I honestly think he had some bad luck. If he had had a regular off-season to acquaint the players with his offensive style I think Penn State does a lot better and he keeps his job.
They should've beaten IU in the first week. Freak circumstance. That would get them to a winning record, at least. They weren't going to beat Ohio St and Iowa.
Maryland they caught at the worst possible time: they figured out they could score a bunch of points, because they just played our defense. And the hangover carried over to the game in Lincoln.
If they find a way to beat Maryland and Nebraska, and don't flub the IU game at the start ... 7-2 looks a hell of a lot different than 4-5.
All the same, Franklin evaluated what he saw out of the offense. He had the opportunity to hire Yurcich, who is from Ohio, played college QB at a DII school in Pennsylvania, and has coached QB's and been OC at some high level programs for a while, thought that he would be a better fit for PSU, and pulled the trigger.
I don't think there is anything wrong with that.