James Franklin’s scapegoating for an 0-5 start, fires his OC instead of criticizing himself. Says more about him than Ciarrocca

James Franklin complaining to officials 


… look in the mirror and recognize who is responsible


Penn State angered its football fans who believed that its number eight ranking in the AP top 25 in 2020 was legit. 


It was obviously not as the Nittany Lions got off to one of the worst starts in PSU football history, losing its first five games. 


During that horrible run, Coach James Franklin was quoted as saying this,


“We have to own this season,” Franklin said Tuesday. “We have to own it, but this is not the totality of who we are.”


Ryan Parsons, “James Franklin: Rough Season Not ‘Totality Of Who 

We Are’,” Onward State, December 2, 2020


“I am not willing to own this season”


So, if he is going to own this season, why did he fire his offensive coordinator, Kirk Ciarrocca, after just one season after the coach came in from Minnesota where he had led the Gophers’ offense to its greatest season in about 60 years, with two 1,000-yard receivers and an outstanding young QB?


Ciarrocca had no chance to work with his players because of the Covid-19 epidemic. 


The Patriot-News’ Davey Jones outlined the ridiculousness of Franklin’s firing his OC after one abbreviated year,


How do you fire Kirk Ciarrocca after only a single season when he had no in-person prep work with players he barely knew (because of the COVID pandemic), then lost his top two running backs before the season’s second series? Doesn’t the guy deserve at least one more year under reasonable conditions? …


Is it fair that Ciarrocca didn’t have more time? No, not even a little. I’d say it was a pretty cold move by Franklin given the circumstances.


But you know what else? With the money flying around these days, Ciarrocca will latch on somewhere and very nicely take care of his family. It’s not like being laid off.


And he knew when he moved from Minnesota the landscape of the sport in which he works. Even more these days than the NFL, I think college football is the epitome of that neo-Mad Men phrase, “a results-oriented business.” You have a more limited window than ever to produce. And if you don’t swim fast, the first wave will pull you back.


David Jones, “Why James Franklin fired Kirk Ciarrocca, even knowing he might need 

to replace Mike Yurcich next year,” Patriot-News, January 9, 2021


So, his OC has to own this season, but Franklin does not? That is why that quote above is one that he should have uttered, but did not.


This was not just a cold and callous move for a guy who uprooted his family to move back to his roots in Pennsylvania, but it indicates that Franklin is unwilling to take the blame for the 2020 season.


Trying to deflect the attention of Nittany Lion fans


Here is the entire context of the “own it” quote from Onward State,


“We have to own this season,” Franklin said Tuesday. “We have to own it, but this is not the totality of who we are.”


The head coach cited recent program successes like a Cotton Bowl championship, Fiesta Bowl championship, and Big Ten title as proof that Penn State is more than its 1-5 record. The program had lots of promise just a few months ago, but things can change in the blink of an eye.


Franklin said he likes looking at the “big picture” during times of adversity. He’s not making excuses for a poor season, but he’s accepting the Nittany Lions’ shortcomings and taking things into account for the future. Franklin added that he’s learned a lot about himself, the staff, the coaches, and the fan base during this season.


Ryan Parsons, “James Franklin: Rough Season Not ‘Totality Of 

Who We Are’,” Onward State, December 2, 2020


No, James, you did not learn anything about yourself. You demonstrated a lack of empathy and reality that reflects more on you than on anyone else. 


Ciarrocca will land on his feet because he is good, but you took a guy who moved his family away because of a great opportunity that you offered him, and then unceremoniously yanked him from your staff. 


That is called scapegoating, and it is absolutely classless.

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