James Franklin seems like he's ready to talk. Less than a week after being fired by Penn State, the longtime head coach is scheduled to appear live on set for ESPN College GameDay on Saturday. The crew will be in Athens, Georgia to prepare for the big Ole Miss-Georgia matchup.
Frankin was let go in the midst of his 12th season with the Penn State Nittany Lions. The team dropped to 3-3 on the year, including a three-game losing streak in Big Ten play.
The timing is nearly unheard of in today's era of college football. Usually, coaches who hit the unemployment line aren't heard from for a while, and in many cases years. So what's on Franklin's mind? Here are three takeaways from the shocking announcement by ESPN.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow as James Franklin will join the set live in Athens for an exclusive interview. pic.twitter.com/ybdY8jyGAX
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 17, 2025
Timing is everything and this one is interesting
Given how things ended in Happy Valley, Franklin's appearance on arguably college football's biggest platform could lead to many interesting details about his account of the dismissal. There is a lot to unpack, including was Adidas involved in paying Franklin's buyout for Penn State? The worldwide outfitter will be taking over for Nike in State College and reportedly wanted a change. While Penn State's administration has denied the rumors, there's been some smoke about the change and what's about to happen. Also, the school's Board of Trustees was reportedly upset with the transition from Nike to Adidas. Will Franklin address it? We'll have to wait and see.
Who will be conducting the Franklin interview?
This is one of the biggest questions everyone has at this point. How ESPN presents it all will be a masterclass to the rest of the nation. If Nick Saban does a one-on-one interview with Franklin and dives deep from a coach-to-coach angle, it's a monster win. Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, or Desmond Howard would be good on a surface level, but it would be pitch and catch with Franklin just providing his answers. The most likely scenario in the network's current setup is to put him six-wide on the set with each host asking a question with no follow-up.
Is this appearance to keep Franklin's buyout in good standing?
Outside of the ugly firing, Franklin's $49 million buyout requires him to look for work in coaching or broadcasting. Is this appearance set up to keep Penn State off his back? Franklin goes on the air to promote himself to the masses and likely receives an appearance fee on the back end. That's the first step to open doors for him in the broadcast world. It's also a win all the way around. However, given the timing of this announcement, this isn't likely to be a positive public relations fest for Franklin. He'll be in Athens to tell his truth about what went down.
How to watch ESPN College GameDay?
The college football pregame show will air live from Georgia's campus on Saturday, Oct. 18, before the top matchup with No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 9 Georgia
Time: 9 a.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN app, Fubo (free trial)
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