Ad Disclosure
What anonymous B1G coaches have to say about Penn State in 2021
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
Penn State enters the 2021 season with mixed reviews from their peers.
Each offseason, Athlon Sports compiles a list of comments from anonymous B1G head coaches regarding fellow programs in the conference. Sometimes the comments are positive, and this time in the case of Penn State, it’s a mixed bag. This is a prime example of why anonymity lends freedom for these staffers to voice their opinions.
Penn State began last season 0-5 before closing out with four straight victories. This was Penn State’s first losing season since going 4-7 in 2004.
Here’s what some B1G anonymous coaches had to say about Penn State heading into the season, per Athlon Sports:
“We’ll find out pretty quickly if they’ve used the pandemic year as an excuse for their record, or if things really just got sideways on them. The talent on this team should make them better by default, but even with the amount of distractions last year what you saw on the field was poorly coached football.”
“Kirk’s [Ciarrocca] firing is understandable to some, to other guys it’s pretty rough. You can’t put everything on him, some stats they weren’t that bad, but they had trouble finishing drives.”
“If it was a culture issue with James [Franklin], James should’ve been able to see that coming before the year.”
“Mike Yurcich seems more like a Franklin guy, he’s really fiery and more hands-on with players.”
“They have good running back depth and some nice pieces on offense and I think Mike is a really creative play-caller, so it’s going to come down to how comfortable they are with the quarterback and vice versa.”
“Getting [wide receiver Jahan] Dotson back was absolutely huge for them, that was James recruiting hard.”
“Defensively they’re more talented this coming year from back to front and they have to replace some guys on the line. Brent [Pry] has been so consistent with those guys, you know what you’re getting there. He’s a great recruiter and they like to let their guys loose to make plays. They’re not going to chess match you, they want to lean on their talent first and impose their will.”
“This is going to be a fascinating team to watch. Franklin is going to try to convince his program everything that went wrong last year can be contained to last year, and I’m not so sure it can be.”
Penn State will square off with host Wisconsin in its season opener on Sept 4. (12 p.m. EST/FOX).
Rolando Rosa brings his experience covering college football to Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @RolandoRosa3.