College football fans are irrational. It’s just a matter of fact. When our team loses a couple games, everyone should be fired and the program should be razed to the ground. When we win a few, we’re all the way back and it’s playoff or bust. That’s just what we do.
I know I was calling for change at Penn State after it lost to UCLA, but I fully believed that was one of those rushed, irrational takes that wouldn’t come to fruition. It appears the administration at Penn State came to the same conclusion about James Franklin. After 11+ seasons, Franklin is out.
The reality is that, when you spend years building the hypothetically perfect roster, spend the money to keep it, and build expectations year over year, an ending like this only seems inevitable. James Franklin needed his team to be near-perfect in all facets to meet expectations, and the Nittany Lions have failed miserably. Ultimately, that falls on the coach.
Franklin’s fatal flaw
Franklin’s rosters at Penn State were often loaded with talent, particularly in the trenches and in the backfield. However, he was never really able to get it right at the quarterback position, and to me, that’s what held him back the most.
I mean, just look at the list of signal callers he had at Penn State:
- Christian Hackenburg (’14-’15)
- Trace McSorley (’16-’18)
- Sean Clifford (’19-’22)
- Drew Allar (’23-’25)
The only name in there that struck any sort of fear into opponents was McSorley, who was at the helm for Franklin’s only Big Ten Championship. Other than that, Franklin has a history of taking highly-rated quarterbacks and not really doing anything with them. Even with McSorley, the best Penn State could do was a couple NY6 bowl appearances.
Allar is just the last in a line of Franklin-coached quarterbacks who weren’t able to take the Nittany Lions to the level needed to compete for titles. And it’s not like there hasn’t been immense talent surrounding those signal callers. I know Allar’s receiving groups have been disappointing, but Penn State had been a talent factory at the skill positions prior to that.
In modern college football, you need a quarterback who can, at minimum, limit mistakes and move the offense down the field. Franklin was unable to find that guy, and I think it ultimately cost him his job.
His lack of ability to get wins against Top 10 teams could literally just be boiled down to that. In tight games against good teams, you need your most important player to step up and win the game for you. Just watch Allar against Oregon this year or Ohio State last year. The Nittany Lions haven’t had that guy, while their opponents have.
What’s next for Penn State?
Even if high-caliber SEC jobs like Florida or Auburn open, Penn State will still be at the top of the heap when it comes to vacancies this winter. Who is looking to take that job, though, is an entirely different discussion.
The name all Penn State fans will be clamoring for is Indiana’s Curt Cignetti. As much as I think Cig would be great in Happy Valley, I don’t see that as a realistic option. Indiana has poured real finances into its football program, and Cignetti has already built the Hoosiers into a perennial playoff contender. My headline of my most recent weekly recap was that Indiana is everything we thought Penn State was, and I don’t think that just applies to this season. That program is currently in better position than Penn State, AND it has the finances to buck up in a bidding war.
READ MORE – CFB Week Seven: Indiana is What We Thought Penn State Was
Other Viable Candidates
The other name we’ve heard pretty consistently is Nebraska’s Matt Rhule. A Penn State alumnus, Rhule clearly understands the school, the area, and has a solid program-building track record. He also worked for current PSU AD Pat Kraft at Temple. I do think Rhule would take the job if offered, but I’m not sure I’d be super thrilled about that outcome if I’m a Nittany Lions fan. That just feels like a Franklin retread who happened to go to school there. The same big-game concerns with Franklin have plagued Rhule.
Iowa State’s Matt Campbell should be the top target Penn State could realistically get. He’s built an incredible reputation for developing talent, knows the Midwest well, and most importantly, has a good track record with quarterbacks. It feels like Campbell could be exactly what Penn State needs. Campbell has turned down some pretty big opportunities before, so it might still be a battle to take him from Ames.
Beyond that, I think Penn State would probably start looking at the top-tier G5 coaches. Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, USF’s Alex Golesh, and Memphis’s Ryan Silverfield could all be decent fits. Golesh might be the easiest to pluck given expected turmoil with South Florida’s roster after this season. All three might be waiting for a job in the SEC closer to their current occupations where they are more familiar, such as…. Missouri?
Eli Drinkwitz would be a solid hire for Penn State, but would he leave Missouri for that job? While he faces a steeper hill relative to the competition at Missouri, it’s clear Drinkwitz is building a conference contender at minimum. I think Penn State is a better job, but the timing might be wrong. Penn State would have to pay up in a major way, and I’m not sure they are prepared to go that far.
Fringe Candidates
Oregon OC Will Stein, Buffalo Bills OC Joe Brady, and Cincinnati Bengals DC Al Golden would all likely have some interest as well. Golden is himself a Penn State alumnus, so that has sparked rumors. However, it seems much more likely the Nittany Lions will look to make a splash with a sitting head coach.
A few more longshots to throw out there: Would Marcus Freeman consider leaving Notre Dame? For the right price? Maybe? I doubt it, but Penn State fans seem to think he’s a realistic option so I’m throwing that out there. (He’s not.) I also wouldn’t be completely shocked if Brian Kelly jumps ship from LSU to restart the clock in Happy Valley. Some are mentioning Fran Brown at Syracuse, but I don’t see that happening.
What about James Franklin? What’s next for him?
Amidst reporting that Franklin has to at least look for work to fulfill his end of the Penn State buyout agreement, I don’t expect him to be unemployed for long. Franklin is a really good football coach, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of programs out there that would line up for the opportunity to go 10-2 most years and lose early in the playoff.
Franklin would be a fantastic hire for any active opening, but I think the only current vacancies Franklin would consider are Arkansas and Virginia Tech. Both schools don’t exactly have deep financial pockets, and given Franklin’s buyout, he could be available on the cheap. I’m not sure I see UCLA, Stanford, or Oklahoma State as good fits.
A more realistic option, I believe, is for Franklin to go into media for a year or two and let the fallout from Penn State settle. There will in all likelihood be well-suited jobs open later on. I’m not sure rushing into another opportunity would be a good thing for Franklin OR his new employer after what just went down.
We’ll see. Clearly, Penn State is trying to win national championships, and it was doubtful Franklin was ever going to get it there. It was probably best for both sides to move on, as shocking as the timing might have been.
Follow Nick Hedges on X (@nicktrimshedges) or Instagram (@nicktrimshedges).