Ouch. Penn State 2027 Recruiting Decline?

I can’t remember details, but around the time that all of the transfer announcements happened that Brahmer had talked about how the grass was greener at Penn State and Jeremiah Cooper had said something about the pay, but that’s been so long ago now I may be misremembering details
Brahmer was wearing Penn state gear around Campus before he even left ISU offically...
 
I just don't see this playing out that way. Penn State hasn't had any issues getting to the playoff. He has to do more than that. If he drops 2 games, the PSU fans will be out for him the same way they were out for Franklin. You can throw last year's record out the window. PSU fans expect to be a national title contender every year, and that means winning multiple games in the playoff. He has to outperform Franklin, and I don't see that happening.

I will say that one thing about CMC is he did tend to win the 'backs against the wall/nobody thought you'd do it' type of games so maybe he gets one CFP game if they get there.

I don't see them becoming the dominant program that ESPN etc wants though.
 
I don't think that's as bad a thing as it seems. 3-3-5 was starting to fail us some during the end of his tenure here and would've met the same fate in the B1G. When conferences and teams moved around, we lost pass-heavy teams that scheme was intended to stop and gained more balanced running teams who could beat it more reliably. PSU's opponents aren't chucking it around.
It seems like ISU did a great job of stopping heavy running teams, which the defense was not designed to stop and the passing teams it was, ate us alive. TCU, Baylor and a few others moved up and down the field on the defense, while power running teams like Iowa struggled. The killer against the defense was if you had a mobile QB that could run and throw, thinking Kansas a few games and others, but those types of QB kill everyone.
 
I will say that one thing about CMC is he did tend to win the 'backs against the wall/nobody thought you'd do it' type of games so maybe he gets one CFP game if they get there.

I don't see them becoming the dominant program that ESPN etc wants though.
You have to wonder if the B10 is getting to the point of having too many really good teams. You already had Oregon and Ohio State, now you add in Indiana, have to think Michigan will continue to be good, throw in a very good PSU, USC if they can turn it around and the top of that league will be deeper than the SEC in their best seasons. Its very well could come down to your schedule and how many of the other good teams you play or miss playing.
 
You have to wonder if the B10 is getting to the point of having too many really good teams. You already had Oregon and Ohio State, now you add in Indiana, have to think Michigan will continue to be good, throw in a very good PSU, USC if they can turn it around and the top of that league will be deeper than the SEC in their best seasons. Its very well could come down to your schedule and how many of the other good teams you play or miss playing.
You have to wonder that keeping it at 12 playoff teams works to Big 12 advantage simply by creating a little chaos for P2 making them pay buyouts all the time. Although it would mean more P2 poaching coaches too.
 
Look at their schedule if they have two loses it will not be a good regular season. Out preform Franklin, the guy that never made the playoff and was horrible against top 10 ranked teams. PSU started the year last season as one of the favorites to win the championship and finished 7-5, they gave Franklin 12 years, the idea that if Campbell doesn't win immediately a championship he will be out the door is crazy.

Win 10 or 11 games each year, make the playoffs more often than not should not be that hard if you are the coach at Penn State. Franklin could win the games just not beat the other top 10 teams when he played them, that was is downfall. Campbell will do fine there, look at his record against top ten teams at ISU then factor in he will have much better talent overall at PSU.
I didn't say he had to win a championship. I also didn't say he will be out the door immediately. Franklin won 2 playoff games in 2024. How can you be so wrong on everything you post?

They aren't going to give him 12 years like Franklin. They got rid of Franklin because their standard had been raised from 10-2 with losses to top teams to competing for a national championship. How are so many people missing this? Campbell can't go 10-2. That's what Franklin was doing. Just getting to the playoff is what Franklin was doing. He has to do more. That's why they changed coaches.

Campbell may beat more top 10 teams. He also may stub his toe to worse teams. It doesn't matter who he loses to, he has to go 10-2 at the least while winning at least a game in the playoff. Minimum. They aren't resetting the expectations. They are raising them.
 
I will say that one thing about CMC is he did tend to win the 'backs against the wall/nobody thought you'd do it' type of games so maybe he gets one CFP game if they get there.

I don't see them becoming the dominant program that ESPN etc wants though.
Penn State has already done that. They won two playoff games in 2024. They want more than that.
 
It seems like ISU did a great job of stopping heavy running teams, which the defense was not designed to stop and the passing teams it was, ate us alive. TCU, Baylor and a few others moved up and down the field on the defense, while power running teams like Iowa struggled. The killer against the defense was if you had a mobile QB that could run and throw, thinking Kansas a few games and others, but those types of QB kill everyone.
In games we gave up 20+ points in, opponents consistently had 100+ rush yards and often more than that. That's not acceptable when your own team plays ball control, limit possessions football like we did.

KSU: 21 points, 110 rushing
COLO: 24 points, 140 rushing
ASU: 24 points, 290 rushing (We let Jeff Sims run for 200+ yards...)
CIN: 38 points, 260 rushing
BYU: 41 points, 103 rushing (outlier here, since they threw for 300+ instead)

We were 12th in the conference in Rush D per attempt, giving up 4.4/carry on the season. That's not a great job at all, that is way below average for CFB. We were right in the middle of the conference in pass yards/attempt, which I would guess was more related to just having fewer attempts put on us overall. We tended to let teams pass if they wanted to pass even at the height of our defense teams, opponents often couldn't score in the red zone instead. That was still mostly true last season from a passing perspective.
 
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Penn State has already done that. They won two playoff games in 2024. They want more than that.

you keep saying this. They beat Boise St and SMU in a fluke playoff schedule arrangement that will never happen again (in the 12 team format, could happen in a 24 team format)

What they want is pretty straight forward. When they play Ohio St, they'd like to feel like they will win the game going into it. Campbell doesn't have to beat them all the time but enough (especially at home)
 
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I don't think that's as bad a thing as it seems. 3-3-5 was starting to fail us some during the end of his tenure here and would've met the same fate in the B1G. When conferences and teams moved around, we lost pass-heavy teams that scheme was intended to stop and gained more balanced running teams who could beat it more reliably. PSU's opponents aren't chucking it around.
The 3-3-5 was failing because we didn't have the dudes. The LB corps had more injuries than an Indonesian earthquake the past few years.

And even though the 3-3-5 helps hide not having a great DL, you still have to have at least 1 great or a couple good guys in the DL. The last 2-3 years there were a few guys but no dudes.
 
The 3-3-5 was failing because we didn't have the dudes. The LB corps had more injuries than an Indonesian earthquake the past few years.

And even though the 3-3-5 helps hide not having a great DL, you still have to have at least 1 great or a couple good guys in the DL. The last 2-3 years there were a few guys but no dudes.
I get that, but that's a core part of that scheme you have to intentionally recruit/develop for. It requires having some front six dudes, as they inherit an outsized amount of the load. That showed up most painfully for us in run stoppage against teams who had a pulse on offense last season. I don't think that scheme would be necessary for PSU in the B1G, either, just like we are moving away from it now also.
 
Look at their schedule if they have two loses it will not be a good regular season. Out preform Franklin, the guy that never made the playoff and was horrible against top 10 ranked teams. PSU started the year last season as one of the favorites to win the championship and finished 7-5, they gave Franklin 12 years, the idea that if Campbell doesn't win immediately a championship he will be out the door is crazy.

Win 10 or 11 games each year, make the playoffs more often than not should not be that hard if you are the coach at Penn State. Franklin could win the games just not beat the other top 10 teams when he played them, that was is downfall. Campbell will do fine there, look at his record against top ten teams at ISU then factor in he will have much better talent overall at PSU.
Franklin did make the playoffs in 2025. And he won two playoff games. Lost to ND in the semifinal. Then he was sacked mid season the following year. I think the expanded playoff shifted things for PSU. It was easier for them to rationalize being stuck behind OSU in the league which left them just outside the playoff. With the wider field now, I think they expect to be there every year, and expect to win a game or two when they are there. So I do think the expectation is 10+ in the regular season and at least one win in the playoff each year. Anything less and they will be calling for heads right away, not in year 5.