Johnny Manziel on Penn State, James Franklin: 'Who are you gonna get that's a better coach?'

Johnny Manziel isn’t ready to pull the plug on James Franklin at Penn State, despite the latest loss to Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions haven’t beaten them since 2016, fell to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings and could be in danger of falling out of playoff contention. But Manziel doesn’t see any magic formula ready to replace Franklin.

He’s still the best option for Penn State to reach the promised land.

“I think if you really look around and you see…who are you gonna get to come in there that’s a better coach than what they have right now in James Franklin,” Manziel said on Action Network. “They’re getting over the hump of some of these big games, you need to beat Ohio State. You wanna win the conference. You’re trying to get to a national title level. There’s obviously some things there that are lacking a little bit in some of these big games. 

“But is it coming down to not playing that you’re having your best stuff on that day in these big moments? Or is it something that’s more deep rooted within the program?”

Franklin is 95-40 since 2014 at Penn State and won the Big Ten in 2016, but lost the Rose Bowl. In five of the next seven seasons, Penn State finished with a ranking of No. 8, 17, 9, 7 and 13, respectively.

“I look at James Franklin and see him as a good coach,” Manziel said. “And when you look around and see who’s really available, are you gonna be able to hire somebody who’s gonna get you the numbers and what he’s doing there? Although they’re not getting to exactly where they want to be in the big games, they’re still having a lot of success.”

Johnny Manziel backs James Franklin despite Ohio State loss

Penn State’s biggest flaw under Franklin Saturday was the lack of offense. The Nittany Lions had a 10-0 lead following a pick-six, but did not score an offensive touchdown.

“I think you have to look at both on the Penn State side of the ball,” Manziel said. “Any team you go against throughout the country, you should be able to get into the end zone at least one time. So whenever you’re shut out like that, you have to look back and think about your scheme, think about your preparation the week before. It comes down to really execution from your players.

“You are going against a tough Ohio State defense. But you look at you look at early in the season, Oregon didn’t have a problem driving down and scoring against a defense like that. You have to look internally on these days.”