Emergency Column: As Franklin Shakes Up Offensive Leadership Once Again, A Hard Look In The Mirror Wouldn’t Hurt This Time

The 2-point conversion try was the icing on the horse apple and, at the same time, the all-too-fitting curtain call for Mike Yurcich.

A bunch of guys ran out to the left side of the field. Drew Allar took the snap in the middle of the field. No one on Michigan’s defense seemed really fooled, and no Penn State receiver was demonstrably open. And it, like so many other pass plays in 2023, resulted in an incompletion. This one just happened to be fancier than the rest, and in a bigger spot.

The most curious thing about that call, though? It should have been an extra point try.

And there, right there, is the conundrum that Penn State faces in the wake of Yurcich’s firing on Sunday afternoon. There were all sorts of little things wrong with the Nittany Lions’ offense this season, despite what was widely considered to be one of the most impressive collections of talent it has fielded on that side of the ball, at least in the JFE (James Franklin Era). Routes run without precision. QB and receivers not on the same page. Missed pass protections. Pre-snap issues. Problems even getting the damned play in to the quarterback.

Sure, every once in a while, Yurcich would dial up a call that was perfect for the situation and it would lead to a nice throw or a well-blocked run. And yeah, those occasions could have been a lot more frequent had the players executed better. But those plays, even against defenses that had no business being on the field with Penn State, were the exception. The rule was a lack of rhythm not seen since Elaine Benes danced at her office party.

But there were big things wrong with the offense, too, made most evident in the two most important games of the season. The scripted plays to open the game were not great, and the adjustments worse. The go-for-it vs. punt vs. field goal decisions (on those rare and wondrous occasions when the Lion offense actually crossed midfield) were inconsistent and rarely the right ones. And yes, the 2-point try, with Penn State down nine with two minutes to play, was the greatest head-scratcher. If Penn State kicks an extra point there, it’s an 8-point game. A ONE-SCORE GAME. If it converts the two, it needs another touchdown anyway. But if it doesn’t, the game is over. And it didn’t, and it was.

This is the stuff that falls on the head coach. Offensive coordinators draw up the plays, and the personnel packages, based on the talents of their players and the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, and uses them to formulate a game plan. The head coach approves or modifies these game plans during the week and then weighs in, depending on what is taking place, as needed on Saturdays. Some coaches weigh in with more frequency, or more weight, than others.

Franklin, for the most part, has left his defensive bosses alone, from Bob Shoop to Brent Pry to Manny Diaz. And those three coordinators—with the help of some very talented defensive assistants—have produced some outstanding defenses, few as stubborn or as multi-talented as the one Diaz fielded this fall.

Offense has been another story. As with most things, Franklin probably gets undue credit when he makes a change or a suggestion that pays off and too much blame when it doesn’t. But across 10 seasons and five offensive coordinators, Penn State’s greatest disappointments in the JFE have all come on that side of the ball, and the problems have been all too familiar. Whatever he has done, whatever his role may be, it’s not working in the games that matter.

So now, as he digs into his seemingly bottomless little black book that continues to produce highly credentialed candidates (few were as sought-after as Yurcich, if you’ll recall), Franklin faces some crucial choices, and they don’t stop at the actual hire itself. He needs to decide, once and for all, exactly what style of offense he wants Penn State to put on field, so that he and the rest of his staff can recruit the players who will fit it. You want explosive plays? You had better get explosive players AND ways to get them into open space. And he needs to decide if he is going to let the new guy run the show, as Joe Moorhead allegedly did, or if he will be another guy who calls the shots until Franklin decides to call the shots himself.

The timing of this move is interesting, though when you have made up your mind, there is no sense in waiting any longer. This gives interim OCs Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle a free audition of sorts (and maybe not only for Franklin), and it gives a beleaguered group of offensive players that needs a reset a fresh start of sorts. The move shows confidence in Allar, but it also separates him from the coach who was primarily responsible for getting him here. There are a lot of talented pieces on this group, and they will have options waiting for them in the transfer portal should the rest of the year and/or the new hire not go to their liking.

In moving on from Yurcich, Franklin is betting on the talent that he has on offense, and to a lesser extent his entire team. At the same time, he is shifting more pressure onto himself. He should take the opportunity to consider how he personally can make the offense better, even if that means stepping back. He was smart enough to know the system in place wasn’t working and wasn’t likely to work moving forward. Whether he’s smart enough to figure out his own level of culpability, and change his approach depending on what he finds, will likely mean just as much as whoever the new OC winds up being.