What do we want from our college football coaches?
James Franklin is under fire after another big-game loss. Does perception match reality when it comes to Penn State?
The best coach in college football is 1-6 against his biggest rival.
The second-best coach in college football has reached meme territory for his failure to adapt to the sport’s modern era.
And it’s a good bet that the third-best coach in college football is in the final season of his career, as he is a 73-year-old who’s in the middle of his 10th straight campaign with four or more losses.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, those three coaches, in order, are Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown.
Debate all you want about whether they you think they are the first/second/third-best coaches in the sport. But reality is that they are the only three coaches who have won national titles.
And that’s what this is all about, right?
Ryan Day and his No. 1 active .875 winning percentage?
Who cares. He’s soft.
Brian Kelly and his No. 1 active 310 NCAA wins?
Who cares. Can’t win the big one.
Kalen DeBoer and his lifetime 110-14 record?
Who cares. He’s no Saban.
All of which brings us to James Franklin and Penn State, which lost to Ohio State yet again on Saturday, this time at home, this time in a game that, unlike several of these past matchups with the Buckeyes, was there for the taking.
Franklin has lost eight straight to Ohio State. He’s 1-10 against the Buckeyes. He’s 4-17 against both Ohio State and Michigan.
Hammer him all you want for this. He gets it. He said as much after another loss Saturday, understanding the expectations that come with coaching a blueblood.
Making matters worse is the fact that Penn State has let Ohio State off the hook a number of times under Franklin, particularly in blowing double-digit leads in 2017 and 2018, in addition to this year’s 20-13 loss, in which Penn State scored the game’s first 10 points.