The national consensus surrounding Penn State football has been forever tarnished and will never return to what it once was. The current leadership is continuing to make the program a laughing stock by setting high expectations and meeting none of them. Don’t get me wrong, I was well aware that there was zero chance of Penn State beating Michigan on Saturday, but to get absolutely embarrassed is another story. I am well aware of the limitations Penn State currently has. They are one of the youngest teams in the country, face a plethora of injuries on the defensive side of the football, have a first year starting quarterback, and are still just four years removed from near “death penalty” sanctions. It has been a tough time for the university, but it has recovered. It is time to take the next step and be successful again. It’s time to lend a helping hand to someone who has been put in a difficult situation. Who else out there has gone through a similar situation and is untouchable by all of college football? Art Briles.

Briles has been defamed by the media, and everyone for that matter, over allegedly botching the handling of sexual assaults by the Baylor football program. Sounds a little familiar to those of us residing in Happy Valley. He has made it clear that he is not ready to call it a career and the only place that could be desperate enough to touch him is Penn State. Hear me out; the media hates Penn State. The general public hates Penn State. They do not have any idea of what actually occurred here or why they hate us, but they do. Having success on the football field immediately following the sanctions under Bill O’Brien was the only way Penn State could give the finger back to the rest of the world and say, “We still Are!” Now, the utter failure that is James Franklin’s tenure as head coach is just adding fuel to the fire and allowing the team, the school, and the community to be a laughing stock.

Briles and Penn State are a match made in heaven. The Nittany Lions need a quick rebuild and that is exactly what Briles did in his time at Baylor. Prior to being fired, he was one of the hottest coaches in the country. This is a gift that Penn State needs to jump on immediately. This is a chance to land one of the best coaches in the country who will open up new recruiting territory in Texas. It will also be the perfect marriage between Briles and Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. Both coaches love to run the spread, play fast, and rarely huddle. Briles’ expertise and wisdom of this style of play is exactly what Penn State needs right now.

James Franklin, I wanted to like you. I really did not wish things would go like this, but you are just too damn positive for having such a fundamentally unsound football team. There is nothing wrong with being positive when you are simply lacking skill, but this team has plenty of skill. You have proven time and time again that you simply have no ability to manage football games, can’t get your team ready for big games (0-7 vs. OSU, MICH, and MICH ST), and choose to hide so much from the media when there is really nothing to hide. You will argue and say how young the team is and how brutal the sanctions were, well that is no excuse. Things were a lot worse for Bill O’Brien who handed you the golden ticket when he left, Christian Hackenberg, and you damn near ruined the kid’s career. Enough is enough.

Ms. Barbour (Penn State Athletic Director), I really hope that you didn’t sit through that entire piss poor excuse of a football game on Saturday like the rest of us. Instead, I hope you dialed up Art Briles, had a long, convincing discussion about his interests in coaching football again, and are getting him in here for an interview as soon as humanly possible. If anyone knows that people are innocent until proven guilty and that they deserve a second chance, it is the people of Penn State University. We have given James Franklin plenty of chances, it is time to give someone a chance who will return the favor. Let’s not miss this opportunity while we have it, for the glory of old state.