What is holding back Brian Kelly and James Franklin?- CFB Newsletter
What is holding back Penn State and LSU during their slow starts to the 2025 college football season?
2025 was supposed to be the year that LSU and Penn State made runs for national titles. While there’s still plenty of time to rebound after a month, the foundation for both programs is gradually crumbling.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly and Penn State head coach James Franklin have both been criticized for their inability to win critical ranked matchups. After their losses this past week, driven by offensive struggles, that concern has been accentuated.
For Franklin, there’s no debate about whether he’s a good coach. The question is whether he can ever reach the upper tier of coaches who are capable of playing in national title games, such as Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, Marcus Freeman, Kalen DeBoer, and others. His 128-57 record as a coach is unbelievable. However, it’s even more unbelievable that he’s 4-26 against AP Top 10 teams.
Our Ian Valentino highlighted how shocking Franklin’s lack of ability to produce in premier matchups is.
“Franklin’s tenure has been marked by consistent regular-season success and strong recruiting, but the inability to win marquee matchups continues to cloud his legacy. With key games still ahead this season, including a showdown with Ohio State, Franklin has another chance to rewrite the narrative.” —Ian Valentino
Franklin does everything right as a coach, dominating his regular-season schedule and attracting top recruits who go on to become NFL stars. His inability to win big games while in Happy Valley could be attributed to many reasons. Currently, the issue appears to be the confusing relationship between offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and quarterback Drew Allar.
Allar was expected to take a massive leap in his second year running Kotelnicki’s offense. He was expected to become a Heisman trophy finalist and first overall pick. But so far, the OC and QB don’t appear to be on the same page, as Allar has regressed. A run-first, gimmick-filled offense shockingly doesn’t fit a big-armed pocket passer. Our Ryan Roberts broke down what isn’t working for Allar.
“Since the moment Allar stepped foot on campus in Happy Valley, and even back to his high school days, the word most used to describe him has been “potential”, which can be a compliment and a curse at times … With this being the fourth year that Allar has been a part of this program, observers would hope that word would be used less and less. While potential is great, at some point, it needs to turn into on-field production. It needs to actualize itself on the field.” —Ryan Roberts
This ties into LSU, as they seem to be experiencing the same issues. A sputtering offense that’s being held back by a quarterback and an offensive coordinator who do not fit with one another. Valentino pointed out the concern for Kelly not putting more fire under his OC, Joe Sloan, and sidelining quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
“It’s simply not good enough for Kelly to avoid giving offensive coordinator Joe Sloan more public pressure or to shut Nussmeier down if he’s unwell. LSU is off this week before playing South Carolina, Vandy, Texas A&M, and Alabama over the next month. While putting the future NFL quarterback on the shelf would be difficult, it needs to be considered if rumors of a major injury are true. —Ian Valentino
Similar to Allar, Nussmeier was supposed to be a top quarterback in college football and improve to become a top prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft. So far, he’s looked timid, confused, and flustered every time he drops back. Roberts discussed how inexcusable the regression is for the LSU quarterback.
“The biggest issue for Nussmeier has been his untimely turnovers, especially in bigger games. Nussmeier has thrown 22 interceptions during his career and has also lost four fumbles. We have also seen a general inability to push the ball down the field … There certainly isn’t a lack of talent at wide receiver. LSU invested a ton of money into the five-man group of Barion Brown, Nic Anderson, Aaron Anderson, Zavion Thomas, and Chris Hilton Jr.” —Ryan Roberts
LSU and Penn State are two of the most prominent brands in college football, boasting an extensive array of resources that enable them to produce national championship-winning teams. They have both aggressively committed to building around their head coaches, who aren’t fulfilling expectations. As we compare the two, what is troubling is the apparent similarity in how they handle their programs.
The most significant driver of success for college football head coaches is personnel decisions and the hiring of coordinators. The best coaches can identify the underrated coordinators and recognize which players will elevate the team. Kelly’s promotion of Sloan to OC from quarterback coach was lazy, and we’re witnessing an implosion. Franklin’s hiring of Kotelnicki from Kansas wasn’t the right fit for what the program needed. Moreover, Nussmeier’s performance has warranted him being benched, and Penn State let a quarterback who better fits Kotelnicki’s offense transfer to Missouri in Beau Pribula.
Simply put, stubbornness is killing both of these teams. Franklin and Kelly have room to rebound, but they must reflect quickly if they want to silence doubters in 2025.
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