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Penn State coaches let Lions down

Forgive me for questioning James Franklin while he continues to soothe his overgrown ego.

Sorry, but I think great teams win games like the one he lost last week against Ohio State. Great coaches win those big, meaningful games.

Urban Meyer wins those games. So does Nick Saban.

Great coaches win national championships. Meyer wins national championships and so does Saban.

Great coaches have their teams ready with enough in the tank to finish games.

The Penn State football team showed up last week, but the coaches didn’t. Don’t take it from me. Check with the fans, check with the students, check with the local and national media.

And for all of that, Franklin is ready to go beyond being great to being elite.

He wanted the spotlight and all of the attention since arriving at Penn State. Well, he got the spotlight and the attention last week, and it’s shining brightly on him.

Knowledgeable football people and the media locally and across the state of Pennsylvania as well as the entire country know where the great football teams and the great coaches are and right now it’s not at Penn State.

The players deserve better coaching.

Can we get to great before we try to become elite?

Will Walk

Spring, Texas

Band, players, recruits do their part

James Franklin snatched defeat from the grasp of victory — again.

It’s a great time for a bye week, a good time for lots of meetings and suggest that Trace McSorley devise the game plan and Franklin and Ricky Rahne sit in a corner with dunce caps on and not participate.

They didn’t help last week so why participate this week?

Brett Pry should join them as just like two years ago against Pitt and acting like he’d never seen an inside reverse. He pulls the same stunt vs. OSU and acts like a screen pass is a new innovation.

The fans were great — 111,000. The Blue Band, players and recruits are great. So the coaching staff decides to take the evening off.

The bookies know that when Franklin gets in a big game, he decides to take a powder, and it’s worth at least three points or more for the opponent.

I suggest Franklin, Rahne and Pry get a paycut of one-twelfth of their pay as they took vacation vs. Buckeyes.

Let McSorley on offense and Jan Johnson on defense formulate game plans. They can’t do any worse than the coaches.

Ed Hill

Altoona

Still in shock after Nittany Lions’ finish

Like at least 110,000 others, I was totally in shock on Penn State’s last offensive play against Ohio State.

How do you take the ball out of the hands of a true superstar who can beat you with his arm, legs and his mind and give it to Miles Sanders, who can only beat you with a low percentage incredible run, given the fact that he was being stuffed all night?

And this after three timeouts?

Again the PSU defense that was playing lights out for most of the game folds at crunch time. Unfortunately, I’m kind of getting used to this in big games.

And why not at least attempt a 38-39 yard field goal in the first half on fourth down at the OSU 21? If James Franklin doesn’t have the confidence in his kicker from 40 yards in, he better be looking for someone else.

And if no one is currently on this year’s team, I hope there was at least one in the 100 or so recruits at the game.

Tim Muri

Naperville, Ill.

Elite program needs elite coach

In order to have an “elite” football program, it is mandatory that you have an “elite” coach.

Penn State does not have that status.

Urban Meyer is the definition of an “elite” coach with an “elite” football program. He always has been the elite of the elite. He is the greatest.

Roxine Copp

Hollidaysburg

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