jinpan1234
ForumsNet Member
I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
Posts: 1080
|
 |
Louisville, Strong complained
« on: May 6th, 2015, 2:33am » |
 Quote  Modify
|
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, a strong-willed if not exactly strong-armed high school quarterback who believed he was good enough to play at Penn State. Joe Paternos coaching staff didnt exactly agree, and while Franklins arm led to him a decorated career at Division II East Stroudsburg (Pa.), his will led him to the place he wanted to be all along. Home. More than two decades after a futile attempt to draw Penn States attention as a player, the university hired the charismatic 41-year-old as its next head coach on Saturday. "Im a Pennsylvania boy," Franklin said, "with a Penn State heart." One charged with continuing the painstaking and sometimes painful rebuilding process started by Bill OBrien, who took over in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal more than two years ago. But OBrien bolted for the NFLs Houston Texans on New Years Eve, opening the door for Franklin, who breathed life into a moribund program at Vanderbilt, winning 24 games over three seasons and leading the Commodores to three straight bowl games. More will be expected here -- eventually. Thats fine by Franklin, who insists he didnt sign the six-year contract reportedly worth around $4.5 million a season to use the Nittany Lions as a stepping stone. Franklin littered his hour-long introduction with all the right touches. Wearing a blue suit with a blue-and-white tie, he called Penn State his "dream job" and dubbed Saturday "the best day of my life" before quickly amending it to the "third best" after his wedding day to his wife Fumi and the birth of their twin daughters Addy and Shola. Pointing to his family as they watched from the front row, Franklin described himself as having "two daughters and 95 new sons." Yet he knows the branches of the family tree run far deeper. He promised to reconnect the glorious past with what he believes is an ambitious future and vowed to have lunch with every provost and dean while pledging not to turn down any speaking engagement. "Well do everything we can to bring this community back together," he said, "and really take pride in this program." A pride still in the process of healing following the shocking revelations about Sanduskys criminal behaviour and the subsequent fallout that included Paternos unceremonious firing after 45 years at the helm. Then, there were the near-fatal NCAA sanctions that stripped the program of dozens of scholarships and barred the school from post-season competition for four years. As far as OBrien brought Penn State in two years, leading Penn State to a 15-9 record and ushering the Nittany Lions fully into the 21st century, much work remains to be done. The standard isnt to merely be competitive. Scanning a throng that dwarfed anything Franklin ever saw at Vanderbilt in a facility that in many ways rivals the jewels found in places like Alabama and Oregon, Franklin left little doubt as to his intentions. "Our plan is to go out and win a bunch of games," he said, "so we can stay here a long time." Its something Franklin insists he planned on doing at Vanderbilt, where he produced one of the more stirring turnarounds in recent college football history. The Commodores went 16-4 over his final 20 games, second only to Alabama over that span in the SEC. Vanderbilt won the final seven games of 2012 and the final five of 2013. And, Franklin led Vanderbilt into the final Associated Press poll each of the past two seasons, including No. 24 in the rankings released Tuesday. As impressive as Franklins credentials may be, Penn State athletic director Dave Joyner believes they put Franklin through the "most thorough vetting process of any search perhaps of any position at this university." One that included delving into rape accusations against four Vanderbilt players last June. Franklin dismissed all four players and a fifth Commodore who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge of attempting to cover up the crime. Authorities have not implicated Franklin in any way and Joyner praised Franklin for his decisive action in what Franklin called "the most challenging thing Ive ever been through personally." Other challenges await. Theres the initial scramble to cobble together a recruiting class over the next month before National Signing Day and the assembling of a staff that will help the Nittany Lions take on Big Ten powers Ohio State and Michigan State in a new-look league that will add Maryland and Rutgers. Theres also finding a way to move forward while paying homage to the past. Franklin mentioned Paterno three times by name and recalled crossing paths with the college football Hall of Famer while out on the recruiting trail as an assistant at Maryland. "I walked in and had to show my I.D. and do everything I possibly could to get into the school," Franklin said. "Joe walked in and shut the entire school down. They had an in-school assembly, and I realized I had no chance. I really had no chance." Now Franklin finds himself in Paternos position, as the face of a program that has ceded some fertile recruiting ground to places like Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Franklin believes its time for the Nittany Lions to reclaim their territory. "When I say Penn State, that is the whole state," he said. "That is the whole state. We will recruit every corner of this state, every school of this state, every neighbourhood of this state." Theyre neighbourhoods Franklin knows well. While his path through the coaching ranks included stops at Washington State, Idaho State and Kansas State, Franklin always seemed to find his way back to Pennsylvania. Its the place he knows best, a place where he watched his mother work multiple jobs to raise a family. He inherited her work ethic when the coaching bug hit after six months trying to play in Europe. His career began by living in the basement of a friend, realizing the same mental toughness that helped him set records as a quarterback at East Stroudsburg would serve him well on the sideline and in the living rooms of the young men he wanted to lead. Franklins role at Penn State, however, will extend far beyond wearing a headset on Saturdays. Its a role the business-like OBrien did with a determined professionalism. Where OBrien was taciturn, Franklin is decidedly more energetic, a coach who has no problem getting by on five hours of sleep or glad-handing boosters, alumni, students and faculty alike. He pledged to "dominate" the state, but do it "the right way." A way that he thinks will provide a blend of Paternos scholarly paternalism with a brash new mindset that produces enthralling football on the field and graduates off it. "Were going to unite the coaches, were going to unite the community," Franklin said "and build this program where everybody wants it to be." AUSTIN, Texas -- Charlie Strong left a Louisville program that needed to punch its way into the national spotlight for the Texas Longhorns, who live smack in the middle with their enormous wealth, swagger, political intrigue and championship expectations. And thats just the off-the-field stuff. On the field, he inherits a team mired in mediocrity with a 30-21 record over the last four years, but still talented enough to come within 30 minutes of winning a share of the 2013 Big 12 title. Strong will be introduced as the Texas football coach Monday. In a statement released by the school Sunday, Strong said he was excited to be taking over one of the "premier programs" in the country. "Texas is one of those places that is always on your radar and a program anyone would dream of being a part of because you have a chance to compete on a national level every year," Strong said. "Its special because it has such great history, pride, tradition and passion for football." In the 53-year-old Strong -- the first black head coach of a mens program at Texas -- new athletic director Steve Patterson landed a coach whose teams went 23-3 the last two years, including a BCS bowl win over Florida and a blowout of Miami to end the 2013 season in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, who has the No. 1 Seminoles in Monday nights national title game, praised the hire. Fisher was previously considered a possible target for Texas and would have faced Strong in the ACC when Louisville moves to that league next season. "I think hes done a tremendous job at Louisville, turning those guys around," Fisher said Sunday. "I think Charlies an excellent coach." Strong succeeded at a school that had to fight its way onto the national radar even in the good years. At Texas, the bad years draw just as much attention as the good ones, and college football will be watching to see how well he can unite a powerhouse program with a discontented fan base aching to return to the national elite. And how quickly he can win a lot of games. Strongs predecessor did that. Over 16 years, Mack Brown had 158 victories, and in 2005 he won Texas first undisputed national title in 36 years. From 2000-09, Texas averaged more than 10 wins a season and played in four BCS bowls, winning three. That success helped spur unprecedented financial growth. Texas ranks as the wealthiest athletic program in the country. A partnership with ESPN created the Longhorn Network, a 20-year deal worth att least $300 million to the university.dddddddddddd But for all its wealth, Texas has struggled to deliver a championship legacy that lives up its sense of grandeur. Brown won just two Big 12 titles, while his archrival across his northern border, Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, won eight. Texas lone national championship in 44 years pales in comparison to Alabamas three from 2009-12. And the recent drop-off that started with a 5-7 record in 2010 got ugly by the end. When Texas started last season 1-2, some Texas fans even booed a public service announcement from Brown encouraging donations to charities. The turmoil also exposed on a national level the political fighting that embroiled the university and attempts by some school officials and prominent supporters to push Brown out a year ago. For more than two years, university regents have been fighting over whether to fire school President Bill Powers, who had been a key ally of Brown. Some of the same regents also were involved in talks with Alabama coach Nick Sabans agent in January 2013 in efforts to coax Saban into coming to Austin. That Strong will be the first African-American head coach of a mens program at Texas is significant at a school that resisted integration in the 1950s and 60s and had college footballs last all-white national champion in 1969. "This is a historic day for The University of Texas and a historic hire for our football team," Powers said. Until 2010, Texas had a residence hall named after former law school professor William Stewart Simkins, a Confederate colonel who also was an early organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in Florida after the Civil War. Texas is still fighting legal battles over race. Only now the school wants to keep an affirmative action admissions policy that allows the school to consider race for some applicants. But former Texas womens track coach Bev Kearney, who was pressured to resign in 2013 after revelations of a relationship with one of her athletes, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Texas, arguing race was a factor in her case. Kearney is black. In 2009, just before he was hired at Louisville, Strong complained that hed been passed over for another job in part because his wife is white. Strong said it was difficult to leave Louisville, the school that was willing to give him his first head coaching job. "They have been great to me and my family, and it was very hard to say goodbye," Strong said. "But they know this was an opportunity I couldnt pass up." cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
|
Sponsored by: The Fans!
Home
Help
Search
Members
Chat
Member Map
Login
Register
Reply
Add Poll
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print