IOWA CITY, Iowa – Former Penn State football coach James Franklin said Saturday that he was shocked about his firing and described it as “surreal.”
Appearing on ESPN’s College GameDay, Franklin was asked how the Nittany Lions went from being undefeated and the No. 2 team in the country to losing three straight games to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern, which led to his firing last Sunday.
“I can’t answer that,” he said. “To be honest, I’m still working through it myself. It feels surreal. …For 12 years, we had a ton of good moments, a bunch of big wins. But decisions were made. I’m not involved in those decisions.
“I’m very, very grateful for the time I had and most importantly the relationships I was able to build. I thought we were going to win a national championship there. We were close.”
Franklin had a 104-45 record in 11-plus seasons at Penn State, which included a Big Ten championship, seven New Year’s Six bowl appearances, a school-record 13 wins last season and the school’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Penn State director of athletics Pat Kraft told Franklin in his office Sunday afternoon that he was making a coaching change. Franklin was asked Saturday if he thought the decision was fair.
“Well, fair is not for me to decide,” he said. “That’s for other people to decide. The decision that was made was hard for me to comprehend at the time.
“I want to focus on all the unbelievable moments. I had a great run there. Twelve years. Penn State was good to me and my family.”
Former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who sits on the GameDay panel, offered his opinion about Franklin’s firing.
“It’s unfair as hell,” Saban said, “for you to go to the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, get into the final four, come out being ranked No. 1 this year, an expectation that you created by what you accomplished at Penn State.
“For those people not to show enough appreciation for that and gratitude for the hard work that you did, I’m saying it’s unfair.”
Franklin acknowledged that Penn State’s great expectations created “a ton of pressure.”
“Coach Saban has used the phrase ‘rat poison,’ ” he said. “The negative is rat poison that you have to get everybody to tune out and the positive is rat poison. That creates a ton of pressure, pressure that we earned and that we created. That’s the thing I’m most proud of.
“When I took over the program (in 2014), it was in a very different situation than it is now. It was in a very, very difficult position, (under) one of the most historical sanctions in NCAA history. We got it back to being a consistent contender.”
Franklin made it clear that he plans to continue coaching somewhere. Penn State bought out his contract for $48 million, which can be offset if he finds another job.
“The first thing I needed to do was to take a deep breath,” he said. “I had to make sure the people around me were in a good place. I don’t know anything else. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I don’t have hobbies. I don’t (play) 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. (We’re) kind of in shock. (It’s) surreal for a moment and then it’s, ‘Hey, we gotta get back to doing what we do,’ which is to help young people achieve their dreams. I can’t wait for that next challenge. We’re going to win a national championship at the highest level.”
Franklin’s strength has been building relationships with recruits, players, coaches and staff.
“I’m a players coach, I always have been,” he said. “That’s the hardest part, walking away from all those young men in that locker room (and) the recruits that were committed to us. (There have been) a lot of tough conversations. That’s the challenge.
“It’s the people at the end of the day, the coaches, the staff, the families, the kids. People don’t realize how many people this affects. A ton of people. That’s why my heart breaks.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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