What Happened To James Franklin And Where Is He Now? Is He Fired?

Everyone is wondering what happened to James Franklin; he was fired after only two years at the helm. Success has eluded James Franklin during his first three seasons at Penn State.

But that didn’t stop him from changing his coaching staff this offseason to turn things around in 2018. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for

So what happened to James Franklin? Is he fired? And where is he now? This article will answer all of those questions and more.

What Happened to James Franklin?

To say that James Franklin’s tenure at Penn State was unsuccessful would be a severe understatement.

 His first season in Happy Valley saw the Nittany Lions win just one game and post one of the worst defensive seasons in school history. Then, things got worse. 

The NCAA levied harsh sanctions against the football program, effectively dismantling it as Penn State became ineligible for postseason play for four years and had its scholarship limit reduced by 15.

An Apology From Penn State Alumni

We, Penn State alumni and fans, feel very conflicted with emotions about the firing of coach James Franklin after only three seasons at Penn State. 

On the one hand, he is a great football coach, but on the other hand, he is inconsistent and just not getting it done in terms of winning games.

Maybe we can all get over this and start to look forward to seeing what hiring a new head coach will bring us. Hopefully, that’s sooner rather than later! 

And as for what happened to James Franklin: He is currently unemployed and seeking employment elsewhere. It has been reported that he could be headed back to Vanderbilt, where he coached before coming to Penn State.

Why Was James Franklin Fired?

James Franklin is out of a job following his most recent stint as head coach for Penn State. The Nittany Lions are coming off a 7-6 season, their worst in 50 years.

Franklin led Penn State to an overall 26-14 record since taking over from Bill O’Brien in January 2014, including an impressive 10-4 campaign in 2015 and an 11-3 mark this past year. He was twice named Big Ten Coach of the Year. 

But with Penn State ranked just No. 15 nationally in S&P+, it’s clear that something needed to change. It would be hard to imagine any school retaining Franklin after such a lackluster season. So where is he now? When will he coach again? 

 I am going to be coaching, Franklin said. I don’t know what capacity or what it might look like. Sources told NBC Sports Philadelphia last week that he was interested in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vacancy and could also serve as an offensive coordinator at Florida State University under new head coach Willie Taggart.

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How About Now?

In many people’s opinion, head coach James Franklin deserved to be let go. Poor performance, constant negativity from former players, and a complete lack of recruiting have put him in this position. 

The program is on life support after having one of its worst seasons in school history. Is he fired? Heck yeah! So who’s going to step up and take his place? 

We’ll have to wait and see if there are any other candidates or a return from Tim Beckman. However, it doesn’t seem like the University has much faith in what it’s doing. 

They want to save money by not paying out James Franklin’s contract. Whatever they decide will make waves around campus, but it’s clear that we need a change fast, or we might end up paying for years of poor football play.