College GameDay suggests escape route for James Franklin out of Penn State

There's no denying the heat is on James Franklin at Penn State, but the guys on College GameDay think the risk of making a move outweighs the rewards.

Is time running out on James Franklin at Penn State? | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The end is nigh for James Franklin at Penn State, or most analysts certainly believe after last weekend’s stunning loss at UCLA, the second defeat in two weeks for a program that was expected to compete for a national championship this season.

Now 3-2 overall with an 0-2 mark in Big Ten play, the big question around Happy Valley appears to be when, not if, Franklin and Penn State ultimately file for divorce.

That was a big subject of conversation on the College GameDay podcast, as ESPN veteran Dan Wetzel suggested that Franklin might be better off finding a job somewhere else.

But others suggest that may not be a good idea for Franklin right now, or for Penn State...

Is there a way out?

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“Does Franklin sit there and say, ‘Look, I’ve done my work here. Let’s go somewhere else.’ Does he go back to the SEC and go to Arkansas or Florida?” Wetzel said.

ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel took issue with part of that statement with a remark that may irk Razorback fans.

“You don’t leave Penn State for Arkansas. My gosh,” he said.

Maybe not, but someone will land there, as Arkansas’ head coach position is technically open after the school parted ways with Sam Pittman following a 2-3 start and installed Bobby Petrino as the interim, with a chance to retake the job he had there from 2008-11.

Florida still has its head coach intact, even if Billy Napier’s tenure there has been on a razor’s edge for some time, defined by agonizing losing streaks followed by huge, improbable-seeming, bounceback wins, albeit with the consensus that the school is eventually going to move on.

Wetzel continued with his belief that Franklin might be better off getting a fresh start at another school, and suggested the Penn State program itself has an issue.

“Do you want to go back and coach under the misery, especially if Ohio State beats them? Let’s say they end up with four losses and Indiana beats them. I don’t know how good these guys are. At some point, you’ve made a lot of money and you just want to end your career and take something else?” he said. “This is a wobbly program right now.”

Tough games ahead

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Wobbly would be a generous term to describe Penn State if things don’t go well against the two remaining AP ranked teams on its schedule.

The first two Saturdays in November will be critical for Franklin, going to current No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1, followed by a home date against now-No. 7 Indiana the next week.

Any slip-ups there, as most expect they will be, and the Nittany Lions would likely finish an 8-4 football team, well out of reach of the College Football Playoff.

Penn State also goes to Iowa the week before the trip to Columbus against a Hawkeyes defense that had the Hoosiers’ potent offense on the ropes much of their game.

Pete Thamel's two cents

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Thamel suggests that the idea of Penn State simply firing James Franklin is out of the question, given how expensive such a move would be.

“My stance here in early October is that the body of work of James Franklin, combined with his $50, 5-0, million buyout, like, that is not a real conversation in my opinion, right now. Like, do you fire James Franklin?”

Franklin has a pretty good overall body of work there, even if things seem to be heading in the wrong direction now.

“The guy was a nose hair away from playing for the national title last year. He won two playoff games. He’s won 11, 10, and then 13 [games] last year. He has three other 11-win seasons there,” Thamel said.

And the support around him is top-notch.

“The roster is flush with talent. The coordinators are the highest paid pair in the history of college football. They’re paying $5 million just for coordinators. That’s some Power Five teams’ whole staff salary pools. So, it’s all there. All the support, all the talent, and it hasn’t happened,” he said.

A word of caution for Penn State

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College GameDay host Rece Davis is sympathetic to the idea of Franklin and Penn State both getting a new start, but warned that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence.

“I understand the concept of getting a fresh set of downs,” Davis said.

“All the criticism and critique of Franklin and the program and the players and the game is fair. That’s fair game. Escalating it to firing to me is ridiculous because it can always be worse.

“All you have to do is look at all of the problems powerhouse programs have had with coaching transitions. They are so easy to get wrong.”

Without a sure thing to replace Franklin, the school might be better off staying put for now.

“He’s a good coach. He’s a really good coach. I agree with getting from good to great, to great to championship is the step, but you don’t know if you’re not gonna cycle backwards and be average again. That could happen.”

(GameDay)

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