The 2025 Florida football season went downhill quickly after starting with so much promise. The Gators are 3-4 but have struggled to do well up to this point. It follows a massive coaching carousel that started with James Franklin being fired from Penn State. With Franklin still being a great coach, there has been some speculation about whether Franklin fits at Florida.
On Wednesday's episode of the “Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams,” former Penn State and current Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth discussed where he could see James Franklin coaching next, and he thinks Florida would be a great fit. Freiermuth is biased because he played for Franklin, but he's still an elite coach, and maybe Florida could be a good fit for him.
“I think he would do really well in Florida and down there,” Freiermuth said, “I know he recruits Maryland a lot, so who knows? My sister goes to Maryland, so who knows, it would be pretty cool if he became the coach of Maryland if something were to happen there.”
Freiermuth also talked about what Franklin means to him and how much he still means to him ever since he committed to play for Penn State.
“He’s a very genuine guy. He’s an excellent recruiter, and he’s an excellent football coach,” Freiermuth elaborated. “I mean, his family is like this, with mine. The coolest thing with him was that when I committed to him, my grandfather was sick, and he really meant a lot to me, so he called my grandfather on the phone and told him I was committing to Penn State. So that’s something from day one that really stuck with me.”
This year's college football coaching carousel has the makings of the most insane one yet. Penn State, Florida, and LSU are all open right now as the top three best jobs in the country. However, more than a few other jobs could come open, like Auburn and Florida State, and that does not mention that jobs like Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State are also open. Depending on what jobs open and if sitting head coaches leave, more openings will pop up due to the domino effect.
James Franklin is immediately the best coach on the market, and while Florida and LSU might consider him, he might not want that pressure cooker aspect of those big jobs and instead might look elsewhere, like Virginia Tech.
