Jeff Capel is now entering year 8 of going through the motions of a season, disappearing for months, and then randomly securing a top-50 recruit, wild stuff
He always struck me as uptight and aloof, but objectively, Franklin was great at basically all aspects of his job except for winning The Big Game. Maybe PSU finds their Kirby Smart. Maybe, and more likely, they get a Paul Chryst.
I totally get why Penn State had to fire James Franklin. I think it’s more likely than not that his successor won’t be as good. That final program jump from excellent to elite is the hardest to make.
It’s now 2025 and I’d label the 2023-Pres act as New Era Struggles. Not sure when it’ll end, but feels increasingly likely this is the final act for Narduzzi
And since I mentioned acts, I view those as:
2015-2017: Early Years (roster transition, staff refinement, building culture)
2018-2019: Early Pickett (defense clicks, but offense is a mess)
2020-2022: ACC Champs (2021 magic, 14 draft picks)
2023-Pres: ?