Penn State Football made the decision to fire head coach James Franklin after a three-game losing streak, and there may be a chance for him to tell his side of the story. Franklin is set to make an appearance on Game Day in Athens ahead of UGA and Ole Miss facing off, according to ESPN.
Franklin spent 12 seasons as the head coach of Penn State and made some strides with the program, but their recent slump was enough for them to decide to go in a different direction. His firing comes after their recent loss against Northwestern, and the two weeks before that, losing to UCLA and Oregon.
Athletic director Pat Kraft made a statement after Franklin was fired.
“We hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards & we believe this is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us toward Big Ten & national championships,” Kraft said.
Longtime Penn State assistant Terry Smith will be the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Franklin left Penn State with a 104-45 record since he took the job in 2014, and an overall record of 128-60 as a head coach, which includes his time at Vanderbilt. He had a 2-1 record in the playoffs last season, beating SMU and Boise State, then losing to Notre Dame in the semifinals. From there, it felt like expectations were high coming into the season, and Franklin wasn't able to get them to where they wanted early.
It would not be a surprise if Franklin is heavily sought out for another job after the season, especially with the success that he's had in his career.
For Penn State, it will be interesting to see what they do as far as finding a new head coach and who some of the candidates they're looking at are.
