James Franklin plans to win national championship elsewhere
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Jake Trotter
James Franklin says he “can’t wait” to coach again after Penn State’s firing last weekend.
“I don’t know anything else,” Franklin said Saturday on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” “I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I don’t have any hobbies. I don’t play golf. I don’t fish. It’s a big part of my identity, of my family. We love it.”
On Sunday, Penn State let Franklin go after the Nittany Lions’ 0-3 start in Big Ten play.
After making the College Football Playoff semifinals last year, the team began the year ranked second in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. But it lost in double overtime at home to Oregon on Sept. 27, dropping Franklin to 4-21 Penn State against top-10 AP opponents, including 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams in conference play.
Then, with losses to UCLA and Northwestern, Penn State became the first team since the FBS and FCS split in 1978 to lose consecutive games while favored by 20 points or more in each game, according to ESPN Research.
Before a team meeting Sunday afternoon, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft told Franklin he was fired.
“I was in shock,” Franklin admitted. “I’m still working on it myself. It seems surreal.”
Franklin won 104 games and reached double-digit wins six times in 11 seasons at Penn State, including the previous three.
“I had a great run there,” he said. “Penn State has been good to me and my family.”
Franklin noted that Penn State’s expectations have skyrocketed during his tenure, especially this past offseason. This led to his firing when it became clear the Nittany Lions would not meet them this season.
“We created this pressure,” he said. “It’s the thing I’m most proud of.”
Franklin, 53, still owes $49 million on his buyout, the second largest in college football history. He said now he’s looking forward to achieving what he wasn’t able to achieve at Penn State.
“I thought we were going to win a national championship there,” he said. “We were close. That goal hasn’t changed. We’re just going to win a national championship somewhere else now.”
