*Penn State Has a Florida State, Rutgers-esque Financial Problem
Both are historic tackle football programs who have won national championships. Both play in Power Four conferences. Both have humongous, passionate fan bases, and deep-pocketed boosters. Both poured money into "state of the art" facilities and upgrades after pressure by former coaches. Both gave huge contracts with guaranteed money unless fired for cause to their professors of pigskin. Both are state universities whose costs are footed by taxpayers in whole or part. Both are now heavily in debt. Both have struggled on the field in recent years, cutting into, or causing fear of cutting into, deep revenue streams. FSU fired its athletic director recently. PSU AD Pat Kraft is on the hot seat.
Kraft encumbered the athletic department and via that the university with $750M, that's three-quarters of a BILLION, in debt to "refurbish" the "Nittany Lions" playground, now known as "West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium" which the undersigned cannot resist compacting to "Whore Field". The upgrades are not yet complete.
How that three-quarter billion was an investment that would pay future dividends rather than a vanity project is extremely muddy to see. From Wikipedia:
Beaver Stadium has an official seating capacity of 106,572,[8] making it currently the second-largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth-largest in the world.
On Saturday last a new stadium record 114,000+ encircled Whore Field to watch the team lose to Southern California, dropping their record to 3-3, 0-3 against their B1G peers. Tickets are not cheap to Whore Field, parking is not cheap, food and beverage, once the captives are inside, are not cheap and getting to State College is a pain in the ass. Remaining home games against Purdue, Minnesota and Rutgers are not expected to challenge the new attendance mark.
Kraft is responsible for both the three-quarter billion anchor around PSU's neck and the mediocrity on the field. On this date one year ago Kraft fired head coach James Franklin. The firing was deserved and inevitable.
Former Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley had two maxims that he followed in axing coaches. First, "When it is necessary to change eventually, it is necessary to change immediately." Change at PSU was necessary and Pat Kraft acted immediately. He followed the first Foley Maxim. Many ADs do. Where they step on their dick is on the second.
Foley kept in his pocket at all times a list of three or four replacement coaches to whom he would offer the job when eventually became immediately. "One of them will take it", Foley stated. In other words, Foley did not leap before looking. He had a plan. Kraft did not. Steve Pederson, first at Nebraska, then at Pitt, did not. Pederson violated the eventually-immediately maxim, as well. He is now selling insurance or the like in Ohio or someplace.
Kraft's mid-season firing of Franklin was eerily similar to Pederson's firing of Frank Solich at Nebraska. Both dearly departed were excellent managers at the bluest of blue-chip football factories. Both were fired for not meeting the highest expectations. Critically, neither Pederson nor Kraft saw a need to keep a Foley's List handy. This was Nebraska after all, this is Penn State, the best in the land will come crawling and groveling. Both completely misjudged the market. Pederson embarked on a 41-day odyssey criss-crossing the country, rumors of Pederson sightings reported as of a fugitive, the university plane tracked by increasingly desperate fanatics. Kraft's journey lasted fifty-four days. Both thought they could get Knute Rockne were he available. Both got doors slammed in their faces as targets were immediately locked up in new, improved contracts.
Coming back to our first analogy, FSU, current head coach Mike Norvell had ONE great season as Chief of the Seminole tribe. Alabama came knocking. Tribe headquarters in Tallahassee pushed DEFCON 1 and locked up Norvell with a new contract and new, more guaranteed money. The "Seminoles" are in a deep financial hole for the same reasons PSU are: new, improved facilities, new coaches with huge buyouts.
Pat Kraft's odyssey in Happy Valley ended happily, it seemed. A well-regarded, successful-at-his-level coach from the heartland was lured away to the B1G Time. Matt Campbell had labored long, honorably and successfully in Ames, Iowa at Iowa State in the Big XII conference. He had eastern roots, even attended Pitt on an athletic scholarship for one year, had sort of a Pa. feel to him, modest, rural. He seemed a good fit in arrogant, rural State College. Kraft locked him up to a long-term with lotsa guaranteed money.
PSU was widely expected to seriously contend for the national championship in 2025. They were loaded with talent, had an excellent coach, and shiny new facilities. They faceplanted, James Franklin was fired, and here's where it all blew up in Pat Kraft's face: Franklin was beloved by his players and when he landed at Virginia Tech he took coaches, players and recruits with him. PSU's recruiting class went from top-20 to mid-60's, behind those of Rutgers, Appalachian State, and Temple. The cupboard was bare for Campbell and he had to scramble. He re-stocked with Iowa State players he brought with him to Penn State. This has not worked out well for PSU. Virginia Tech became a reasonable facsimile of Penn State 2025 and Penn State 2026 bears too strong a resemblance to Iowa State 2025 for the taste of "Nittany Lion" faithful.
Bringing all of our analogical threads together, Rutgers football is a basket case financially and athletically; FSU is in a deep semi-hole with no clear way out; Nebraska has not YET recovered from the disastrous firing of Frank Solich in 2003, and PSU's Whore Field is covered in a layer of slippery red ink as it struggles to regain traction from Joe Paterno's firing over fifteen years ago. Welcome to the B1G Time.
Oct. 10, 12:21 am:
The Athletic Department is swimming in $430M in red ink. Mike Norvell's buyout alone is nearly $51M; those of his assistants if terminated with him adds even more, $68M. Those buyouts increase that existing $430M by 28%. There is no way out for Florida State. They are going to suffer through more football ineptitude or risk their ability to compete in major college tackle football in the very near future.
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