James Franklin breaks silence on fairness of Penn State firing, plans to reevaluate coaching style

The James Franklin era at Penn State came to an end last weekend when the Nittany Lions fired their coach of 12 years. Franklin left an indelible mark on the program in nearly all the right ways, rebuilding it into a perennial Big Ten and national championship contender after a period of turmoil. But his struggles in the biggest games and the Nittany Lions' shocking collapse from a preseason No. 2 ranking to 0-3 in Big Ten play created a dilemma.

Was it fair for Penn State to move on from one of the most successful coaches in program history?

"'Fair' is not for me to decide," Franklin said Saturday on ESPN's "College GameDay" in his first public remarks since his ouster. "That's for other people to decide. The decision that was made, that was hard for me to comprehend at the time. But what I want to do is I want to focus on all the unbelievable moments. I had a great run there. Twelve years. Penn State was good to me and my family. Most importantly, it's about the players. I'm a players' coach. I always have been. So that's the hardest part, is walking away from all those young men in that locker room, the recruits that were committed to us."

Time will tell whether Penn State made the right move to seek a change in leadership. Perhaps the next coach will accomplish the goals that Franklin could not.

In the end, there was always a disconnect between Franklin's results and the program's expectations. Penn State's big-game narrative is about as well-documented as anything in college football, but for good reason. Franklin had the second-worst mark against AP top-6 teams of any coach in the poll era at 2-21, and he was just 15-31 against top-25 teams. He beat Ohio State and Michigan a combined four times in his tenure and won the conference once.

Whatever it was that did not click when the lights were brightest, Franklin said he will work to figure it out in a deep reflection of his coaching style.

"There's things that I know we did as well as anybody in the country," Franklin said. "But every offseason, you've gotta take time, and after what just happened, we're gonna do that even more so. I'm gonna do that even more so. How do we take advantage of these situations? How can we maximize opportunities? How do we make the fan base, the alumni, the lettermen super proud of what we're doing?"

Sometimes a refresh is best for both parties. The pressure the Nittany Lions fan base placed on Franklin and his underwhelming results created an untenable situation. Penn State will soon have a new coach, likely an immensely qualified one, to reinvigorate a hopeful core of supporters. Franklin will surely find a solid landing spot where he will be free of the tension that grew in Happy Valley. The question is less of whether Franklin will return to coaching and more of where it will be.

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"I don't know anything else," said Franklin. "I've been doing this for 30 years. I don't have hobbies. I don't golf. I don't fish. This has been such a big part of my identity, such a big part of my family. We love it. … I can't wait for that next challenge, and we're gonna go win a national championship at the highest level."

Franklin is the biggest name on the coaching market and will almost certainly remain so as long as the 2025 carousel spins. Arkansas, UCLA and Virginia Tech would undoubtedly be thrilled to have him. Better jobs could open in the weeks ahead, though. Would Franklin head to Florida if the opportunity arose? His phone will be ringing. It is just a matter of which caller he likes the most.