In the middle of his 12th season, James Franklin was fired this past weekend after Penn State suffered its third straight loss of the year. Whether it was the right decision or not remains up for debate.
That is, unless you ask The Ringer’s Todd McShay.
The longtime draft analyst joined OutKick to discuss Franklin’s firing and made it clear that he fully supported athletic director Pat Kraft’s decision to move on from the head coach.
“I’m thrilled Penn State made the decision they did,” McShay said. “Image, selfishness, agenda — eventually that kind of leadership rears its ugly head. I think James Franklin got away with it entirely too long.”
The comments caught many off guard, as McShay’s criticism of Franklin seemed unusually personal.
“I don’t trust James Franklin,” McShay added. “And for those saying you just hate James Franklin, you hate Penn State, nah… This is business, and with business, you make business decisions.”
As boos rained down from Beaver Stadium after the loss to Northwestern last weekend, it already felt like Franklin’s time was running out — though few expected his firing to come so soon.
“So to say, ‘Oh we lost to Oregon, then we lost to UCLA,’ no,” Kraft said when explaining his decision. “It’s about where are we as a program? Where are we going? How do I give my student-athletes the best chance to win? How do I continue to build this to a place that we are the best program in the country? That’s the motivation. And so as you start to put all those things together, you gotta make the call. And that’s where we were.”
Penn State opened the season ranked No. 3 in the country but saw its playoff hopes crumble after a loss to No. 6 Oregon, marking yet another defeat to a top-10 opponent. That dropped Franklin’s career record in such games to 4-21.
Still, not everyone agreed with the move.
“I think firing him is insane,” college football analyst Josh Pate said. “I think Penn State firing him right now, off of 34-8 the past three years, one play away from a national championship appearance last year, is insane. And thinking you can do better, to the tune of paying $50 million in buyout money to prove it, is insane.”
Penn State now finds itself with one of the most desirable coaching vacancies in college football. And while Kraft and the university are expected to make “big swings,” finding the right fit will be essential.