Most of Penn State's new staff is likely to be made up of Franklin's assistants from Vanderbilt, with a few unpredictable outside additions as well. For now, let's take a look at the coaches that helped Franklin turn Vanderbilt from a perpetual SEC bottom feeder to a respectable 24-15 in the last three seasons, many of whom are likely to be on the Beaver Stadium sidelines next season.
Now that James Franklin is officially O'Brien's replacement at the helm of the Nittany Lions football program, there are sure to be plenty of comparisons between the two coaches over the coming year. Let's take a look at Franklin's résumé compared to his predecessor.
For the second time in two years, the Penn State athletic department had to organize a search committee and hire a new head coach for the football team. Two years ago, a relatively unknown NFL assistant named Bill O'Brien was the last man standing when the dust settled. This time around, the Nittany Lions landed one of the hottest names in the football world, convincing Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin to ditch the Commodores and replace O'Brien at Penn State. Let's take a look back at the hiring process and hand out a grade to the search committee now that the hire has been made.
James Franklin was only Vanderbilt's head coach for three season, but it didn't take long for the fanbase to fall in love with him. He took the Commodores from a 2-10 record to 6-7 in his first year as head coach, followed by two 9-4 seasons in the talented SEC. Under Franklin the Commodores won back-to-back bowl games for the first time in team history and finished in the top-25 both seasons.
Much will be said about James Franklin's hiring as Penn State's 16th head coach. One thing that isn't debatable is Franklin's charisma and positive attitude. Here are only five examples of Penn State's new coach being awesome.
I feel bad for Vanderbilt. I really and truly do. The betrayal we felt two weeks ago when Bill O'Brien abandoned us for the Texans is the same sort of betrayal I imagine Commodores are feeling in Nashville right now.