Paul Finebaum: James Franklin will never be an elite head coach

Penn State had another opportunity to prove themselves this weekend and, once again, added another loss to a running trend. Now, after the Nittany Lion’s 24-15 loss to Michigan on Saturday, Paul Finebaum believes James Franklin truly is only so good.

Finebaum shared his opinion of Franklin during ‘The Matt Barrie Show’ on Sunday. While Franklin deserves to be right in the mix as a quality coach, there’s no way to put him in the top tier considering how he and his teams have shied under the brightest lights and most pressure.

“James Franklin, who parlayed every imaginable job into a nearly $100 million deal, is a good football coach. He’ll never be an elite football coach,” said Finebaum. “He’ll never be great because he just, simply, can’t handle the moment.”

Finebaum also felt this way because of how cautiously that Franklin calls a game. While other coaches are willing to swing for the fences, he seems content with taking a single or double – regardless of how much it handicaps the chances for Penn State to take the next step.

“Instead of doing what Lane (Kiffin) did last night, said, ‘Screw it? We’re going for it on fourth down!’? James Franklin? His analytics always show ‘always be safe’,” said Finebaum. “That way we won’t lose by much, that way we’ll still finish 10-2, and I’ll keep my job.”

At this point in University Park, their season comes down to Michigan and Ohio State. They’re clearly better than most teams nationally and almost all of the Big Ten but you have to beat the best in order to be the best.

That has been the one demon that Franklin hasn’t exercised with the Nittany Lions as he is now 4-16 against the Buckeyes and Wolverines since taking over in 2014. That includes a winless run over their last six combined matchups with both and the fact that the only two teams that Penn State has lost to in all of ’22 and so far in ’23 are Ohio State and Michigan.

It’s fair that some teams in some eras just have a ceiling that they can’t break through. However, with Franklin at the helm, Finebaum believes he may be impeding them more than anyone realizes since this is the very last and only hurdle that they haven’t been able to get over.

Finebaum blasts Franklin for ‘abysmal’ record vs. Michigan, Ohio State

Penn State hosted Michigan on Saturday in one of the biggest games in the Big Ten this season. In the end, the score was close but the Wolverines ran through James Franklin and the Nittany Lions.

The loss took Penn State out of the conference race and once again solidified that the Nittany Lions are decidedly behind both Ohio State and Michigan.

“I think it was a negligible loss,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “Really, I’m not sure what difference Harbaugh would’ve made. First of all, he would’ve called the same plays. He would have operated the game in the same way.”

Ultimately, Finebaum wasn’t blaming Michigan for anything. Instead, he put a lot of blame on James Franklin and his inability to beat either of these two specific opponents..

“By the way, it doesn’t look great but Michigan didn’t have to do anything for one reason. James Franklin is one of the most unimaginative big game coaches in the history of the game. I don’t know what he was trying to do. But it didn’t look like he was trying to win the game. That’s what you’re supposed to do. His record in these big games against Ohio State and Michigan is abysmal. I think that’s one reason why Michigan played it close to the vest and won fairly easily.”