James Franklin

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I never really paid a lot of attention to James Franklin until I heard he and PJ are good friends. Now I have new level of respect, and listen to what he says more. This is his press conference after the Gopher game regarding going for 2. He handled it about as well as he could. Had some very good points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziyWFiWYkR0

Edit: Sorry if this has already been posted, but it's the first time I heard it.
 

He isn't technically wrong in anything he says but it is a bad look for him. Clearly the local media has not been kind since the game on Saturday. But there is nothing to gain for him by going off on media or fans that go after him for a decision he made in the game.

As for the decision to go for 2 - I get the argument of needing to convert a 2 point conversion at some point but I don't agree with the thought process of needing to get it right away. The TD cut the lead to 12, an XP brings it to 11 and leaves the option to kick a field goal on the table. By missing the 2 pt conversion now you have made it a 2 TD game. You still have to score twice to win but if you leave the field goal option there you might be able to get that score quicker then needing to drive all the way down for a TD.
 

I never really paid a lot of attention to James Franklin until I heard he and PJ are good friends. Now I have new level of respect, and listen to what he says more. This is his press conference after the Gopher game regarding going for 2. He handled it about as well as he could. Had some very good points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziyWFiWYkR0

Edit: Sorry if this has already been posted, but it's the first time I heard it.

Not impressed. I don’t see any reason for him to spend 5 minutes justifying his decision to reporters. It came off as overly defensive. I said the same thing about PJ when he struggled to defend his decision to go for it on 4th down in the first half against GSU. Learn from Belichick in these situations....one word answers!
 

Not impressed. I don’t see any reason for him to spend 5 minutes justifying his decision to reporters. It came off as overly defensive. I said the same thing about PJ when he struggled to defend his decision to go for it on 4th down in the first half against GSU. Learn from Belichick in these situations....one word answers!

Honestly not sure Fleck could give a one word answer to a question, just not in his DNA :)
 

Honestly not sure Fleck could give a one word answer to a question, just not in his DNA :)

If Fleck wasn’t a football coach, he could be a millionaire televangelist.
 


Not impressed. I don’t see any reason for him to spend 5 minutes justifying his decision to reporters. It came off as overly defensive. I said the same thing about PJ when he struggled to defend his decision to go for it on 4th down in the first half against GSU. Learn from Belichick in these situations....one word answers!

The media hammered him on it. Hit him up with the same question 2x in post game presser and then hit him up again in this weeks presser vs Indiana. Gotta be frustrating to have to repeat yourself.
 

He isn't technically wrong in anything he says but it is a bad look for him. Clearly the local media has not been kind since the game on Saturday. But there is nothing to gain for him by going off on media or fans that go after him for a decision he made in the game.

As for the decision to go for 2 - I get the argument of needing to convert a 2 point conversion at some point but I don't agree with the thought process of needing to get it right away. The TD cut the lead to 12, an XP brings it to 11 and leaves the option to kick a field goal on the table. By missing the 2 pt conversion now you have made it a 2 TD game. You still have to score twice to win but if you leave the field goal option there you might be able to get that score quicker then needing to drive all the way down for a TD.

It really is a in the moment decision. Everyone around me at the game agreed he should go for 2 points. I get the rationale of putting off the 2 point conversion and then trying to get it later but I assume he would get questioned for waiting as well. It is kind of a no-win for him as far as second-guessing.
 

The media hammered him on it. Hit him up with the same question 2x in post game presser and then hit him up again in this weeks presser vs Indiana. Gotta be frustrating to have to repeat yourself.

The media enjoys getting under coaches’ skin, and he’s making it too easy. He could have handled the two point play explanation in less than 20 seconds. Sometimes decisions pay off and sometimes they don’t. It’s not that complicated.
 

You always take the points on the road... I bet they wish they had.
 



The media enjoys getting under coaches’ skin, and he’s making it too easy. He could have handled the two point play explanation in less than 20 seconds. Sometimes decisions pay off and sometimes they don’t. It’s not that complicated.

Agreed about the media.

If they can get him fired up and get a juicy quote out of them, that makes writing clickable hot takes much easier.
 

Franklin according to the recruiting gurus always has one of the best classes in the BIG but rarely achieves to that level on the field.
And he is a very bad game day coach.
 


Regarding the 2 point attempt- I think Franklin thought they had a play in their back pocket that was almost guaranteed to work. It was a totally new look, they had the blockers and the gophers were slow to react to the new formation. But Durr fights off his blocker (a TE who was much bigger) and the ball carrier made the mistake of cutting to the outside. Not a play that made a lot of highlight reels for the gophers, but huge nonetheless.
 



Franklin is a class act. It's really surprising to go to the PSU boards and see how many fans want him fired, but then again, on this board a lot of people didn't want to give PJ a new contract until after he'd proven himself with more wins.
 

Regarding the 2 point attempt- I think Franklin thought they had a play in their back pocket that was almost guaranteed to work. It was a totally new look, they had the blockers and the gophers were slow to react to the new formation. But Durr fights off his blocker (a TE who was much bigger) and the ball carrier made the mistake of cutting to the outside. Not a play that made a lot of highlight reels for the gophers, but huge nonetheless.

Yes, that was an exceptional play by Durr. Also the play by Williamson on the 4th and goal try.
 

If Fleck wasn’t a football coach, he could be a millionaire televangelist.


Or, maybe a politician. Coach Fleck can talk just as fast as an Ohio house member I saw on tv just the other day who at one point in time had been an assistant wrestling coach at some Big ten school. Wow: could that coach talk fast!
 

He isn't technically wrong in anything he says but it is a bad look for him. Clearly the local media has not been kind since the game on Saturday. But there is nothing to gain for him by going off on media or fans that go after him for a decision he made in the game.

As for the decision to go for 2 - I get the argument of needing to convert a 2 point conversion at some point but I don't agree with the thought process of needing to get it right away. The TD cut the lead to 12, an XP brings it to 11 and leaves the option to kick a field goal on the table. By missing the 2 pt conversion now you have made it a 2 TD game. You still have to score twice to win but if you leave the field goal option there you might be able to get that score quicker then needing to drive all the way down for a TD.

He absolutely made the right decision to go for two. It all boils down to information and time. If you go for 1, then you are putting the decision off for later. But what if you don't get that 2 point conversion later? Now you less time to compensate for not getting those two points.

Going for two early, and not getting it leaves a team with more time to compensate and change their game plan accordingly.

Here is a nice breakdown of the math behind it.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/when-to-go-for-2-for-real/
 

No question he should’ve gone for two.
They called a play that schematically should’ve worked.

If they ran some crap play maybe question it.
They threw it to a 3 on 2 situation and lost.
As franklin says, the issue was execution not the call to go for two.
 




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