It seems there is a fierce debate raging in college football, whether to boo or not to boo, at college football games.
“I think it’s embarrassing,” legendary Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said on “The Barry Alvarez Show” in response to the student section chanting to fire Luke Fickell.
“I think it’s terrible, despicable. They’re spoiled rotten. Here’s a team that you’ve got young players trying to come on, they’re competing, they’re going to have a chance to get better, and you flip on them. We’re early in the season and you flip on them and you’re chanting for the coach (to be fired).”
Alvarez built a Wisconsin program that absolutely had no history prior to his arrival, into a Top 20 program that won six Big Ten championships during his time as coach and athletic director.
Wisconsin is now mired in their worst season since before Alvarez took over in 1990.
Attendance is beginning to dip and the effort on the field led to fans expressing their discontent.
While Penn State is nowhere near having the problems Wisconsin is experiencing, the White Out crowd serenaded their team with boo’s and even went as far to chant “Fire Franklin.”
“Yeah, we have a passionate fan base,” Franklin said after the loss to Oregon. “111,000. The environment was awesome. They’re passionate. When we win, there’s nothing better. When we lose, there’s nothing worse. I get it. I get the frustration that comes with a fan base that is invested and cares. I get it.”
The moment has caused rancor amongst the Penn State faithful.
Scott Paterno, son of Joe Paterno, has been one of the most vocal against the booing.
In one of his cleaner posts on X, Paterno echoes similar sentiments like Alvarez, “I grew up around teams and knew the players under the helmets as people. I know the pain and sacrifice they endure to play the game. It’s why I don’t boo my own team.”
I get Paterno’s point, none of us would boo the people we know and care for if they were in the midst of tough times and struggle, that isn’t who we are overall.
Where Paterno and Alvarez are out of touch is that football players at the highest levels have resources that the common person cannot comprehend.
The students who go for computer science, mathematics, or the arts don’t enjoy the same resources at their crafts like football players enjoy.
I get that students of those fields don’t collectively generate the revenue football does. I’m not naive to economics.
With revenue sharing starting to come for football players, schools are now turning to these same students assessing them “entertainment fees” to create the proper streams to remain competitive and maintain their programs.
Franklin’s former defensive coordinator Brent Pry was just relieved of his duties at Virginia Tech, and students are beginning to question where these fees are going.
What is the return on investment of these fees for a program meddling in mediocrity?
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The greater visibility of football players gives them more lucrative NIL opportunities, resources for their growth, the disparity between a common student and football is at its greatest.
This is where Paterno begins to miss.
I have compassion for the effort these players put in, but in a lot of ways they are only temporary, the only mainstay is the coach, who is the face of the program.
That is James Franklin.
That is who the fans are primarily booing.
That is what happened Saturday night.
Paterno had some “not safe for work” comments on those who booed quarterback Drew Allar.
Allar dropped to 1-6 against Top 10 teams last night. He didn’t play well once again in the biggest spotlight and it was the third consecutive loss that can be attributed to an errant throw.
For a quarterback who is exceptional at protecting the ball, being turnover free, and has amazing physical tools.
It’s a head-scratcher when Allar is processing during normal game situations and when the game intensity heats up when the processing isn’t computing properly.
Allar is beginning to accrue the endorsements, notably with Nike, American Eagle, Venmo, and T-Mobile. There’s that disparity between the common fan or student who is paying for what Allar is producing.
At some point, what Alvarez, Paterno need to recognize and it seems Franklin, Allar do is that the most powerful people are the supporters.
The only way their voice can truly have an impact is what transpired Saturday nights.
In the past, Franklin got into heated exchanges with fans. Saturday night, Franklin looked broken as his daughter went to support her father.
Franklin looked like he took multiple defeats yesterday.
The encouraging words Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had about Franklin’s team are similar to what I have heard from other tormenters of Franklin: Urban Meyer, Ryan Day, Lane Kiffin, and Jim Harbaugh.
Franklin’s responses during postgame reflect what he knows: he is in a results based business, from time-to-time he will receive some instant feedback.
The boos are here to stay in major college football, whether Paterno, Alvarez, or you like it or not.
People are spending a lot of money these days for results, when you don’t produce, the lesser of two most powerful actions are booing.
What could be more dangerous? That is when the money stops coming in.
