James Franklin addresses reported interest from Texas A&M

On Friday morning — 18 hours after a CBS Sports report linked him to Texas A&M — James Franklin nipped the speculation in the bud.

At first, the Penn State coach didn’t feel the need to. But after the report took off nationally and more than a few Nittany Lion fans freaked out, Franklin thought it was necessary.

“Our fans, you know, they were wearing me out on Twitter,” Franklin said at his Tuesday press conference. “I think our players were perfectly fine. I think our coaches were perfectly fine. I just wanted everyone to stop talking about it.

“Let’s start talking about Michigan. Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan, Michigan.”

The Thursday afternoon report by CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd detailed Texas A&M’s interest in Franklin should the program part ways with current coach Kevin Sumlin — the 2012 SEC Coach of the Year who mentored Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. Sumlin owns a 49-23 record at Texas A&M after beating Florida on Saturday.

While many Nittany Lion supporters maintained that Franklin (understandably) wouldn’t leave Penn State, there were a vocal handful who were naturally concerned. So, Franklin tweeted Friday morning: “Recruiting is a crazy business, people will do anything to create drama. 1. From PA 2. #3 Ranked Team 3. #3 Ranked recruiting Class #WeAre.”

The 45-year-old Big Ten champion and master recruiter is a hot commodity, and interest from other programs won’t wane, either.

But Franklin, who signed a contract extension through 2022 back in August, is pleased with his current situation. The coach even half-joked with reporters that he’s drinking green smoothies now.

“I’m in a good place,” Franklin said. “I’m happy. My family’s happy. I’m worried about the team and keeping our (standard operating procedure) consistent and not allowing other things or other people to cause distractions for us.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "James Franklin addresses reported interest from Texas A&M."