Ex-Penn State coach James Franklin publicly addresses firing: ‘It feels surreal’
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Penn State fires James Franklin
The James Franklin era is over at Penn State.
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Former Penn State head coach James Franklin has made it clear that his goal is to win a national championship. He’s said it time and time again and, on Saturday, that was a key part of his message during an interview on ESPN’s College GameDay.
It was the first time Franklin has spoken publicly since he was fired Oct. 12.
“I’m very, very grateful for the time I had and most importantly for the relationships I was able to build,” Franklin said of his time at Penn State. “I thought we were going to win a national championship there. We were close. That goal hasn’t changed. We’re just going to go win a national championship somewhere else now.”
He said it again later, making it clear that he intends to get back into coaching and plans to do so rather quickly.
And while Franklin said it wasn’t for him to decide if athletic director Pat Kraft’s decision to fire him was fair or not, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban made his thoughts on the matter clear.
“It’s unfair as hell for you to go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, get in the final four, come out being ranked No. 1 this year, an expectation that you created by what you accomplished at Penn State,” Saban said. “And for those people not to show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for all the hard work that you did — I’m saying it’s unfair.”
Franklin, who is tied for second all-time at Penn State in wins with 104, spoke for about 10 minutes on the weekly college football preview show, discussing a myriad of topics. He fielded questions from Saban, Pat McAfee and the rest of the GameDay cast while they were on scene in Athens, Georgia, for the Saturday afternoon game against Ole Miss.
Here’s everything he said.
On how his firing happened:
“We were a practice-Sunday team, and we have a team meeting at 1:45. About 1:30, the AD walked in and said, ‘We’re going to make a change. I’m sorry.’ Was in shock. Really took the next 15 minutes to let my kids know so they wouldn’t find out on the internet. And then walked down and had a super emotional meeting with the team to tell them I was leaving. It really — that was it. It was that quick. Obviously, pretty much in shock as that was going on.”
On if he believes he was fairly treated by the decision:
“Fair is not for me to decide, right? That’s for other people to decide; a decision that was made that was hard for me to comprehend at the time. But what I want to do is I want to focus on all the unbelievable moments. I had a great run there — 12 years — Penn State was good to me and my family. Most importantly, it’s about the players. I’m a players coach. I always have been. So that’s the hardest part, is walking away from all those young men in that locker room, the recruits that were committed to us, lots of tough conversations. So that’s the challenge, is it’s the people at the end of the day, the coaches, the staffs, their families, the kids. What I don’t think people realize is how many people this affects. A ton of people. So that’s where my heart breaks.”
On how his family has been affected:
“My daughters, you guys have seen pictures. They came to Penn State when they were 4 or 5 years old. We were blessed that the majority of their upbringing was in State College. They’re now a freshman in college and a senior in high school. My youngest thought she was going to go to Penn State. Obviously, the plans have changed there. But for me, I just, I think about everybody. I remember being the head coach of Vanderbilt having an Easter party, and standing up there and talking to all the coaches and the wives and the kids. And the first time that moment, I looked out and I realized I’m responsible for all these people. If I’m successful, all these people will flourish. And if I’m not, it’s going to create a lot of challenges for a ton of different people. So that’s really what the last six days have been. Most importantly, comforting my daughter. My wife is the toughest one in the family, so I don’t need to worry about her. But then it’s been a ton of players reaching out, talking to their parents, telling them to take a deep breath, everything’s going to be fine. And then the same thing with recruits. It’s been a lot, but most importantly, that’s what it’s all about for me. I got in this business to help people and, most importantly, young men, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
On how this happened so soon after making the College Football Playoff semifinal nine months ago:
“I can’t answer that. To be honest with you, I’m still working through it myself. It feels surreal. I just got a message, from Drew Allar’s dad that he’s sitting home as well. We both should be in Iowa. It’s what we’re used to doing, and how we operate. And I’ve been doing this for 30 years and 15 years as a head coach. To think, essentially, six games ago, we were fighting for a chance to be in the national championship — a two-minute drive away. So that’s the thing. I really can’t answer that. For 12 years, a ton of good moments, a bunch of big wins, but decisions were made, and I’m not involved in those decisions. I’m very, very grateful for the time I had and most importantly for the relationships I was able to build. I thought we were going to win a national championship there. We were close. That goal hasn’t changed. We’re just going to go win a national championship somewhere else now.”
On the impact of expectations (speaking to Saban):
“Coach, you understand this better than anybody, right? You’ve used the phrase ‘rat poison,’ right? The negative is rat poison that you got to get everybody to tune out, and the positive is rat poison. But that creates a ton of pressure. And pressure that we’ve earned, we created that pressure, and I think that’s the thing that I’m most proud of. The point that you said when I took over the program 12 years ago, it was in a very different situation than it is now, and that’s something I take great pride in. The program was in a very, very difficult position, one of the most historical sanctions in NCAA history, and we got them back to be a consistent contender. So you understand how hard that is and the work that went into it, but the expectations, we created them. So I take pride in that. Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job of tuning all that noise out and focus on being 1-0 and the task at hand. But that’s challenging as you know, Coach; we’ve talked about that a bunch.”
On if and when he’ll become a head coach again:
“Yeah, I think that’s a great question. To be honest with you, the first thing was, like, I need to take a deep breath. I need to make sure the people that are around me are in a good place. But after that, I don’t know anything else. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. 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. So I think it was ‘take-a-deep breath, kind-of-in-shock surreal’ for a moment, and then it’s, ‘hey we got to get back to doing what we do.’ Which is help young people achieve their dreams, get a great education, still balance what college football has become — the student-athlete experience and big-time business — but there’s a way to do that. And I can’t wait for that next challenge, and we’re going to go win a national championship at the highest level.”
On how he’ll change his approach to big games:
“I think to Nick’s point, there’s things that I know we did as well as anybody in the country. But every offseason, you got to take time, and after what just happened, we’re going to do that even more. So I’m going to do that even moreso. How can we take advantage of these situations? How can we maximize opportunities? How can we make the fan base, the alumni, the lettermen, super proud of what we’re doing? But also, the other thing I want to make sure I hit on, that we did it with integrity and class the entire time. And that’s not something that’s happening universally around the country.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 12:13 PM.
