Originally Posted by
pczach
Franklin is a great recruiter. The knock on him is that he isn't a great x's and o's guy.
For the last few games, teams have been bringing a free man off the edge and are continually hitting Saquon Barkley 5 yards in the backfield every time he gets the ball handed to him. They run a lot of RPO stuff, but they haven't made the adjustment to bring the WR around to threaten the jet sweep on the snap. It would hold the defender coming off the edge, and also give them some other options off of that play. They have the most dynamic running back in the country. It's mind-boggling to me that the coaching staff can't find a way to help get the running game going by making adjustments. This if football 101.
I know the offensive line is awful, but there are still some things he can be doing to help create opportunities.
The other thing that drives me nuts is that they do special plays and gimmick plays in games against inferior opponents when they are winning by four touchdowns instead of saving those plays against the tougher opponents on the schedule. If they used just a couple of those special plays successfully that teams haven't seen before against Ohio State and Michigan State, they probably win both of those games.
Some things just don't make sense about the way he coaches IMO.
He's gotten the team back to being a national presence and will continue to get deeper and more talented now that the sanctions that limited scholarships is over and Franklin continues to recruit more talent and his talented young players get experience. I'm not saying they should fire the guy. I'm thankful he is there. I just think he has some deficiencies that may limit his success if he can't figure it out.