".

 

[Gophers_4life]

Well, other than the obvious thing that Michigan and Mich St were just better last year than they had been previously. They mostly weren't beating Ohio St anyway.

Playing at Iowa is obviously tough, but they won there in two of the good years:

2016 - they had Gophers at home (Claeys year, lost in OT), Iowa at home (won), and @ Purdue (crushed them)
2017 - @ Iowa (won by 2), @NW (won easy), Nebraska at home (won)
2019 - @ Iowa (won by 5), Purdue at home (crushed), @ Gophers (we all know their only other loss of that year)

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

Time will tell if bringing back KC proves to be brilliant or not, I hope so. Canning KC after one covid year is beyond ridiculous. The best revenge will be putting up 50 on Penn St at their little white out thing in October. GO Gophers!

 

[RoseGoldy]

A nice win in State College will do the trick

 

[Cedar Rapids Gopher]

If we win again will James try to hire Kirk

 

[STPGopher]

Time will tell if bringing back KC proves to be brilliant or not, I hope so. Canning KC after one covid year is beyond ridiculous. The best revenge will be putting up 50 on Penn St at their little white out thing in October. GO Gophers!

I read it as say nice things and hope K.C. doesn't hold a grudge.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

No, he doesn't explain why.

He wanted the other guy more.

And Kirk maybe was a spur of the moment hire…

Not that you want to say that part out loud.

 

[Panthadad2]

Well, other than the obvious thing that Michigan and Mich St were just better last year than they had been previously. They mostly weren't beating Ohio St anyway.

Playing at Iowa is obviously tough, but they won there in two of the good years:

2016 - they had Gophers at home (Claeys year, lost in OT), Iowa at home (won), and @ Purdue (crushed them)
2017 - @ Iowa (won by 2), @NW (won easy), Nebraska at home (won)
2019 - @ Iowa (won by 5), Purdue at home (crushed), @ Gophers (we all know their only other loss of that year)

I thought Penn State was the better team in the game at Iowa until Clifford got hurt. The PSU backup QB was nowhere near ready to play in that environment and was horrendous.

 

[Some guy]

Franklin has an Ohio State problem. He would love to be in the West division.

He thinks he would. But he is 2-5 in his last 7 versus the west including losses to Nebraska and Illinois.

He should be happy he is in the east and basically between the bottom of the east and non conference is already off to a 5-0 or 6-0 start each year.
If he was in the west he would have more 6-6 finishes and would be fired sooner

 

[Gophers1992]

I thought Penn State was the better team in the game at Iowa until Clifford got hurt. The PSU backup QB was nowhere near ready to play in that environment and was horrendous.

Absolutely they win that game if Clifford stays healthy, and I'm no fan of Clifford. The other guys was just awful.

 

[60's Guy]

"Despite all of this the Nittany Lions finished third in the Big Ten in points per game (29.8), second in yards per game (430.3), fourth in passing yards per game (256.0) and fifth in rushing yards per game (174.3)."

"All of this" (above) was no spring practice to install his system....telling Kirk to install Franklin's system vs letting Kirk install his own...losing the running backs and others to injuries and graduation....plus, plus and the guy rises the team up from the ashes that Franklin largely created and Franklin fires Kirk?

Dang, if I'm a Gopher and I like Kirk....we ain't losing that game.

Word has half of it...Franklin is pond scum.

 

[swelna]

"Despite all of this the Nittany Lions finished third in the Big Ten in points per game (29.8), second in yards per game (430.3), fourth in passing yards per game (256.0) and fifth in rushing yards per game (174.3)."

"All of this" (above) was no spring practice to install his system....telling Kirk to install Franklin's system vs letting Kirk install his own...losing the running backs and others to injuries and graduation....plus, plus and the guy rises the team up from the ashes that Franklin largely created and Franklin fires Kirk?

Dang, if I'm a Gopher and I like Kirk....we ain't losing that game.

Word has half of it...Franklin is pond scum.

If I'm Kirk, I'm not losing that game either...