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James Franklin used to seek out Les Miles at SEC coaches meetings. If he could, he’d try to sit between the LSU boss and Steve Spurrier, then at South Carolina, just for the entertainment value.
“Les is a really good guy,” Franklin said Thursday on his weekly radio show. “He was very, very successful for a long time.”
That success at LSU, which included a national championship, wasn’t enough to save Miles’ job, as he was fired on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a loss to Auburn dropped the Tigers to 2-2.
It was news that bothered Franklin, who decried what he called a “win at all costs” mentality across major college football.
His boss agrees with him. The Penn State coach’s own job security was reinforced by athletic director Sandy Barbour earlier in the day.
Barbour, who was in Altoona for a speaking engagement, reiterated that Franklin will not be in jeopardy regardless of what happens this season.
“James is not on any hot seat,” Barbour told the Altoona Mirror. “He’s not on the hot seat, and he’s not going to be on the hot seat in December.”
The Nittany Lions are still well behind the top tier of the Big Ten as evidenced by Saturday’s 49-10 loss at Michigan. Barbour called the game “disappointing” but preached patience as the program tries to claw back from NCAA sanctions.
“That’s part of our reality,” Barbour said. “I know lots of folks view that as an excuse, and I don’t like to make excuses either. But that’s our reality.”
Franklin himself addressed the sentiment that Penn State should be further along in the recovery process on the field on Thursday.
“For whatever reason, there’s been a tone toward Penn State and a tone toward our staff, that (the sanctions) should not have fazed us,” Franklin said. “That the experiences we’ve been through, that we should be back. We’re headed there. There are signs of it.
“I take a lot of pride that any other program that had been through everything we’ve been through, they wouldn’t have survived. To be honest, it’s a testament to how special this place is. But let’s also not forget what we’ve been through.”
Settling in at TE
Over a 10 month-span, Ricky Rahne had three different jobs in three consecutive games. From the 2015 regular season finale to the TaxSlayer Bowl against Georgia to this year’s opener, Rahne served as Penn State’s quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.
Those first two titles now belong to Joe Moorhead as Rahne settles in working with the tight ends. It’s a move, Rahne said, that he suggested himself when Moorhead was hired in January.
Rahne played quarterback himself in college at Cornell but said his two years as a tight ends coach at Kansas State stood out to him.
“To be real honest, I love it. I loved it when I was there and I like it now,” Rahne said Thursday. “When coach Moorhead got the job, I kind of brought it up that I not only could, but that I wanted to do it.
“Like tight ends, you’re able to be in every aspect of the game. The run game, the pass protection, the routes – you’re able to coach physicality and get excited. When you’re coaching quarterbacks sometimes you have to be a little bit more muted in terms of emotion and things like that. I played the game with a lot of passion and I prefer to coach it that way too.”
That’s not to say things have been easy for him so far this season. Whereas tight end was arguably the deepest position on the roster just a few years ago, the Lions have had to use just one — starter Mike Gesicki — on all but a few snaps through four games.
Redshirt freshman Nick Bowers, the projected backup, suffered a season-ending injury in training camp, putting a dent in the Lions’ depth.
At the quarter-pole of the season, Gesicki is second on the team in catches (14) and receiving yards (181).
“I think it’s just a mindset and playing with a lot of confidence,” Rahne said. “He’d always been confident in his athletic ability and things like that and he has always worked really hard. Now he’s able to go out there and know ‘I’ve earned this and I’ve earned my opportunity to go out there and make plays, and when the ball is coming my way, I’ve earned the right to be open.’
“I think it’s just a lot of confidence that he has, not only in himself but in the hard work that he has put in. I think that right now is the main difference.”
