I found it very interesting that Terry Smith came out and made the comment he did about Drew Allar, suggesting that during his time at Penn State under James Franklin, Allar was not in a position to succeed at the highest level.
I'm curious if Smith said that just to stick up for his guy, or if he even spoke with some of the people in Allar's camp, and that was something they all had to say, so now he believes it, but I agree with him.
I just find it very interesting that he'd come out and say this after working with Franklin for over a decade.
“I’ve been known as the truth-teller here at Penn State. And unfairly to Drew, our system wasn’t built for him. It wasn’t made for him. Some of the decisions were taken out of his control,” Smith said in a local radio interview, per 247.
When we start to look at some of the other comments Smith has made in the past few months, it shouldn't really be too surprising. It sounds like he's taken some shots at Franklin, including a comment that he made in February, saying that his role is different and much bigger than it was under Franklin just a few months ago.
“My associate role is different and bigger than under James,” Smith said in February. “Coach Campbell has conversations with me about how he wants to do certain things. And I’ll share my insight to certain things. Ultimately, he has to make that final decision. James would ask me certain things. But it’s different under Matt. Everyone in the building knows that I’m the associate head coach. Under James, that wasn’t clear.”
Smith is a Penn State guy through and through, and part of the reason why the Nittany Lions are going to have a very bright future.
He's done a great job throughout the recruiting trail, but that's also part of the reason why I was a bit surprised that he made this comment about Allar. If he was on the staff then and couldn't get a coach to change, shouldn't some recruits question if they'd fall into a similar issue?