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Jake Trotter
James Franklin says he “can’t wait” to coach again on the heels of Penn State firing him last weekend.
“I don’t know anything else,” Franklin said Saturday during ESPN’s “College GameDay.” “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.”
On Sunday, Penn State let Franklin go after the Nittany Lions’ 0-3 start in Big Ten play.
Off last year’s appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals, the team began the year ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. But it lost in double overtime at home to Oregon on Sept. 27, dropping Franklin to 4-21 at Penn State against AP top-10 opponents, including 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams in conference games.
Then, with losses to UCLA and NorthwesternPenn State became the first team since the FBS and FCS split in 1978 to lose consecutive games while favored by 20 or more points in each game, according to ESPN Research.
Before a team meeting Sunday afternoon, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft told Franklin he was being fired.
“I was in shock,” Franklin admitted. “I’m still working through it myself. It feels 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 was good to me and my family.”
Franklin noted that Penn State’s expectations skyrocketed during his tenure, especially this past offseason. That, in turn, led to his firing when it became clear the Nittany Lions wouldn’t meet them this season.
“We created that pressure,” he said. “That’s the thing that I’m most proud of.”
Franklin, 53, is still owed $49 million from his buyout, the second largest in college football history. He said now that he is looking forward to achieving what he couldn’t 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 go win a national championship somewhere else now.”
