Penn State's Board of Trustees Invited This Speculation
"I've worked my ass off to get to Penn State."
In 2015, James Franklin took an assertive tone to squelch speculation about leaving Penn State for Miami. He was building the program then, a year away from winning the Big Ten title and still in his first of three Penn State contracts. So he said that.
Six years later, Franklin continues to be linked to other jobs, including USC's for the second time. The Trojans on Monday fired head coach Clay Helton, prompting everyone in college football to compile for them a helpful list of candidates.
Writing in The Athletic, Bruce Feldman noted that Franklin has "a very good job in Happy Valley" but added that this "is probably one of the few situations in college football to which I think he would have a hard time saying no."
It's no surprise that Franklin leads the speculative lists. But Penn State's Board of Trustees didn't help the process, and even might have invited this latest round of speculation, by debating $48.3 million in football upgrades before approving the plan. That kind of push-pull has to grow exhausting.
Publicly, Franklin is not addressing the subject, aside from saying that "I can't stand any form of distraction." On Tuesday, five days before the No. 10 Lions host No. 22 Auburn, Franklin said that he planned to discuss the subject with the team's Leadership Council to train everyone's focus squarely on Saturday's game.
Franklin addressed the question a bit differently in 2018, when he was linked to a USC job that wasn't even open.
"It's that time of year," Franklin said in November before his team's game against Maryland. "It's that crazy, mad time of year, where these types of things happen."
A day later, having considered the reaction to his uncommitted stance, Franklin issued a firmer pledge.
"I didn’t feel like it was appropriate to talk about another school or another person’s job status, so that’s why I addressed it the way I did,” Franklin said. "But obviously, [I] have all the plans in the world to be here, and be here for a long time. So I just wanted to address that, because it became something that I did not want it to be or intend to be."
Still, that crazy, mad time of year to which Franklin referred is arriving earlier, and college coaches and administrators can blame only themselves. Helton became the second FBS coach to lose his job in September, following Connecticut's Randy Edsall, who stepped down a day after announcing his year-end retirement.
With 27 coaches making $4 million or more annually, according to USA Today's 2020 database, getting a good seat on the coaching carousel matters. USC has the rest of this season to workshop its vacancy with agents and coaches, especially those whom they particularly fancy.
Is Franklin one of those coaches? He should be. Franklin's history at Vanderbilt and Penn State proves he's a program-builder. He recruits at a high level, is developing a coaching tree, stays ahead of the football analytics curve and would bring a charismatic personality to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, why would Franklin want to leave Penn State? Consider the board's February discussion as one nudge in that direction.
Franklin has spoken openly about the football program being "way behind" other leading programs regarding facilities. This past winter, Penn State's board approved the $48.3 million for upgrades to the Lasch Football Building, though six board members, including former assistant coach Jay Paterno, voted against the project.
And, if Penn State loses in Columbus in October, perhaps Franklin would look for a fresh start outside of the Big Ten East and the constant head-pounding against Ohio State and its $233.8 million athletic department.
Before Franklin signed his latest contract in early 2020, one that provides for a $4 million buyout this year, Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour called it "awesome" that other programs were interested in Franklin. The list included Texas A&M in 2017, when that speculation prompted Franklin to tweet about recruiting and drama.
"You always want someone that other people want, because if they don't, you've got a different kind of problem, right?" Barbour said in 2019. "So I think it's fantastic. I love the fact that Penn State has a head coach that a lot of other people want. This contract, any contract, is not going to stop that. And I don't really want it to. I want us to continue to have the kind of success that's going to draw other people to James. But he's a Penn Stater, he's our coach, and he's going to remain that way."
But in the summer of 2020, during the Big Ten's sports shutdown, Barbour acknowledged that hiring frenzies have changed the game. College football has commoditized, even celebritized, not only head coaches but also coordinators and even positions coaches.
Speaking on a podcast with agent Jill McBride Baxter, Barbour said that "intercollegiate athletics is going to have to reinvent itself," in part because of the money spent on coaches and facilities.
"There’s so much that we do in intercollegiate athletics just because the other guy is, and we’re trying to keep up," Barbour said on the Representation Without Taxation podcast. "'We’ve got to compete with them in the Big Ten,' or, 'We’ve got to compete with them because we’re a national championship-caliber program and so and so in another conference that is a national challenger also has it.' And your coach is coming to you and — you know, hey, I’m as competitive as they come — so well, yeah, I want to compete for a national title. So we’ll figure out a way to get you that. And then, the next thing you know, you look up and we don’t fit philosophically in the academy anymore."
In his statement announcing Helton's dismissal, USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn said that "we provided every resource necessary for our football program to compete for championships." Meanwhile, Jay Paterno, in voting against Penn State's football upgrades, said, "My former boss used to say, 'Football is here to serve the university, not the other way around.'"
Penn State certainly doesn't want to deal with speculation surrounding Franklin, not this season, and most certainly not this week. But with their 'No' votes earlier this year, some trustees invited it.
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