When a coach leaves, it rarely takes long in college football for names to start swirling for the vacancy. This is the current situation in Gainesville after the Florida Gators fired head coach Billy Napier, opening up one of the sport’s most coveted positions. Florida sits at 3-4 overall, and one familiar name has quickly entered the conversation: James Franklin.
Franklin brings an impressive résumé, including a 128-60 career record and a Big Ten title at Penn State in 2016. But despite the logical connection, insiders are questioning if he is the right leader for a program eager to reclaim its spot among the nation’s elite.
Why Might James Franklin Not Be the Right Fit for Florida?
CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello revealed a potential issue that could hurt Franklin’s chances in Gainesville.
“James Franklin’s proven from talking to people around him is that when he’s at Penn State, he did (talk) about the other teams around him, like Ohio State and Michigan being better resourced and everything,” Marcello said on CBS Sports’ College Football Show.
While Marcello also labeled Franklin overly vocal about other schools, he endorsed Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin as a stronger candidate for the Florida position.
Meanwhile, PSU must pay Franklin nearly $50 million to prevent him from coaching the school again in the 2025 NCAA season. He has made it clear he wants to stay in the profession.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Franklin said. “I don’t have hobbies. I don’t golf. I don’t fish. This has been such a big part of my identity, such a big part of my family. We love it.”
Multiple other options are already available for Franklin besides Florida, as Bama Hammer’s Ronald Evans endorsed him for the Arkansas Razorbacks head coaching role after Sam Pittman’s firing.
A few insiders also view Franklin as a strong candidate to take over at Auburn. The Tigers, sitting at 3-4 overall, have dropped four straight games this season under Hugh Freeze, who is just 1-12 against ranked opponents.
Nick Saban Defends Franklin After Penn State Firing
Franklin guided Penn State to a Big Ten title in 2016 and several New Year’s Six bowl appearances during his decade-long tenure. He also recruited standout players such as Saquon Barkley, Micah Parsons, Miles Sanders, Chris Godwin, Jahan Dotson, and Olu Fashanu.
With all these successes, PSU’s decision to fire Franklin drew criticism from former Alabama coach Nick Saban during ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
“You know, you made the statement it’s not up to you to decide what’s fair or unfair,” Saban told Franklin. “I’m going to answer it-it’s unfair as hell. For you to go to the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, get in the Final Four, and come out being ranked No. 1 this year is an expectation that you created by what you accomplished at Penn State.
“And for those people to not show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for all the hard work that you did, I’m saying it’s unfair.”
Penn State sits at 3-4 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play.
Saban quit because he couldn’t handle NIL and that he could no longer stockpile great players anymore.
If Saban had Franklin’s record at Alabama, he would have fired long before the 12th year. Bama fans were ready to can DeBoer after one season.
Penn State did not win the Big 10 in 2024.
They didn’t say that
Saban’s an idiot really?
Wel, Saban is an idiot