If football were politics, Kent State fans would be happy with the current football program since, I would venture to say, the overwhelming majority of them still continue to support Obama. However, since football has a scoreboard that is not subject to interpretation or debate, most fans believe the final score of a game tells them everything they need to know. And if that is the case, the final score of the Kent State-Illinois game tells them Kent State is a terrible football team. When the final score is 52-3, I admit it's difficult to convince Kent State fans that things are not as bad as they seem. Actually, it would be much easier to show that if Obama were a football team, he would lose every game based on statistics. But in politics Obama gets away with everything since his supporters believe whatever he says is true. It doesn't matter whether it's unemployment, the deficit, or Obamacare, the real numbers tell us what's really going on regardless of the plethora of liberals who think the truth is whatever Obama, Hillary, or Jon Stewart tell them.
Unlike politics, there is no mercy in sports for losers. When a team loses by a large margin or to a team that it is suppose to beat, fans want to fire the coach and get somebody new. It's that hope of something better but in many cases a coaching change is not always the answer. Kent State fans yearn for another 2012 season when the Flashes went 11-3 and won the MAC East title under Darrell Hazel. However, since his departure, Hazel has won only four games in two seasons at Purdue and unless the Boilermakers see major improvement this season it's fair to say his job will be in serious jeopardy. But after losing 41-31 in the season-opener to Marshall, it doesn't appear that Purdue will win more than three games this year.
At Vanderbilt, Commodore fans will tell you how much they miss James Franklin, who led Vanderbilt to a bowl game in all three of his seasons as head coach at Vanderbilt, a program that had never previously participated in a bowl game in consecutive seasons. In Franklin's second season, the Commodores finished 9-4 and ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today end-of-season coaches' top 25 for the first time since 1948. Franklin's fifteen combined wins in his first two years at Vanderbilt was the Commodores' highest total since 1926–1927. In his third season at Vanderbilt, the Commodores again finished 9-4 and were ranked in the AP and USA TODAY top 25 poll.
But much like the struggles that Hazel is experiencing at Purdue, Franklin is having to defend his record at Penn State after the Nittany Lions lost to Temple for the first time since 1941. In yesterday's post-game press conference, PennLive columnist David Jones questioned Franklin's ability as an offensive strategist with the preface: "I don't know that there's a diplomatic way to ask this." Jones stated, "I think the perception out there is you are a really good recruiter, a really good motivator, maybe not such a good offensive strategist...If someone said that to you what would you say? A fan, we are talking about fans being disappointed, they are saying that a lot."
It's amazing how a coach can be successful at one program and then struggle at another. Did they forget everything they learned or is it possible the circumstances that led to their success changed? Hazel had the benefit of Doug Martin's recruits including All-American Dri Archer. Franklin had the benefit of coaching at Vanderbilt during down years in the SEC East and the Commodores padded their win/loss records with games against weak non-conference teams. Upon further examination, Franklin only beat four teams with winning records and the program's best win was in his last year against a beat-up Georgia team.
Too often, fans assume a coach who made a bad program competitive can make a traditionally strong program great, but that isn't necessarily the case. We are now seeing that with Franklin at Penn State.
With respect to Paul Haynes, I don't know if he will be successful at Kent State or not. I certainly hope Haynes is successful because he is a good man. I can't deny that the Flashes' performance against Illinois was abysmal but so was Hazel's 47-14 blowout loss at Kentucky in 2012, the year Kent State posted a 11-3 season. The truth of the matter, the Flashes just don't have enough fire power on offense to win consistently. And historically, Kent State has never been competitive without playmakers like Josh Cribbs, Julian Edelman, and Dri Archer.
In 2001, Cribbs led the Flashes to their first winning season since 1987 with a 6-5 overall record, 5-3 in the MAC. Cribbs is one of only two true freshman in NCAA history to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards.
In 2006, Edelman's first year at Kent State, the Flashes were a respectable 6-6 team with Edelman passing for 1859 yards and rushing for 658 yards.
And the year Kent State went 11-3, Dri Archer rushed for 1,429 yards and had 561 yards in receiving and 591 yards in kick returns.
Coaches like to say defense wins football games, but until Kent State recruits playmakers like Cribbs, Edelman, and Archer, the Flashes will continue to struggle regardless of who Kent State hires as its head coach.
Unlike politics, there is no mercy in sports for losers. When a team loses by a large margin or to a team that it is suppose to beat, fans want to fire the coach and get somebody new. It's that hope of something better but in many cases a coaching change is not always the answer. Kent State fans yearn for another 2012 season when the Flashes went 11-3 and won the MAC East title under Darrell Hazel. However, since his departure, Hazel has won only four games in two seasons at Purdue and unless the Boilermakers see major improvement this season it's fair to say his job will be in serious jeopardy. But after losing 41-31 in the season-opener to Marshall, it doesn't appear that Purdue will win more than three games this year.
At Vanderbilt, Commodore fans will tell you how much they miss James Franklin, who led Vanderbilt to a bowl game in all three of his seasons as head coach at Vanderbilt, a program that had never previously participated in a bowl game in consecutive seasons. In Franklin's second season, the Commodores finished 9-4 and ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today end-of-season coaches' top 25 for the first time since 1948. Franklin's fifteen combined wins in his first two years at Vanderbilt was the Commodores' highest total since 1926–1927. In his third season at Vanderbilt, the Commodores again finished 9-4 and were ranked in the AP and USA TODAY top 25 poll.
But much like the struggles that Hazel is experiencing at Purdue, Franklin is having to defend his record at Penn State after the Nittany Lions lost to Temple for the first time since 1941. In yesterday's post-game press conference, PennLive columnist David Jones questioned Franklin's ability as an offensive strategist with the preface: "I don't know that there's a diplomatic way to ask this." Jones stated, "I think the perception out there is you are a really good recruiter, a really good motivator, maybe not such a good offensive strategist...If someone said that to you what would you say? A fan, we are talking about fans being disappointed, they are saying that a lot."
It's amazing how a coach can be successful at one program and then struggle at another. Did they forget everything they learned or is it possible the circumstances that led to their success changed? Hazel had the benefit of Doug Martin's recruits including All-American Dri Archer. Franklin had the benefit of coaching at Vanderbilt during down years in the SEC East and the Commodores padded their win/loss records with games against weak non-conference teams. Upon further examination, Franklin only beat four teams with winning records and the program's best win was in his last year against a beat-up Georgia team.
Too often, fans assume a coach who made a bad program competitive can make a traditionally strong program great, but that isn't necessarily the case. We are now seeing that with Franklin at Penn State.
With respect to Paul Haynes, I don't know if he will be successful at Kent State or not. I certainly hope Haynes is successful because he is a good man. I can't deny that the Flashes' performance against Illinois was abysmal but so was Hazel's 47-14 blowout loss at Kentucky in 2012, the year Kent State posted a 11-3 season. The truth of the matter, the Flashes just don't have enough fire power on offense to win consistently. And historically, Kent State has never been competitive without playmakers like Josh Cribbs, Julian Edelman, and Dri Archer.
In 2001, Cribbs led the Flashes to their first winning season since 1987 with a 6-5 overall record, 5-3 in the MAC. Cribbs is one of only two true freshman in NCAA history to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards.
In 2006, Edelman's first year at Kent State, the Flashes were a respectable 6-6 team with Edelman passing for 1859 yards and rushing for 658 yards.
And the year Kent State went 11-3, Dri Archer rushed for 1,429 yards and had 561 yards in receiving and 591 yards in kick returns.
Coaches like to say defense wins football games, but until Kent State recruits playmakers like Cribbs, Edelman, and Archer, the Flashes will continue to struggle regardless of who Kent State hires as its head coach.
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