James Franklin recalls Penn State students chanting for his firing

Things weren’t always sunshine and rainbows for James Franklin at Penn State. That was especially true on October 1st, 2016 but, from that moment on, everything changed for the Nittany Lions in his tenure.

Franklin recalled the 29-26 victory over Minnesota inside Beaver Stadium in a sitdown interview with Adam Breneman. He said that it was a breaking point, considering they were down 13-3 to the Golden Gophers, that turned into a turning point for the program and fanbase as what was nearly a 2-3 start in his third year at the helm became one of his four 11 win seasons in University Park.

“We’re 2-2, we’re down at halftime. The student section is chanting, ‘Fire Franklin! Fire Franklin!’ I remember that,” Franklin recalled. “We go in at halftime, we come out, and find a way to beat a good Minnesota team. They were a good football team. We find a way to win that game, Saquon (Barkley) makes an unbelievable play on a screen pass. And then we don’t lose again. We win, like, nine straight or something like that.”

“We go on a run, go on a tear. And now I’m walking around campus and the same students are going, ‘Coach! You’re the best! We’ve always been with you!’ And I’m like, ‘No, I remember seeing your face in the stands.’,” said Franklin. “I think, obviously, that was a really important time. We were able to gain confidence and momentum and build.”

To recap, Penn State had gone 14-12 over Franklin’s first two campaigns after coming in from Vanderbilt. They then opened 2016 at 2-2 ahead of that matchup with the Minnesota. Then, facing a 10-point deficit, they battled with the Gophers for the duration of the second half and an overtime period to win their first of nine straight. That streak sent them into the Top-25 over the final seven weeks of the season and the top-five over the final four before losing to USC in the Rose Bowl as the No. 5 team in the country.

Since then, Penn State has won 53 games compared to 21 losses and made five bowls games with three wins. In the end, Franklin gives a lot of credit for that run of success and for building the program up to where it is today to that victory as well as his Top-15 recruiting class in 2015.

“An interesting thing too is, like, you think about that first recruiting class? I got the job on like January 18th, the worst time to get a job. And you think back about how many of those guys in that first class ended up playing NFL, having really good careers?,” Franklin said. “I say that because I think about the play Saquon made. And Saquon, people forget, when I got the job, was committed to Rutgers.”

“These guys like this that you’re able to kind of flip and get on board? The reality is I can have as much conviction as I want. If I don’t have guys in the locker room that can go out and execute the plan? You don’t have a chance.”

Franklin is now headed into his 10th season with the Nittany Lions and will once again be a big part of the discussion in the Big Ten. With that in mind, he still looks back at that moment to start October in 2016 and reflects considering how many of the team’s supporters at that time were saying that this wouldn’t be so.