ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — James Franklin said Saturday he was shocked when Penn State fired him hours after a loss in which the Nittany Lions also lost quarterback Drew Allar to a season-ending injury but that he cannot wait to coach again elsewhere.
Franklin said during an appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” that Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft visited him ahead of a meeting and practice last Sunday and told him the university was making a change.
Franklin said he had an emotional team meeting to tell people he was leaving.
“To think essentially six games ago we were fighting for a chance to be in the national championship, a two-minute drive away," Franklin said. "So that’s the thing. ... Twelve years, a ton of good moments, a bunch of big wins. But decisions were made. And I’m not involved in those decisions.”
Franklin was fired after a 22-21 home upset at the hands of Northwestern all but ended whatever remote chance the preseason No. 2 team had of reaching the College Football Playoff with a third loss in six games.
Penn State reached the CFP semifinals 10 months ago, when it fell 27-24 to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, then lost at home to Oregon in overtime in late September. A road setback at previously winless UCLA followed. The final straw came Saturday at Beaver Stadium, where the Nittany Lions let Northwestern escape with a victory and lost Allar to injury.
Franklin is 128-60 as a head coach, including 104-45 (.698) at Penn State.
He said Penn State's decision was hard for him to comprehend when it happened, so he focused on the good times. Franklin said he had a great run there over 12 years and thanked Penn State for being good to him and his family.
Franklin signed a 10-year contract extension worth up to $85 million in 2021. According to terms of the deal, Penn State has to pay Franklin’s base salary of $500,000, supplemental pay of $6.5 million and an insurance loan of $1 million until 2031.
But Franklin said he's a coach first and foremost, and that's all he knows as someone with no hobbies.
“We’re just going to go win a national championship somewhere else now,” Franklin said.
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