As we are getting used to this new world of NIL/Rev share and the associated roster management strategies it is interesting to think about how franklin will approach this.
Based on the leaked audio of Pat Kraft talking with the psu players a few weeks ago, it sounds like Franklin tends to have a structure of payment for all 105 players while some of the top teams will spend similar amounts of money but skew the amounts more heavily towards the top 60 or so players. Pat Kraft was expressing that this is something the psu AD views as lowering the efficiency of the payroll that psu put together (that he claimed was 4th overall in the country and barely below texas tech). I know the rumblings around losing out on Sieg are that Franklin stuck to the structure as a way of maintaining internal locker room fairness. I really like the idea of having a set pay structure with guard rails but I can also see how that would impact the ability to really go after true difference makers.
I think that Franklin's approach is the right one for rebuilding our program and culture but it is interesting to think about the way other teams prioritize starters versus depth (and it sounds like this is where the complaints about Franklin playing money ball at psu would come from).
Comments
These are kids and they will use the pay levels as a social cudgel.
Social Cudgel is a good band name
Not on Dave Barry's list below but a great candidate...bolded ones are my faves
A GOOD NAME FOR A ROCK BAND ?
The Cotton-Eating Moths of Australia
The Turkey Spiders
The Flaming Salmonella Units
Excessive Deer Doots
Rival Bat Dung Gatherers
The Fecal Pellets
The Wood Tick Snorkels
Heave
Squatting Turnips
The Bones of Contention
Pinot Noir and his Nuances of Toast
The Fabulous Snake Doots
Shy Fruiter and the Saplings
Weasel Nostrils
Three Fatty Acid Radicals
The Flaming Booty Moths
Earl Piedmont and the Diphthongs
Slippery Spleens
Sheep Eyeballs
The Flaming Croutons
Rodent Passion
Flaming Squirrels
Balky Charcoal
St. Vincent and The Grenadines
The Biscuit Whackers
Gaseous Worms
Raymond Burr's Legs
Shark Puke
Jimmy Music and the Stomach Contents
Little Heed
Short Shrift
Gastric Contents
The Urban Professionals
The Phlegmtones
The Federal Duck
Crotch
Effluent, Sliced Meat
The Postal Patrons
The Vestigial Organs
Decomposing Tubers
Diminished Penile Sensation
Bill and the Bracts
The Foliage Eaters
Crab Shrapnel
DeWayne Hurlmont and the Compunctions of Soul
Contaminated Tumbleweeds
Varlet and the Squeaking Codpieces
Violently Fracturing Water Closets
The Flying Shards
The Fierce Prune-Eating Hamsters from Space
Duane Ketter and his Wildlife Technicians
Paint-Peeling Puffs of Flatulence
Mosquito Hunter and the Unreliable Pollinators
The Mighty Shaking Wattles (for the ROLLING STONES)
Bleeding Nipples
Rapid Sucking Action
Nuclear Underpants
Marcel and the Turpitudes
The Groin Whappers
Thrusting Balloon Puppies
Drastic Toilet Air
The Eerie Groin Legumes
Drawers Full of Slugs
Groping for Elmo
The Pig-Stinging Jellyfish
Fugitive Squirrel and the Clearly Disturbed Beavers
The Mighty Shaking Wattles
The Moos of Derision
Is this exclusive to kids?
no
I see it like this. If they are truly a star and have name notoriety to carry that then Triumph or whoever is facilitating NIL should be pushing harder for larger deals there. To date, the most NIL thing I have seen our team have is Drones has recently done some social media for milk.
He has three like this:
You dont see our players getting Beats by Dre, shoe deals, other national brands etc. If we really are going to be big boy football this is a piece we need to break through on.
I saw this and my first reaction is Drones throws the football like it's a jug of milk.
My pay check is directly tied to that advertisement, 15 cents of every 100 pounds of milk I ship goes to the company that puts that ad out (I ship 2000 pounds every day and we are a small dairy). If I didn't see it put to use I was gonna be kinda pissed.
I'm always fascinated by how people make money. Never thought I'd hear someone getting income from a milk ad. Why is milk measured in pounds? I just bought some chocolate milk in your honor.
That leaked audio was hilarious, and would be deeply concerning to me if I were I were a Penn State fan. Kraft comes across as a complete joke. Totally unprofessional.
I had the same thought about roster salary management when listening to that tape though. My gut reaction was that Franklin's strategy feels like a necessity at a school that doesn't "recruit itself" like a Bama, OSU, UGA, Oregon, etc. To round out our roster with quality talent, we have to pay everybody. Whereas a more unequal structure could work at the top programs where recruits are willing to sign on for a reasonable shot at a Natty or expectation of a much bigger payday if they become a key contributor.
It reminded me a lot of working in oil and gas in 2015 at a company that didnt believe in bonuses or chasing talent..... In the late 2000s oul was booming and they lost a ton of talent to places willing to pay them a ton in salary and bonuses but when the market crashed they got laid off any tried to come back but my company said they were prioritizing keeping people who had been loyal rather than bringing back the previous high fliers who chased short term cash over long term stability. That was the only major oil company that didnt lay off thousands of engineers but they did it through slow and structured pay rises that steuggled to keep the top talent but would keep really solid people long term.
Eventually they had to add rsu options to earlier employees because they were loaing top talent too aggressively
I read something about Brian Kelly vs Lane Kiffin/ole miss NIL that there were stark contrasts.
Ole Miss had aggressive NIL, deals for better players.
LSU/Kelly had a strict pay for position policy that limited players.
Personalities not withstanding, reimbursement strategies are going to be interesting to follow. I can understand the logics on both sides.
Chris Fowler recently said coaching is important, but roster management will be the key.
My thoughts are: 1) the statement was ambiguous enough that we don't know exactly Franklin's roster strategy, just that he pays 105 players and there is a valuation threshold that limits how much he is willing to spend on individual players. And 2) let it play out, we'll see if the Franklin and Frank roster theory works in time.
And if I was a GM, I would employ a small team to use statistics and machine-learning to optimize roster management.
I appreciate that Franklin stuck to his structured system. In the players' position, I'd prefer to be able to predict how much I'm going to get as well as what I need to do (if anything) to earn more. Knowing my coach will bend things for the hot name of the moment would lead me to believe other things are flexible, too.
Young people with lots of disposable income and that special invincible mentality we all have at that age spells disaster a lot of the time. There has to be some kind of structure in place or things will go bad no matter how many stars our recruits have.
I like having it structured because then its transparent, but that structure should have wiggle room in it as not all QB1s are the same. I do agree that paying all 105 isnt great as lots of those guys are replaceable. But it might be $100 a week for football season just to have extra money for food and stuff which isnt much when you think about it.
I think paying everyone is the right approach, but just like business, it doesn't have to be equal. For comparison, a football team has starters (upper mgmt), 2nd string (middle mgmt), and development (entry level). The base pay goes up with level. The top 2 tiers have 25ish players each, with 55 players at the development level.
Just like the office, there can be variations in base pay between positions at the same level - an engineering mgr may make more than an accounting mgr. Backup QB makes more than backup WR.
Then have a bonus pool like most businesses do. Practice player of the week, conference player of the week, grade out national top 10 at your position in a week, finish top 3 nationally in whatever metric a position has (interceptions, sacks, rushing yards, etc). A second or third string player can ball out and be rewarded.
Just like the real world, this won't please everyone on the roster, but if the structure is fair and based on logic/objective metrics (to the extent possible), even teenagers can understand, and it makes it hard to complain and cause division.
I guess there would need to be provisions if the backup QB becomes the starter -- either by injury or coaching decision. And then how to compensate the original starter.
I'm not against any of this, but I sure don't envy the folks who have to set the system up and maintain it.