Sports

Fired College Football Coach James Franklin Continues To Call Penn State Poor 

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iStockphoto / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

James Franklin speaks at ACC Media Day.


James Franklin continues to fuel a narrative that Penn State has no money and little support. His latest comments at ACC Media Days are now making rounds on social media.

The head coach may or not believe the words that are coming out of his mouth. Either way, he refuses to miss an opportunity to troll his former employer.

Things soured last year after Penn State’s run to the College Football Playoff. The Nittany Lions were one play away from a national title appearance in 2024. The next year, they got off to an ominous start.

Penn State began 3-3 with consecutive losses to Oregon, UCLA, and Northwestern. It entered as the preseason No. 2 in the AP Poll.

Franklin was fired after his sixth game. He has since landed at Virginia Tech, where he supposedly has more to work with.

James Franklin wasn’t supported by Penn State.

Or so he says. The coach was critical of his NIL situation at the end of his tenure in Pennsylvania.

“I’ll give Penn State credit; they went all-in last year. But they went all in for one year… We were still competing against schools that had been all-in every year of the NIL market. Schools that did whatever it took.”

-James Franklin

That comment was made of the ’24 roster, which was valued at $7 million, a third less than eventual national champion Ohio State. Before the CFP run, Franklin says his budget was even slimmer.

The coach continued to fuel the narrative with a jab at his old school after being canned. In May, the Nittany Lions were still searching for Franklin’s replacement. They’d swung and missed on top targets.

BYU’s Kalani Sitake was one of the last big names on the list. Penn State took a shot but was ultimately outbid. Major donor Jason McGowan, the CEO of Crumbl Cookies, ponied up to keep Sitake in Provo. James Franklin had the dessert company cater his next offseason event.

Penn State was too poor to land Sitake, who landed a shiny new contract extension with the Cougars. James Franklin no longer has to worry about money issues. He’s doing more with more at Virginia Tech.

The Hokies are invested.

Franklin says he has full support in Blacksburg. It’s a welcomed change from previous stops, which he highlighted at ACC Media Days.

Franklin’s coaching resume includes a head coaching stop at Vanderbilt prior to Penn State. He won 24 games across three years.

It is true he did more with less in Nashville. Academics handcuff the athletic programs at times. The Commodores cannot recruit at the same level as SEC counterparts.

He was able to win despite the disadvantage. That was not the case at Penn State.

The school boasts one of the biggest brands in college football. Fans are invested. Donors make an effort, even if they were slow to adapt to the new era.

The Nittany Lions have every resource needed to be successful. Those include NIL, facilities, history, and buy-in.

Franklin still failed in his final season. He’s attempting to convince Virginia Tech that he can win big. Even he probably doesn’t believe everything he’s saying.