Dumping Them Out: James Franklin

Welcome back to another episode of Dumping Them Out. I woke up this morning and wrote this whole all way too long blog about where James Franklin would hypothetically end up if he was fired today. Then I left home to go do a family thing. About 20 minutes into my drive he got fired for real. So keep in mind, this blog was written BEFORE he was officially fired. 

I know a lot of people have negative of these Europely located NFL football games. They definitely suck when it's your team playing in one. I already have it on my calendar for Week 10 to get pissed around 10:45 AM when I remember, "God damn it the Colts are at halftime already aren't they…". And I'm still not sure how Minnesota let the NFL get away with sending them to Dublin and London on back-to-back weeks. That really was kind of a fucked up thing to do. But when it's a couple teams I really don't care about… when I can wake up on a Sunday morning and sit down with a nice cup of coffee and enjoy a mids-at-best football game between the Jets & Broncos as I look for fresh Boob GIFs on the internet. I wouldn't hate this being every Sunday 

James Franklin has lost his last 3 games with Penn State. Had back-to-back loss as a 20+ point favorite (which almost has to be some sort of record). I'm not sure if you've heard, but Curt Cignetti has the same amount of top 10 wins in one month with Indiana as James Franklin has with Penn State in 9 years. It seems as if his days in Penn State might be numbered. Franklin's contract runs through 2031. If they fire him today, he's owed a about a $50M buyout. Which kinda seems like a certainty at this point, but who the hell knows. If they don't fire him now, and miraculously rattle off 3 wins vs Iowa, Ohio State, and Indiana, then MAYBE they give the guy another year. But for hypotheticals sake, if James Franklin is fired, but he's still an above average college football coach. He's going to get a job with another team. 

There are so many teams in the Big 10 who'd give their left nut to have the success James Franklin has had at Penn State. He's been coaching in the conference for over a decade. He obviously knows how to recruit in that general area. And until this season, he was as reliable of a coach as it gets when it comes to taking care of business vs teams he's supposed to beat. 

Here are teams I think could/shoud hire James Franklin…

Michigan – Just throwing it out there. Sherrone Moore has to be gone, right? I thought the only reason he had the head coaching job at Michigan in the first place was to be the sacrificial lamb for any sign stealing sanctions they might be hit with. But now that's all behind them, I don't know what Michigan is waiting for. He's not a great coach. Unless Michigan is so physically dominant that they can run the ball down any opponents throat in any situation, I don't think he knows how to win a football game any other way. 

Now I would think Michigan could do better than James Franklin. Off the top of my head (i.e. Michigan's Reddit page), I see names like Eli Drinkwitz, Kenny Dillingham, and Matt Campbell who I'd imagine they'd be way happier with. Or maybe they want to do something fucking crazy and look into Dabo Swinney (who seems pretty fed up with Clemson right now).

But on the other hand… James Franklin has consistently had a top 10 team with elite recruiting classes in Michigan's own conference. His team has been right there every year, but he's just never quite been able to get over the hump. If you give that guy even better resources and a change of scenery, the narrative that James Franklin can't win the big one could flip real fast. It would be a legendary tale of a man who failed upwards. 

I know people would hate that but I honestly don't think it would be that bad of an idea. It's not like Michigan was lighting the college football world on fire before Jim Harbaugh. They could do a lot worse, and I think James Franklin's floor would be significantly higher than most coaches.

Sorry I went on for way too long about Michigan. There are other teams that would way more sense. In the Big 10 alone. I'm stuck on the Big 10. There's just so many bad Big 10 teams, and James Franklin has been coaching top tier team in the conference for so long, it would make sense that someone who's been getting beat by him every year would want to take a chance on him. 

Michigan State - This is maybe the most obvious one in the Big 10. The Big 10 could desperately use a little more depth, and Michigan State is a team who's historically been able to provide it. But they haven't been relevant in forever. James Franklin to Michigan State seems like a pretty easy transition for both parties.

Maryland - I don't know a ton about Maryland football, but I follow a few Maryland fans on Twitter who do NOT seem happy with Mike Locksley this year. I also know James Franklin had two separate coaching stints at Maryland in his past. Seems to make a lot of sense.

Wisconsin - Why not? They just lost 37-0 at home to Iowa. I don't think Wisconsin fans would say no to anything at this point. Luke Fickell just isn't working. James Franklin seems like he'd be a better fit to play/recruit Wisconsin style football and get them back to what made them so great in the Brett Bielema/early Paul Chryst days. 

Indiana - I had a nightmare last night (not really) about Penn State hiring Curt Cignetti and effectively executing a coach swap. They day is gonna come (sooner rather than later) when someone offers Cignetti a blank check to leave Indiana. When that time comes, hopefully somebody at Indiana (looking at you Mark Cuban) has an even blanker check. 

Then you have teams like Purdue, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern. James Franklin would have to be an upgrade on paper for those guys, but Purdue just hired a new coach. P.J. Fleck is pretty consistent at Minnesota. I kinda love Greg Schiano being at Rutgers, but you can't really say that's been working out great for them. But I'd imagine James Franklin would think he could do better than most of those teams anyways. 

Non-Big 10 Teams

Florida State - Mike Norvell might just stink. He had that incredible year where Florida State went undefeated and still missed the playoffs. He had that incredible single game when he beat Alabama. But once again, FSU is 0-3 in the ACC. If this is Mike Norvell's last year and James Franklin is available, it'd be a huge change of scenery for him, but that could be exactly what he's looking for. He might just be looking to get as far away from the Big 10 as possible. 

Clemson - On the off chance Dabo Swinney leaves… I know Clemson thinks they can do better. But people forget that before Dabo Swinney, Clemson was nothing. At least James Franklin isn't too morally righteous to utilize the transfer portal. 

Vanderbilt - Is there a chance Clark Lea gets hired away from Vanderbilt? He's been there 6 years, and Vanderbilt is way better football team under him than they typically are. If that happened, re-hiring old coaches you've had success with in the past is the hot new thing in college football. Maybe James Franklin back to Vanderbilt is next in line

Stanford - They just received a $50M gift from a former player. They have Andrew Luck running the show as the GM now. They have as much money as anyone if they choose to use it. They've been up front about how Frank Reich is only the interim head coach. Stanford and James Franklin are both in need of a reset. Could be an awesome fit. 

North Carolina - Honestly the way things are going at both Penn State and North Carolina, James Franklin could be coaching in Chapel Hill by EOD this Tuesday. 

Oklahoma State - Mike Gundy is gone. If they're looking for a coach like him who can permenatly be pretty good (until his last few season), James Franklin could fit that mold.

Arkansas - I really hope Bobby Petrino just keeps the Arkansas job permanently. But if not, James Franklin has coached in the SEC before. Probably recruited all over that area. 

Florida - I would say Florida would be above hiring a coach who was just fired by Penn State, but they also hired Billy Napier out of the Sun Belt. So anything is on the table for them. 

Kansas State - There's more than a handful of K-State fans who "appreciate what Chris Klieman has done for the program, but think it's time to go in a new direction". James Franklin was the OC/QB coach at Kansas State in 2006-2007. So there's a bit of a tie there. 

USF, Memphis, Arizona State, Missouri, Boise State, Iowa State, Memphis - I'm not exactly sure which of these schools would be "too good" or "not good enough" for a fired James Franklin. But they're all schools who currently have desirable coaches that are liable to be hired away. So the openings could be there.

Alright, I'm sure I'm missing some teams, but I have to stop somewhere. James Franklin also might just say fuck it and go be a coordinator somewhere for a year or two until the stink if off of him and something better opens up.