Penn State Failed the Coaching Search, Even if Matt Campbell Becomes the Guy

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When Penn State decided to move on from head coach James Franklin, I didn't mind. Penn State fans need to recognize that when you move on from a coach like Franklin, you have to bring in someone better than him. 

Franklin is a very good football coach, and while his time in State College ran its course, that doesn't take away from all the good he did for the university. 

Franklin took over the program during a very tough time, and while there were some disgusting moments, especially last season, there was more good than bad. 

Ultimately, Penn State was one of the better teams in the country year in and year out, and Franklin was a big reason as to why.

I'm not going to say that Matt Campbell isn't the man for the job already. I think Campbell has done a decent job throughout the first couple of months of saying the right things, but the harsh reality is that nobody really cares what he has to say if the team doesn't win games at a high level. If I have one problem with anything that Penn State did over the past 12 months, it's the fact that it didn't seem to have a plan in its coaching search.

“For all his faults, Franklin wasn't a bad football coach. That is evident in the fact that he already has Virginia Tech (4-1), a controversial play away from a 5-0 record in his debut season down in Blacksburg.

“But even if you believed it was time to move on from Franklin — and there's a justifiable argument that it may have been — you still need to land the plane with the right guy to follow him and take over the program. And from the moment Penn State fired Franklin, there was considerable industry skepticism that the school was going to be able to land the caliber of coach that justified its decision,” John Talty wrote.

As Talty noted, some worried Penn State couldn't find a head coach who could come in and make an immediate impact. In this era of college football, there's really no excuse for Penn State not being able to do that. 

I'm also curious why the university couldn't do its due diligence in bringing in a head coach who was one of the best in the cycle last year, including guys like Jon Sumrall and others.

It's always easy to go back and say Penn State should have done something differently, but this has been a feeling over the past couple of months.

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