Hmm. I didn't realize Franklin was considered a very good in-game coach...
From SDS (consider the source) & the ranking linked earlier (with nary a mention of any perceived wrongdoing at Vanderbilt)...
"12. James Franklin, Penn State
I’ll admit that Franklin proved me wrong last year. Dead wrong. I was selling any Franklin stock I had left after the way 2018 ended, but winning 11 games and earning a top-10 finish was impressive. Super impressive. Those achievements get overlooked with this system, but they shouldn’t. Not many coaches can claim 3 New Year’s 6 bowl berths and 3 top-10 finishes in the past 4 years.
The reason I’m still not quite as high on Franklin is I think his ceiling is limited. Some of his late-game decisions are still maddening, and it’s a reason he’s just 3-6 vs. Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State the past 3 years. With how well he recruits and sells that program, I do believe there’s something frustrating about not being confident in a head coach who’s trailing with the season on the line.
Before 2019, he had 5 wins against top-25 teams (5-20) in 8 years as a Power 5 head coach. Stoops had that many in his previous 4 seasons at Kentucky, while Fitzgerald and Mike Leach had that many in the previous 2 seasons at Northwestern and Washington State, respectively.
Still, you can do much worse than building your program around Franklin. Shoot, 2 struggling Power 5 schools (for different reasons) did that and were better for it."
Last edited:
