End of the Franklin Era

The news came out today that James Franklin was fired. Most people knew it was coming. I mean, it had to happen, right? Penn State was ranked #2 to start the season, and had lost three games in a row. Two to unranked teams. Not an acceptable outcome for a team with incredibly high expectations for this season.

 

I know, many people are quite happy to see James Franklin go. People have been calling for him to be fired since the day he stepped foot on campus. A few weeks after he was hired, a customer at work said “I can’t wait for Coach N-Word to lose every game.” We told the guy to leave, but it was crazy that in 2014 someone in State College was still comfortable talking that way. Obviously, James Franklin was going to have a tough time with our fan base. You still see it, so many fans are ecstatic that he is gone because he was just a DEI hire.  

 

He was not. People do not remember those days, but he was one of the biggest names on the market after the 2013 season. He led Vanderbilt to a bowl game. His name was mentioned with every coaching vacancy. He came here; he took over a team that was still in the midst of scandal. He took over for Bill O’Brien, who helped get us through the sanctions, but it was Coach James Franklin who brought us back to prominence.  

 

That first season, they went 7-6. The team won their first game against UCF in Ireland 26-24. The university had complied with the NCAA, and the bowl game ban was lifted. Franklin led the Nittany Lions to a 31-30 victory over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.  

 

Over the two seasons, things did not look like they were improving. In 2016, they lost to Pitt, 42-39. Ugh. Then they got destroyed by Michigan. But then they strung together some wins, starting with a great comeback against Minnesota. That set up probably the greatest moment in Franklin’s time at Penn State: the upset of #2 Ohio State. They ended up winning the Big Ten Championship with a come from behind victory over #6 Wisconsin. They lost in the Rose Bowl to #9 USC, 52-49, which was probably one of the great games in our long history. 

 

I mention that season because after the Michigan loss, I asked the question on Facebook if Franklin should be fired. People agreed that we needed to give him a few more seasons. And then the Ohio State game happened, and I became a true believer. Since 2016, I have defended Franklin. When people complain about his record against top teams, I usually would counter with, well who does win against top five teams? Most coaches lose to those teams. At least Franklin beats the teams he should beat.  

And then this season happened. Losing to Oregon did not bother me. They are a good team. But losing to 0-4 UCLA? Not acceptable, then following that up with a loss to Northwestern? Yeah, I was now on the FireFranklin bandwagon. But that does not mean I cannot be sad to see it like this.  

 

Franklin has always seemed like a great guy. He deeply cares about Penn State, and more importantly his players. I am sure most coaches give off that vibe, but hearing former players talk about Franklin, especially over the last few hours since he was fired, shows the relationship he builds with them. I know that James Franklin has a massive buyout, so people will be saying how we should not feel bad for him. But, I would bet he would trade that money for the chance to stay at Penn State.

 

He will be hired by someone very quickly. Honestly, I could see him being hired by Virginia Tech. Or Maryland. I wish him well wherever he ends up. The funny thing is, if he had gotten the job at Maryland way back in the day, and did what he did here (winning 8-10 games per year, but losing to the big boys of the conference), he would have a statue there. He is a great recruiter and good coach, but just cannot get to that next level. 

 

Thank you for the past 12 seasons, and good luck wherever you end up coaching!