Monday thoughts on Penn State: Finding a coordinator, staff members on the hot seat and bowl options
Offensive coordinator John Donovan during Penn State’s spring practice in 2015. (Audrey Snyder/Post-Gazette)
Saturday’s loss to the Spartans was actually one of the better games of the year for Penn State’s offense as the Lions racked up 418 yards of total offense, but Franklin needed to change something or someone and this offense, one that wasn’t able to succeed with a 1,000-yard rusher in Saquon Barkley, nearly a 1,000-yard receiver in Chris Godwin and a potential NFL early round draft pick more than explains who or what the problem was.
Yes, the execution hasn’t been pretty this season either, but from the day Franklin was introduced and said he was “fiercely loyal as a person in general, and I'm going to be fiercely loyal to the guys that I've worked with in the past,” clearly there was going to be come a point in his coaching tenure where Franklin would have a tough personal and professional decision to make with a guy who has been part of his staff for the last five years.
I can’t imagine that parting ways with Donovan was easy for Franklin, but like Franklin and the staff say when they’re reviewing film with players they say they’re critiquing the performance and not the person. While Donovan wasn’t made available to media more than 8-to-10 times in his nearly two years in town, there was no positive spin left to put on this offense, one that finished this season 108th of 127 FBS teams in total offense.
But, moving forward in the search to find Donovan’s replacement Penn State will have some talented skill positions to sell a new coordinator on, plus there is no shortage of talent in the pipeline, at least not on paper anyway. But, while Penn State is off schedule or maybe on (Franklin has said both this season, but by the looks of it I’d say they’re behind) entering year three, which is the year Franklin emphasized since he arrived, there will be a new coordinator to adapt to.
Likely there will be a new QB too, considering Christian Hackenberg has the option to declare for the NFL Draft if he so chooses. So, year three on one side of the ball at least will feature something, or at least someone, different. Penn State has a mobile quarterback in redshirt freshman Trace McSorley and another mobile one in his backup Tommy Stevens. QB Jake Zembiec is a PSU verbal pledge and finding a coordinator who runs a similar system, or at least uses the same type of personnel will be key.
It’s no secret the short, quick passing game was difficult for Hackenberg to adapt to and with new terminology likely in place with a new offense look for the Lions to spend this winter figuring out the new lingo. And, since it’s popped up several times on Twitter, I don’t see any scenario where Hackenberg returns to Penn State for his senior season. It doesn’t matter if Donovan stayed or left, the number of hits Hackenberg took —and his draft stock that continued to fall along with the sputtering offense— there’s no need to stay as the Lions continue to rebuild.
QB Christian Hackenberg on what the next few weeks hold for him: pic.twitter.com/7lJUwBh1BK
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) November 29, 2015
This offensive line hasn’t helped matters and while Hackenberg hasn’t said one way or another (in fact he said Saturday night he’s not thinking too much about his future) the reality is his draft stock won’t improve with a senior year here, but the risk of absorbing more big hits and risking injury won’t get much better.
And that leads me to this…..
-Is the change at offensive coordinator the only coaching change Franklin will make this offseason?
It’s certainly a big one and one that pleases many of the fans who have called for the firing of Donovan for much of the last year-plus.
Franklin said both before and after the bowl game the staff will be evaluated and the way Penn State’s special teams and offensive line performed this season could there be a hot seat surrounding RB coach/special teams coordinator Charles Huff and offensive line coach Herb Hand? I think the case can be made that both units haven’t taken a step forward— or at least not a big enough of a step forward to where they’re noticeably improved. Is it the coaching or a lack of talent.
Yes, Huff is working with a slew of walk-on kickers and punters and while kicking isn’t his area of expertise, what can Penn State do to correct the specialists? An incoming scholarship kicker and scholarship punter should help, but how will the return game improve? And, what if Penn State loses kicker Quinn Nordin to Michigan? To me, and this probably sounds a bit crazy, but keeping both specialists in the 2016 recruiting class should be a main priority for Penn State. They’ve lived the alternative and it hasn’t been pretty with the revolving door of kickers and punters.
Yes, losing cornerback Lavert Hill who decommitted from Penn State Sunday night is of course a loss, but it’s not surprising given his brother plays at Michigan, he’s an in-state kid and the way Jim Harbaugh is turning the program around it’s easy to see why he’d want to be a part of it. Hill will make a final decision at the U.S. Army All America game.
— Ghost (@VertHill21) November 30, 2015
Back to PSU’s issues on special teams, Penn State uses scholarship players and a lot of starters and key contributors on special teams so maybe Huff is given another shot with more talented specialists? Still, the return game has been up and down and I kept an eye on WR/punt returner DeAndre Thompkins during warmups Saturday and while the Lions went with the safe option of sure handed returner Gregg Garrity, Thompkins was fumbling punts in warmups, making me wonder why it took four fumbles in games for PSU to make a change? If it shows up in warmups, maybe it’s been problematic in practice this year too? I would think so. So, has he gotten better as a returner? I’m not so sure.
-As for Herb Hand, maybe the blocking scheme is too complex for what he’s working with? I don’t know for certain, but surrendering 39 sacks — and while they’re not all on the o-line — it’s still too much of an issue after the Lions gave up a school record 44 sacks a year ago.
Herb Hand’s offensive linemen will have to take a step forward next season. (Audrey Snyder/Post-Gazette)
Next year Hand will need to find either a new center or left guard to replace senior Angelo Mangiro, so are any of these now redshirt freshman going to be ready to step in? Center Ryan Bates would only be a redshirt freshman, so he might need another year of growing and developing, meaning maybe PSU keeps Wendy Laurent at center and looks to plug in a left guard. Year three once again will be key in determining how the talent in the pipeline is developing.
-And, I expect QB coach Ricky Rahne will have quite a few eyes on him next year too, especially if the Lions are using a new quarterback. Hackenberg’s development stalled with this offense so was it the QB, the system or was the coaching part of the problem? We’ll see. By parting ways with John Donovan it eliminates one issue, but how many more problems remain will be sorted out in the coming months.
-Final thoughts on bowl options:
While it’s unclear who will call Penn State’s plays for the bowl game (I’d guess either o-line coach/run game coordinator Herb Hand would be an option or James Franklin could do it himself), Penn State’s bowl projections, which will be known Sunday evening, are narrowing a bit.
Possibilities include:
-Holiday Bowl (Dec. 30 in San Diego, Calif.)
-Music City Bowl (Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tenn.)
-TaxSlayer Bowl (Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla.)
At 7-5, Penn State is likely in the mix for either the Music City or the Taxslayer Bowl. Given the strength of the Big Ten (winner of the B1G title game to the playoff, loser of the title game to the Rose Bowl and Ohio State to one of the playoff games) the slotting could then include:
-Michigan (9-3, Citrus Bowl)
-Northwestern (10-2, Outback Bowl)
-Wisconsin (9-3, Holiday Bowl)
-Penn State (7-5, likely the Music City or TaxSlayer)
A potential return to Nashville would certainly be a big sell for the Music City Bowl, but James Franklin likely would want to stay as far away from that as possible. This makes the Jan. 2 Taxslayer Bowl, that kicks at noon and is in Jacksonville, probably as a much more appealing option for PSU.
Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.
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